Do you know that song?

Beach Boys.

The song really has nothing to do with my post, I'm just annoyed that I can't stop singing it in my head. We went to a birthday party last night for the girls's cousin and one the the amusement area's was called Catch A Wave. I haven't stopped singing that song in my head since.

I was so proud of Ava for going down this slide without any hesitation at all so I had to put some pictures for you all to see. The stairs up to the top were really steep and quit high. They continue up under the sign even.

One of my favorite Seamstresses is having a giveaway on her blog. Check it out and leave a comment to enter here: modernmyrtle.blogspot.com

It never ceases to amaze me how naturally girls come by the "mothering instinct." Ava is no expection to that rule. From the first doll she ever got (thanks Sally) she has loved and nurtured her dolls just like a mom would. We have TONS!
Anyway, we've also had a lot of pregnancies and babies in our family and among our friends. There have been a lot of times where I've said to Ava "Remember how "such and such" had a baby in her tummy? Well now the baby is out."
So the other day Ava hikes up her stretch pants and says to me "Mom, I have a baby in my tummy!" Of course I respond with the appropriate "you do!" And then she reaches in her pants, pulls her hand out and says "Here's my baby!" Oh, if only it were that easy! She then preceeded to hand me her the baby ever so carefully telling me "she's so tiny". I of course had to ask if the baby had a name. And she did. "Charlie" she says to me. (The name of her second newest cousin.) I love how these kids think and play and use their imaginations. Someday when Ava is old enough to understand the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?", I hope she responds exactly like I always did: "A mommy."

I gave Sadie a haircut yesterday. She was getting to an awkward length and I thought a little bob might be cute. Turns out I was right.

With the guidance of my sister Sally I was even able to fix her horrible bang problem.....at least I kind of fixed it. They are better than they were. Before they were straight across and now they kind of angle down to blend in with her hair.

For those of you who know my brother Keith, he and his wife Natalie just had their baby a few days ago. To see pictures of baby Ezra (named after my dad) click on KEITH'S BLOG. He's had a few health issues but he's recovering well and should be going home at the end of the week.

And just for fun here are som cute pictures of the girls playing on the trampoline. Sadie can't jump yet but she is finally good enough at walking to run around on it with Ava and they have a blast.

A few weeks ago we took a Shideler Family Vacation in Island Park. Several of Chris's brothers and his sister were there along with his parents. It was a week long vacation and I'm happy to say that as fas as I know, no one wanted to kill anyone by the end! We stayed in a a really great place right on a reservoir with our own private boat dock. Here's a few pictures from the vacation. The boat was borrowed and not fully functioning but we still got in a few fun rides for some of the kids.