Reading

The girls continue to get along swimmingly. Tonight, Claire took time out of her busy schedule to read to Laura. Laura even helped out when Claire got stuck. Check it out.



Laura even sang a song for us.



This weekend we are going apple picking with our friends, the Dockas, whom we met in Italy 2 years ago. You can also see them in the January 2011 posting when we spent the weekend in the mountains with them.

Here are some photos from today as well.

Futbol

Today was Claire's first soccer game. The kids started out with a 30 minute practice where they learned to dribble and shoot. After the practice, chaos ensued. Each team fielded 5 players and almost everyone ran after the ball, except Claire, who ran around a lot, but largely avoided everyone. She really wanted nothing to do with the scrum. But the coach kept her in for the whole game as there were 3-4 of Claire's teammates who simply cried on the sideline for the whole game.

Lynn and Laura were great cheerleaders, encouraging Claire. Laura even got into the spirit by running around on the sidelines. She was a hoot. Claire got knocked over a couple of times and cried, but after I told her to suck it up and get back out there (plus a few words of positive reinforcement from mom), she did. She even kicked the ball once! I expect her to become much more involved in the game as the season progresses. Overall, she enjoyed herself and both Laura and Claire are looking forward to next weekend's game. You can see some video of the game below (she's #3 on the blue team) (click here to see the wide screen version), plus some photos here. Both our angels slept well in the afternoon.

New Videos

I have posted some new photos of the girls here . They are a couple of characters. Laura had her first all out major temper tantrum this afternoon. She was lying on the floor kicking and screaming and crying. It was all I could to keep from laughing. Unfortunately, Lynn wouldn't let me record a video of it. But I do have these videos to share with you. Enjoy.

Here is photo from Wes and Laura's wedding in July that we attended. Remember, the one in which Lynn had to go buy a new dress, just hours before the wedding? She looks pretty good.

This past weekend we took the kids on a picnic to a local park. Of course it was 95F and there were probably only 3 other people at the park. So the girls had the run of the park. We kicked the soccer ball around in preparation for Claire's first soccer game next Saturday. The combination of the heat, impending nap time and a full belly was too much for us, as the girls had enough after 10 minutes.

Check back after Saturday's game to see some pictures of Claire playing soccer.

All is well at 126 Generals Pl

Last week we took Laura (and Claire) to her 18 month check-up. Claire was so concerned that Laura was going to get a shot. While we were waiting in the waiting area, Laura was running around having fun, but as soon as we went to room to see the nurse and doctor, she froze up. Well, she is in the 95th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight, meaning she is tall, skinny and delicious like a beverage from starbucks.

Laura's vocabulary has continued to explode over the last 2 weeks. Lynn and I probably read 10 books to her everyday. I bet she knows about 100 words (between English and Spanish) Next to mastering potty training, the development stage Laura is at is probably my favorite thus far. Luzma is working on the potty training. And the stairs. She's figured them out (at least the up part) and insists on going up without any help.

And our girls play so nicely together. Claire is an incredible big sister, always sharing with Laura (especially after we tell her to share). I took them to the bounce house today and they played together the whole time. We are so blessed.

Going home...

or should I say, went home? to catch up on last 6 week, here's a recap. Our 5 hour flight to Seattle combined with Laura's crankiness, was making us consider driving home. Poor thing was in discomfort with her leg in a cast and ears that couldn't pressurize. It was a miserable flight. After spending the night at Andy and Keely's in Seattle, we drove to Kamloops. What was normally a 5.5 hour drive took nearly 8. We started to reconsider our reconsideration of driving home to Atlanta.

But the flight and drive were worth it as we all finally met Theo. He is beautiful. Here is a photo of Theo I stole from my brother's blog (which is updated more regualrly than ours - give them a few years). You can read his blog here. You forget how small and precious babies are, until they poop and you need to change the diaper. Anyway, the girls enjoyed spending time with their new cousin. Laura was still in her cast and she crawled around saying "baby" while pointing to Theo. We also spent time with our cousins Sam and Alex Gurney, though they are a few years older than the girls. We also had fun with her friends Sue, Mike and their son Christopher (we went to New Brunswick with them 5 years ago for a vacation).

Our week at home was full of activities with Uncle Paul, Auntie Taya, Theo and Lola. We rode a train, went to the BC Wildlife Park, ate lots of food, and played together in the park. We want to thank everyone back home for an awesome visit and We are hoping everyone comes to our house for Christmas! Here are some photos from our trip home.

Once we returned home (the flight was much better this time around), Laura got her cast removed much to our relief.

Next we were off to Maine for 10 days with Grammy and Grampy. Surprisingly, we had lobster only once while we were there. Even more surprising, Claire loved the beach. Yes, it only took 4 trips to Maine, but Claire finally played in the sand and water. We built sand castles together and walked along the beach. Of course, for Laura, the sand and water were no big deal. The hardest part of the trip was the time the sun rose (around 4:30am), which is when the girls would get up - meaning one of us would get up too.

We also went to the carnival at Old Orchard Beach , Claire rode on many of the rides, some even by herself. Poor Laura was only big enough to ride the carousel with one of us holding her. You can see more of our excellent adventure here. We are toying with the idea of taking Claire back to visit Mickey in November since she enjoyed the carnival so much.

Well, that was our last six weeks. The girls are happy to have Luzma back, as she is them. School starts tomorrow for us. We keep you posted.

ps. do you remember where you were 34 years ago today when you found out? I do.

Sorry for the lack of posts

We had a great trip to Kamloops, British Columbia (and Seattle, WA!) and to Portland, Maine. I (Lynn) promise to update the blog with stories and pictures in the next week. I do have a small matter to attend to first (my tenure & promotion portfolio) but I promise after that to have a weekly update for you. The girls are growing and changing so fast. They are sweet and funny and completely different! Can't wait to share both of their adventures with all of you.
Lots of Love,
The Patterson clan