Last week I had SIX children. No...2 of them weren't technically mine. ;)  Halle and Ryan will be here before and after school this year, and although Halle was here all last year (and most of the summer), I though it would be good for Ryan to get used to our place before the hustle and bustle of "getting ready for school in the morning" everyday.
Everything went really well - they were all really good all week, and played well together. I'm excited for Ryan and Max to play together. Poor Max is in need of some boy-time somedays!

These pics were from Spring Lake. I went there to put some stickers on Colleen's parents' golf cart. Afterwards we hit the playground. So fun!!

And now school next week already! MY! How times flies...

Yesterday was our annual trip to African Lion Safari. The parents love it, the kids love it - it's just a great place, and the splash pad ROCKS! Last year it was a bit too cold to swim, but yesterday it was absolutely perfect.
We finished off the day at Chuck E. Cheese's. The pizza was MUCH better than last time, so that helped a little. The kids had a BLAST and Daddy even did a few games!
On our way home we stopped at Joe and Jennie's. Jennie had just (like a couple hours earlier) arrived home from...AFRICA! She was gone for 3 weeks, so we were very happy to see her again. She was full of stories, but we couldn't get much out of her because of those darn kids...LOL! We'll have to catch up with her this weekend methinks.

If you look closely at this pic, you can see Lexie in the mirror...it didn't quite work the way I wanted it to...LOL!

The balls are always a hit. We had to go there twice. :)








Lex in the splash pad. Have I mentioned HOW MUCH I love their splash pad? If we lived closer I would buy a season's pass in a heartbeat just for the splashpad!!


Waiting for some ice cream - and me for my frozen-chocolate-covered-banana! YUM!

Max very into his Dippin' Dots. YUM!



Ella took this last pic of Lexie. Isn't it great? I love her chubby little cheeks - what an adorable profile. ♥

Here at Chuck E. Cheese's Lexie is driving her first Jeep!!


Max, riding his police car. (It had a video, there was NO way he was looking up for a smile. Oy!)

My 'ham' Zoe...
 ...add a little sister to boot. ;)

It was a great day. And now next week, they can return to school. Whew!

 This morning some new clothes magically came in the mail. Ooooh, how I love clothes that come magically in the mail. (Especially those clothes that I got on a MAJOR sale...tee hee!)
Once home (and they could barely wait to get home...ALL the way from our  mail box!!) they decided to do a fashion show. Poor Halle didn't get any clothes (as she's technically not my kid - I'll leave the clothes shopping up to her own mother. Mind you, I'd do it if she asked...LOL!), so she was the coordinater. And a good one at that!! First was Ella's new dress - and Zoe's to match (but different colour - you can't be too matchy-matchy!)
Zoe was already decked out in her 'ballerine' outfit this morning, and refuses to take off her ballerine slippers.

What? You think I'm spelling 'ballerine" wrong? Nope. That's how she says it. No "a" at the end for Zoe. ;)
((She even has a bun! So cute!!))
This morning (pre-fashion show) Zoe and Max were pretending the new carpet was ice. So Zoe told them they all needed to get their "Skating-boards" on!! LMAO!

Next was Lex. She is all decked out in a fall outfit that happens to be SUPER cute!!! I loves me Treasure Tuesday!! (Fav clothing site's discount day!)
 And we all know I can't resist completely adorable pics of my babies smiling. ♥

 Smiling and being silly. Nothin' better. ♥

Oh! Back to cool Ella with her matching outfit on, but in blue. Fits perfectly too. Yeah for Momma picking out the correct sizes!!! :D
(I love this pic too - with little Miss "I don't miss a thing" poking her head in the pic!!)
 My biggest and littlest girlies!
 Matchy-matchy-matchy!! Too bad we couldn't get Max in on this. He did get some stuff, but his friend is here, so there was NO fashion show on his radar. (More like Spiderman, Ironman or dragon radar...)

I think this may have to be her 'first day back at Phoebe's (preschool) outfit! ♥

And a summer outfit for next year. Mind you - she won't take it off now, so I guess it's a bit for this summer too. ;)

A couple days ago I thought it would be fun to have an interesting lunch. So I made tonnes of different toppings, then buttered some little buns, and had bowls of crackers and pretzels. They mixed and matched and came up with all sorts of crazy combinations!  It was fun! (and yummy they say!)

Lex was not included. As you can see...she wanted to be.

And lastly, my Ella-Bells. She is SEVEN now don't-cha-know?!?!  A little pink from some earlier swimming, but happy as can be. We have been frequenting the library this summer a LOT because she is a READING MACHINE!! Last time she took 12 books home and 2 1/2 days later, she was done. Oh my!  Zoe, on the other hand, found one of the comic style books - thought it looked like a colouring book - and took it upstairs to colour in. Oops. The library just called...$7.99 later... :S

On a happier note (!) Ella lost her 6th tooth a few days ago. YEAH!! So she diligently put it in her little tooth holder and put it under her pillow in hopes for a visit from the Tooth Fairy.
Well...the next morning the saddest little girl you ever saw came into my room in the morning to show me that the Tooth Fairy hadn't come. :(
Daddy tried to reassure  that since he was the last one to touch the tooth - it might have thrown the Tooth Fairy's radar off. So we tried again the next night, along with a note from Ella.

Well, to her amazement - not only did the Tooth Fairy make an appearance, but she left fairy dust in her bed (as always), she left TWO loonies instead of one, and...a tiny little note. (The note said (in very tiny letters): "Dearest E, My sincere apologies. tp♥)
Ella was ecstatic!! Yeah!!!

Then, oh yes - THEN...the day after, Ella looked in her doll house and what did she find? Fairy dust throughout the house!! The Tooth Fairy had checked out her doll house!! She was obviously the right size!
Ella's expression when she told me was priceless. Halle too. What a great moment!! ♥♥

As a friend always says, "Life is Good". I couldn't agree more. :)