Potions Class

All of my girls are in love with all things Harry Potter. They love the magic, the characters, and the story line. We have read the books and they have seen all but the newest movie. This has not been a waning interest. I think it has been three or four years, which for little ones is a really long time it seems to me. I figured it would pass, but it really hasn't. They use markers for wands, have been Harry and Hermione for Halloween a few times, and are forever shouting spells at fairly regular intervals. Will decided that they should have potions classes when he gets home from work every day. Needless to say, this is their favorite activity of the day. A few days ago, he brought home flying turtle eggs (dry ice) and goblin's blood (green food coloring). He had previously bought cauldrons (black salsa bowls) for each of them. He put the turtle eggs and water into the bowl and had the girls add the goblin's blood. The looks on their faces were priceless. They had so much fun, and I think Will was just as excited as they were.

Maya age 3 years, 2 months

It is rare that I get a picture of Maya in all her sweetness and herself-ness (the non-crazy-silly-wild part). Usually, they are like this...

or this...or this...

So I was thrilled this afternoon when I got this sweet, true representation of her (even though the background is less than desirable). Although the other pictures are equally her, I love the expression on her face in this one (and all the others too).

Best Buds

These two have been friends since they were three and four months old. They are inseparable and play and fight like sisters. I am not sure what will happen when they have to go to different schools in two years...I guess we have a while to figure it out.

Comparison Photos

Here are the girls three years ago. Lilly was three and a half, Allie was one and a half, and Maya was six weeks old. Now they are four and a half, six and a half and three. Holy time flies, Batman!

Yesterday...Today

Amia Grace Kennedy born today, July 17th at 4:22 am. Eight pounds 10 ounces, 20.5 inches. Beautiful, healthy, sweet, absolutely perfect. To my friend Sarah and her husband Chris. Welcome baby. We did belly pics yesterday, thankfully. She arrived four hours after her due date and we think she is a very considerate baby. Sarah was amazing and they are both doing great!

We seem to have turned a corner

The weather has been super sunny for the past week. What a welcome change it has been. We have been spending every waking moment at the beach, so today we decided to take a break and stay home. Tomorrow, though, we are right back at it. My girls have all become expert crab catchers and sand castle builders, and I have found that the best arm workout ever is to dig out a giant moat around the castle. It's a win win situation. The girls get an awesome moat, and my arms get to shape up! Seriously, though it has been such a wonderful time at the beach. The kids are all old enough now that I don't worry as much about everything beach related, and the kids all have so much energy that they can take a full day at the beach and enjoy every minute of it. We did encounter a rather bold sea gull last week. He swooped down and whacked me with his wing and stole half of Allie's sandwich. He flew off and swallowed it whole, his neck was giant. I secretly hoped he would choke on it, but he didn't, and then he came back for more. The girls have become quite good at eating hunched over their lunches so the birds don't spy it. This summer is turning out to be a lot of fun. I hope the rain stays away for a while.

Sun! Finally. And the 4th of July.

We have had four gorgeous, rain free days here! Everyone is in a much better mood. We spent the day today at the beach, and I forgot to sunscreen my lower legs, so I ended up with bright red shins. Well, bright red all over except for the child sized hand print across my right shin. Apparently one of the girls touched my leg right after I sun screened her and that left me with one protected spot. It looks pretty funny. We had a great time on the 4th. The kids loved the fireworks, but the sparklers were by far their favorite thing. We all stayed up late and than everyone slept in in the morning. We slept until 8:00, which is unheard of over here, and definitely a welcome side effect from the night before.

Oh look! It's still raining.

Still. Raining. Still. What? I don't think I live in the rain forest, or Seattle, or at the bottom of the sea, but maybe I will check again. We are in long sleeves, pants and actual shoes, not sandals. We broke the record yesterday for lowest high ever recorded on that date. 59. FIFTY NINE. On JULY 1st.
Help.