Boating fun at Poppy's Lake

Reilly and Uncle Barney get ready to take a boat ride.

It is one of the high points of a weekend at the lake.

Quinlan takes her place in the front of the boat where she rides all the time.

she doesn't like the sharp turns......she's afraid she'll fall out!

Seth, Jacob and Emily convinced Max to try out their new tube and it turns out he loves it.

Now, every time it goes, he goes!

2

Two (2) was an important number for Reilly on Saturday, July 12th..... not only did she turn 2 years old, but she had 2 birthday parties in one day! Here are Quinlan and Reilly enjoying the batter beaters and spatula from the cakes I was baking.

First, Reilly celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa Connor's house with her Connor cousins - Mina's birthday was Sunday. I baked and decorated a Tinkerbell (in case you couldn't figure it out) cake just for the occasion. She really wanted to blow out the candles on Mina's cake more..... there were 8 on Mina's and she only had 1.
Then it was off to Poppy's Lake to celebrate with the Reilly side of the family. Here is a picture of Mima holding Reilly so she can blow out that all important candle. Quinlan was on hand in case Reilly needed some assistance. We celebrated Barney's birthday too - his birthday was on Friday. Nothing fancy here..... just one half chocolate cake and one half white cake with some chocolate frosting and mini m&ms.

Yes, she was a birthday princess complete with crown and wand. Reilly calls them "La La"s (as in Cinderella). She was excited to have her own crown and wand and not just Quinlan's cast offs. At her 2 year check-up the Doctor said that she was "adorable and healthy". She is in just the 20th percentile of weight and height, but is proportional. Even the Doctor called her a "peanut". Oh well, good things come in small packages.

At Poppy's Lake

Reilly

Here is Reilly practicing her potty skills. Some days she does really well and other days she just can't be bothered. Quinlan is a big help reading her stories and helping her get undressed, onto the potty seat and then into the tub. She tells me that now she understands why we can't get a dog...... babies are a lot of work! It is a little hard to see but Reilly got ahold of a ball-point pen last week. She wrote on the kitchen wall and when I asked her if she had written anywhere else she informed me "Reilly's knees" and yep, there was pen on her knees right above those lovely snow boots. I guess if Gwenyth Paltrow and Julia Roberts can wear boots like these in the summer so can she. (But I bet they didn't buy theirs at Wal-Mart!)

The Rock

Here are Max, Reilly, Quinlan and Megan (from across the street) on Mommy's big rock. It was in the field out behind our house and I wanted it in the yard. The other day, the man on the bulldozer was nice enough to move it for me. I had it put in the corner of the backyard in a spot that had little or no grass. I think it is fun and the kids like it too.

Almost everyone in our neighborhood has a big rock somewhere in their lawn. There are tons of them around. I've got my eye on a few more, maybe.

Out and about

If you look closely you can see Max in the tree. Not my favorite place for him to be but he seems to enjoy being up there.

Here is Reilly on her new bike. Grandma and Grandpa Connor bought it for her as an early birthday present. She loves to sit on it and push herself around. Max gets a little concerned that she doesn't use the pedals yet and he tries to help her learn the "right" way to do it. Speaking of pedals, Chris took the training wheels off Max's bike the other day and he's riding his two-wheeler like a champ. It is as though he never had them on in the first place.

Playing in the sprinkler

Daddy got the sprinkler out for the kids when it was hot this week. Reilly wanted to like it but didn't..... she cried.