Day at the River

There's a really nice Riverwalk near our house in West Columbia that we like to go play in. The kids climb the rocks and splash around. Lots of folks wade out into deeper water or go tubing, but I think we'll wait a couple years for that.
We had a picnic snack, then proceeded to walk back to the car which was maybe 3/4 mile away. Of course Bella had to stop and ponder lots of things (she's a ponderer) and Elias had to sword fight everyone and everything, so it took a while. But it was a nice walk even so. :-)

Bella stealin a plum

Bella likes to sit on the kitchen counter with me in the mornings when I'm cooking or making my coffee. When I turned my back she grabbed an unwashed plum and went to town eating half the thing before I even realized it. Note the sticker is still on it? By the time I put the camera down, that sticker was gone...into her belly!

The Little Lions Cub House

So, Andres and his dad have been working on turning an old storage shed behind our house into a play house for the kids, and it's looking fabulous! They've redone the floors, made windows with shadow boxes, painted, and even made a little loft for the kids to climb on inside! We named it the "Little Lions Cub House" because as some of you know, "Leones" means "lions" in Italian and therefore they are the "little lions"!

Elias shows off his signing skills!

Bella saying I love you- adorable!

Fun in the backyard pool!

On hot days like we've been having, there's nothing more fun than to fill up the pool with water and jump in! Here's Elias, Talia and Bella having fun splashing around and enjoying the slip-n-slide!

A day at the park with Jennifer and Mami

Look Mami- I'm a big girl and can do it myself. Bella is quite Ms. Independent (I have NO idea where that came from). She now talks with 4 and 5-word sentences (at 21 months) including lovely choices like "booty" for her lower area. The other day I got "Mami, put diaper Bella's booty". Hey- at least she knows what she wants!
Hey- look at us- we're cute!
Mom and daughter- both in pink. I remember the days when I swore I would never wear pink and of course my daughter wouldn't either- I wasn't in to all that traditional girl/boy garb. Yeah right- as I say to many of my old "I'll never's...."

Elias is now into doing things the hard way. He wants to climb ON TOP OF the play set and get out of the car by Mami's door. He wants me to read all the words in the glossary at the back of the book and pick out his own clothes. Who taught this kid to think anyway??!!