From the Archives...

Stand back as I blow the dust off these pictures and video.  I am not sure where time has gone.. really!  I blinked and the summer is half over.

This spring Quinn took on a new task by attempting to ride her bike without training wheels.  For a couple of weeks, she completely avoided riding her bike.  She chose to ride Sullivan's trike, her scooter, and anything that had wheels besides her bike. 

She slowly tried riding her bike and gained more and more confidence.  One day nearly a month and a half ago it all came together and it clicked.  She gained more confidence riding short distances by herself.  Then she took on longer distances, but only in a straight line.  She was unable to turn corners or stop her bike without bailing.  Finally she took on the task of learning to get on the bike to start to ride and stabilize it without someone holding on.  

Until you have taught someone to ride a bike, you forget how much you have to learn to complete a task that seems so automatic to most of us.  It is anything but automatic for six year olds ... let me tell you!

Well I am more than pleased to say, Quinn can do it all now!!!  She is an independent rider taking on trips to the park, crossing the street on her on our block... (even though that scares the daylights out of her mama!) I know that I need to relax, ease up, and trust that she is able to look both ways before crossing the street.  It's just hard to see your baby grow up!

Get out your magnifying glass and check out Quinn in this video.... isn't she good?!

We couldn't be more proud of Quinn's determination and accomplishment this summer to learn to ride her bike.... way to go QMP!

Black Heels - Part Two

While in the Hills, we celebrated my birthday and Father's Day.  Ryan was sweet enough to carry a cookie cake all the way from home across the state to surprise me! While dishing up the cake one evening, Sullivan proclaimed that she did not want any cake. She instead insisted that she have carrots for a snack. Who does that?! Cookie cake or carrots - tough choices....not so much!

Notice the carrots Sullivan chose instead of cookie cake -
crazy girl!

Jamie and I also enjoyed a trip to a winery in Hill City.  We sampled different wines and had a couple of glasses of wine out on the patio along with a great cheese platter.  I wasn't sure what to expect with this winery, after having been to California wineries and all, but I was pleasantly surprised.  They had great wines and the time on the patio with my great friend was even better.

We also hiked to the top of Edelweiss Mountain where the cabin is located.  There is a fantabulous view of the Black Hills from this spot.  It is a favorite of ours to visit anytime we visit the cabin.

Ryan walked with the two little girls....

...while the big girls looked for flowers along the path.

A great picture of the Pooley girls.

All the ladies together.... a pretty good picture of us (even with Sullivan trying to show off her belly!).

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day in style.  We rented a pontoon for the afternoon and went out on Lake Pactola.  We spent four hours out there swimming and jumping in the lake and hanging out on the boat.  On the way back to dock the boat, we had a four little girls (and two big girls) whining about having to turn the boat in.  The time on the boat was a BLAST and no one wanted it to end!  It is definitely something we will do again in the future.

We couldn't have asked for a better time on the lake.... or in the Hills for that matter!  We can't wait to do it again!

Black Heels 2012 - Part One

We headed to the "heels" (as Sullivan calls it) this last weekend for a short and much needed vacation.  We were blessed to spend the weekend in the Black Hills with our next door neighbors. The weather was wonderful, the scenery even greater, but the time with our friends ... priceless.

We spent one afternoon hiking around Sylvan Lake.  We climbed rocks, hiked the trails, came across rock climbers, and splashed in the lake.

Before we hiked, I tried getting a picture of Ryan and the girls.  Quinn happily obliged, but Sullivan was being a stinker.  She refused (all day) to take a picture.

Beginning our hike...

With our dare devil children climbing rocks (more specifically Gabby), Jamie and I were sure that we would have some injury.  We envisioned scraped knees and hurt hands.  Thankfully that didn't occur.

Again, I tried for that perfect father/daughters picture.  Sullivan was still being a turd!

The girls brought bug catchers and magnifying glasses along with them to see if they could see nature up close and personal.  Quinn ended up catching two butterflies, but felt sorry for them and let them go.  So tender hearted.

The girls and I managed to capture a good picture of us along the trail.  Sullivan must have been feeling ill, because she actually looked at the camera (and even smiled!).

The only roadblock we encountered along our hike was when Livy fell into the lake when the girls were splashing about.  She got all wet and had a couple of scrapes from the lake, but she was brave and such a trooper.

We also visited Mount Rushmore that same afternoon.

There were lots of people there, but it is always a fun place to visit.  I am amazed every time I visit there how they were able to carve recognizable presidents in the side of a mountain so long ago.  I don't think that the girls are old enough to appreciate all that Mount Rushmore stands for.  They seemed fine with the visit to the monument, but had even more fun climbing the steps of the amphitheater there.  Go figure!

We were able to get a decent family picture as well while at Mount Rushmore...

But getting one of the girls proved to be a little bit more difficult!

Funny Little Sullivan

To know Sullivan is to love her.  Honestly and truly.  She has such heart and spirit in all that she does.  It is contagious.

This video of her singing, "Five Little Ducks" makes me laugh.  She starts off in what we all would agree is a "normal" child voice, but by the end she brings the volume back up to a typical Sullivan level - LOUD! 

(Sorry for the poor quality - it was taken with my phone and didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.)

So passionate and so engaged in what she is doing!  To be three years old again....!

Sweet Girls...

"Sometimes... the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

- A. A. Milne

Quinn and Sullivan - Thanks for filling my heart with so much love!  

I love you more than you will ever, ever know.

Memorial Day Gardening

We planted flowers on Memorial Day a couple of weeks back.  The girls were super excited to pick out flowers from the greenhouse and bring them home.  They each had their own pot this year and were allowed to pick out flowers all by themselves.  No swaying or persuading from us.  Quinn took her time taking in all her choices.  She strolled through the greenhouse a couple of times before gravitating toward the pink and purple flowers (surprise!).  Sullivan really had no method to her madness.  I take that back - her method consisted of picking out flowers as quickly as she could.  In and out - any flowers would do!  Funny the difference in the two of them!

Quinn enjoyed clowning around before getting down and dirty.

We spent the afternoon planting flowers in the hot, humid weather.  We were delighted that Livy, our neighbor, wanted to join in on the fun!  She was such a good help.

The final products?!  They turned out very vibrant and very beautiful. 

Note the colors - pretty pinks and purples for Quinn.

A wide variety of colors and flowers for Sullivan.

And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't include this following picture.  Ryan was playing photographer and was very proud of his Memorial Day patriotic picture. :)

Too Hot in the Kitchen

The girls were playing restaurant this past week.  One would take my order, while the other made my order "fresh" in the kitchen.  They do this often and it is always a blast listening to them work together.

I got up to do a load of laundry or do something and walked past them.  Apparently it got to hot in the kitchen, because when I looked at Sullivan, this is what I saw:

My free spirited, go-with-the-flow daughter decided to take not only her pants off, but her underwear too.  I just hate when your underwear gets in the way of great cooking!  Not sure that our restaurant would pass health inspection!

Everyday amazes me with these girls. They make the best of friends and the best restaurant co-workers!  One can predict who runs the show!  And who chooses to listen (sometimes!) and argue with the decisions (often!).  They are a hoot!