77 months

Someone was happy to get a few new things to model this month and that she had a reason to break her cowgirl boots back out! With not much to still do a photo shoot was right up our alley and someone was in her element and a ham for the camera, minus a tooth! Now if we just had somewhere to wear these cute dresses too! The good thing about dresses is as they outgrown them they like to still wear them with leggings, so hopefully we will get to see these around for a while, can't go wrong with classic red and navy staples!

The girls have taken over G&G's house, the guest room has officially become theirs too since no one comes to visit, they both love the BIG king bed and that they can fit as many pillows and stuffed animals as they want in it with them! They love taking all of the pillows from all over the house, building forts and having pillow fights with Grandpa. They love Grandpa's BBQ's and Grandma is now making them salad bars and having them try different things besides Caesar salad and broccoli!

We spent 4th of July just like every other weekend since the beginning of quarantine, swimming and bbqing, but this time we brought in some sparkler action once it got dark. I thought the girls would have been more scared holding fire but they weren't and 6 boxes of sparklers later they were still asking for more, note to self, buy more next year! We were able to watch the neighborhood fireworks from daddy's office window and stay away from the mosquito's. After 6 weeks with us and two trips to Miami it was time for Nana to head back to Georgia, the girls enjoyed her extended visit with us and know they are going to miss her, we don't know when we will see her again but hopefully soon!

The girls continued with their on-line art classes this month, a couple of them were more self directed to where they did almost the entire lesson by themselves. They had fun painting the jellyfish, a waffle man and doing their abstract watercolor piece, their little portfolios are filling up fast! They've really been into playing with their American Girl dolls and I as lucky enough to score them a bunk bed and some living room furniture for pretty cheap on a resale board. I didn't tell them and they got so excited when we went to "run an errand" and they saw what I was loading into my car,  one of the beds was missing its cover, thank goodness I have lots of fabrics and the ability to sew one, best $30 I've spent in a long time! C got a bike upgrade (thanks to J outgrowing her bike, one day this kid will get a brand new bike) and is doing a little better keeping up with us around the Ranch.

The end of the month called for another trip to Miami, I think the car might be in shock from all of the miles it has gotten of late! Since there are no typical birthday parties, thanks to corona virus, we had to make the trip to celebrate two special cousins birthdays. B's birthday was a 5 day celebration, well he was turning 5! He got a GIANT (well in their mind it is giant) water slide for the pool to start the birthday countdown, the kids had a great time sliding down it in all different directions, of course the girls are asking for one but our pool isn't wide enough. We took two trips out on the boat, once to go fishing and to the sandbar and the other just to go for a ride. I have a picture of daddy with a fish and Uncle M's shark from the day so I want to say we probably didn't catch much other than those, but as always the kids had fun just playing with the shrimp and bait fish on the boat and eating lots of snacks! The second trip out we went early and had donuts on the boat. We took the kids to see Vizcaya and then cruised over to Bayside and down the Miami River. We were in search of a manatee but didn't find one, we did however see some cool boats on the river, tug boats, barges and a fire boat. We got to see one of the bridges go up and see a lot of the tall building from up close. The girls loved cruising and sightseeing and it was a gorgeous day for a boat ride.

The kids woke up to a Paw Patrol scene the morning of B's birthday, we had stayed up late decorating to make it perfectly special for the five year old! The morning started with presents and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, followed by a birthday parade which started with a drive by from the firetruck! The firefighters even got on their speaker and wished B a happy birthday. Other family, some of his friends and even his teacher drove by to wish him a happy birthday and drop some presents off. Everyone has had to get creative in how to safely celebrate birthdays, this was the perfect way and brought a smile to his face. After the parade we had to head and celebrate another birthday, we were back just in time for dinner and to end the day with the special cake mommy and Aunt Boo made for him. Despite not being able to have a "real birthday party" we made the day very special for him and are glad we could be there to celebrate and let him play with his cousins!

Cousin J shares the same birthday as B, and while he had a big birthday turning 5, she had a big birthday as well, someone turned one! Again, no huge parties to be had, just a very small get together with them, the grandparents and us to celebrate this milestone. The girls were excited to see J again, they didn't get to meet her for quite a few months but being able to see here three times in the last two months made up for that. It was also the first time that G and G had all three of the girls together in person and not via Facetime, they were in heaven! The girls were excited to help her open her presents and play with her, I think they were more excited about her toys than she was! We had lots of yummy food and she got her first taste of cake, I think she liked squishing it more with her hands than she did eating it. It was a nice afternoon and am glad we could all be there to celebrate this milestone!

Here are the pictures from the month.