Technical Difficulties

I haven't blogged lately due to 'technical difficulties'. I like to include pictures with my posts to make things more interesting but unfortunately, my camera has died. I'm sick about it.
The thing about our wonderful modern technology is that it's usually a better idea to replace a broken item than to try to have it repaired. To me that sounds senseless and a big waste but I can't justify spending more than half of the value of my camera to get it fixed.
So, we're on the hunt for a new 35mm camera. We're doing research, hoping that our next choice will last longer than 2 years!
I guess in the mean time I will have to dig my old pocket camera out of the junk drawer and hope it still works.
I've definitely had better weeks than this!

Trying something new

I noticed there are new lay outs available at Blogger so I'm trying one out. Change is a good thing, right?

Jennifer's Visit

Every year my niece Jennifer comes to stay with us for a week. You'd think it would be hard to keep her entertained with fun stuff to do because she's so much older than my girls. Not the case with Jennifer. She loves spending time with her little cousins, no matter what we're doing.

One day we made pizzas. Each girl had their own shell to make any way they wanted. They thought that was pretty cool!

We went to the museum, park, for walks, to a health fair, to the pool, and a free concert. Unfortunately I only have a few pictures to share here because my camera broke!

This one reminds me of one I took of Jennifer when she was about Tia's age, sitting in the park with my nephew Reggie. So precious!

The girls enjoyed Jen's visit so much that they've decided she should be their other sister and live with us forever. They don't care that she has parents and a house back in NY, they want her all to themselves! Gia woke up this morning and when she realized Jen had left, she sobbed and sobbed.
I'm so glad everyone got along so well and had a nice visit. See you in December Jennifer!

DuPage Children's Museum

After two years of membership at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, we decided to move on to a new adventure. We did not renew at Shedd this year, and instead joined the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville. It's easier to get to, more hands-on, and tons of fun! We're very happy with our decision.
We went yesterday for the first time. Here are a few pictures of our kids enjoying every square inch of the place!

First they got soaked in the water table...

Then what a way to dry off, in the super powerful wind tunnel!

Gia, the future architect. She loved all the building supplies.

Tia's best friend from school, Olivia met us there. She was so excited!

Here's Gia with my niece Jennifer (she's here for the week) in the glass climbing tunnel.
They had a blast.

And of course, give a kid a thousand toys, and still they'll play with the box!

Tia Plays Piano

My in-laws promised Tia that she could start piano lessons when she turned 4. She was so excited when we told her we found a place and she could start this summer. She has had 3 lessons so far. I really don't know what goes on in there because I have to wait outside with Gia, but Tia seems to enjoy it and looks forward to going back each week. There are only 3 kids in the class so there's a lot of individual attention. She may also like it because I take her out for ice cream afterward, but I'll keep telling myself it's the lessons she looks forward to!
I hope that both of our girls grow up with an appreciation of music, and at least a basic knowledge of how to read sheet music. Hey, if they decide to become extraordinary musicians, that's great too!

Scenes of Summer

As a kid I was highly allergic to mosquito bites. Unfortunately for me, those little buggers love me. Unfortunately for Gia, she takes after her Mommy.
I had planned to take the girls to have their pictures taken tomorrow in their gorgeous new dresses I picked up, on the clearance rack of course. As you can see, that appointment had to be canceled. After spending the whole morning at the park yesterday, my poor little baby is covered in very painful bites all over her body and face. She's been a trooper but I heard her crying in her room at nap time. She finally let me put some calamine on her after not even letting me look at her bites all day!
She's on the mend, and mommy will learn to use the bug spray next time!

Art in the Park

I know I've mentioned it several times before, but there are so many cute things for the kids to do in our little mid-western town. Here's one of our favorites.

Every Wednesday through the end of July, the "art lady" comes to the park down the street from our house. She brings loads of craft ideas for kids of any age. My kids really get into it because they can make as much of a mess as they please, it's all done outside. They pull some quarters from their piggy banks for their projects (most cost .50) and proudly pay for everything themselves.We usually make a whole day out of it, complete with time on the playground and a picnic lunch.

Painting a dolphin for PaPa.

Look at that intensity. She spent 45 minutes meticulously painting this heart.

Then of course Gia did 4 more crafts while Tia was still painting.

Unfortunately it was unbearably hot today so we couldn't stay and play very long. The sun was too much for any of us to handle. The kids had to stand under a tree to have their juice before the short walk back home. For once, they didn't mind leaving the park!

Gotta' hydrate. So refreshing!

I am happy we were able to get out of the house for a little while, even with the oppressive heat. Now I'm even more happy to back in my air conditioned house!

Fun Fun Fun.

Gia Says the Darndest Things!

In recent weeks, Gia has been pretty much obsessed by Jim Croce. Keep in mind that this is a folk singer who died when I was younger than she is now! I put the CD on a while ago and she has been stuck on Jim ever since. She just turned 3 but she knows the words to most of the songs and sings along joyfully. However, as most people do, she sometimes gets a word or two wrong. When the words are "living in L.A.", Gia sings "swimmin' in a lake"! I have to crack up every time.

Sometimes it's really neat to get a glimpse of what's going on in a kids' head. I never knew until the other day that Gia has been thinking my sister had a baby. My sister has a grandson, who we see whenever we're in town. I never imagined that Gia thought the baby belonged to my sister. She was talking about "Baby Angelo" the other day and D.R. asked her "Whose baby is he?". Sure enough, she answered "Aunt Kimmie". The best part of the story is when he asked her "Who is the baby's father?" and she answered, very confidently "Thomas!". Um, that's my sister's oldest son, so that's not really possible. We cracked up and then of course explained to her that she had it all wrong. I just think it's cute that all this time she had the whole thing figured out in her head, and we had no idea!


Here they are with their cousin Angelo, and his REAL mother!