July in a flash...

It seems like we just had Ella's birthday, but here we are at the end of July.  Although it has been sooo hot this summer, we have managed to keep pretty busy.  On the fourth of July we drove out to G-ma and G-pa F's house to beat the heat in the pool.  I got some pictures of the girls that morning while Gavin slept, and had every intention of taking more pics through out the day, but these ended up being all I got.

 Silly faces!  

 It's rare, but I actually got one of Ella smiling, and looking at the camera with her eyes open!

 And of course, if I take one of Ella, Ava's gotta show off her pearly whites too!

 I think I mentioned swimming lessons in my last post, so here's an update.  Ava has come a long way and impressed us all.  Just a month ago she didn't want to get her face wet and now she is swimming underwater...constantly!!  She's doing great and now prefers water over land!

 Ella is a bit more apprehensive.  She does pretty good at swim lessons and does what is asked of her.  However, when swimming at any other pool at any other time, she prefers to have her arm wings and a ring on.  She also likes to have someone close just in case.  She's making progress, but we're thinking her underwater excursions won't start till next summer at the earliest.

 When the girls aren't in a pool, they can be found inside playing house, sometimes with a complete "sheet" fort.  Like I stated earlier, it has been way too hot to enjoy the outdoors.  So we have had a lot of together time inside.  We are definitely ready for cooler temperatures!

 I surprised the girls with a special treat on Monday after school/summer camp.  I took the girls to the Sweet and Sassy Salon in West County to have total princess makeovers.  Ella enjoyed herself and had fun, and Ava was in heaven!  Here are some pictures of their final do's.

 Ava was pretty upset when her glitter hearts wore off her face.

 Ella's hearts didn't last long at all, but her hair held up for quite awhile.  They can't wait to have their hair cut again!

 That brings us up to today, which as we have most weekends, we went out to G-ma and G-pa F's house and hit the pool!  Ava got a little brave and jumped off Dan's shoulders, as long as I held her hands.  We tried to get her to jump off the diving board, and while she did try it once yesterday, she got water in her nose, and was unwilling to give it another shot.  Maybe it'll happen before the end of summer, but I think we're looking at the end of next summer?

 Either way, we're pretty proud of all her accomplishments in the water this year!

 And then there's our little goddess, Ella.  She enjoys the water, but she enjoys snacking in the shade just as much!

 And then of course there's little Gavin.  He hasn't had much blog time lately, but most of that is due to his two naps a day.   He's usually sleeping when we're swimming, and other than swimming, we're not doing much.  I can say he is still growing strong!  He has 8 teeth and two molars coming in!  He is still stubborn, particular, very ticklish, and a lot of work!  His latest thing is his refusal of baby food.  He wants to eat what everyone else it eating, and he's never quiet about letting us know he's not happy.  

Also maybe I blocked it out, but I don't remember the girls being so disgusting when they ate.  He grabs two handfuls of food, squeezes the food through his fingers, smears it around his tray and on the floor, then shoves it in his mouth.  And he's usually groaning during this whole process....so gross!! He makes a HUGE mess and I think a little part of it does it on purpose to get a rise out of me!!  I guess I have to get use to the "gross-factor" I've heard about that comes with having a boy.

  July has flown by and in just one short month we will have an official "kindergartner"!!