First Place, and the Poise Award

Audra and Claire got to participate in Fashion Revue for 4H. It was a learning experience for all of us!

The girls have worked really hard this year with 4H- I am really proud of them. For fashion revue, they got to walk down a runway in front of a judge and an audience.

Because Claire is a Cloverbud, she wasn't in a competition, but Audra was. Claire got a well deserved participation ribbon, and Audra....won 1st place in her division! This was quite a surprise, but I think she won because she did a skirt and shirt, and she was the only one who did a shirt. And shirts are a lot harder than skirts. She was pretty happy.

Then, in a SUPER fun surprise, Audra won the "Poise and Posture" award! She said, "What's poise and posture? Why do they think I had that?"

They also made some friends, which was the BEST. Audra is always worried that she won't have any friends, but she is the friendliest person. Claire was nervous to go in front of everybody, but she did fabulous. She has a nervous tick of tucking her hair behind her ears when she is nervous, so I pulled it back for the formal show in the evening (they had to walk the runway twice- once for the judges in the afternoon, and then again in the evening for parents/grandparents/public). Claire rocked it- I was really, really proud of her. She has come a long way with her nervousness in front of crowds.

 I LOVED how her hair turned out. She looked so beautiful:

Walking the runway:

All the Cloverbuds with their ribbons:

The juniors in Audra's division:

All of their hard work is paid off!

Audra's scoring sheet:

It was a great day for these beautiful girls!

(And, I'll give a shout out to Camille who was a HUGE sport for hanging out for 5 hours while Audra and Claire participated in this great event. I let her put on lipstick and mascara like her sisters, and she really wanted her picture taken with make-up on)

St. Mary's Glacier

It was sad to come home, but thankfully we had Ben to greet us!

We got to reconnect by going on our favorite hike: St. Mary's Glacier. Lots of rocks to climb, and a beautiful lake/glacier as a reward for the steep climb.

Taking a water break- we needed a lot of those!

Touching the glacier:

The kids kept climbing higher and higher...

Last Hurrah!

For our last day in Seattle we decided to go to our favorite family park: Five Mile Lake. The girls were happy because the water was quite warm, but once again it was filled with sad good-byes. I hate saying good-bye! Maybe Ben wouldn't mind if we stayed another year? (although, I think my mom might)

Seattle Traditions!

Redondo is probably my favorite place on the entire planet:

This hedge is Claire's favorite- 2 years ago Claire had the biggest tantrum because we wouldn't let her move into this hedge. I'm glad there was not a tantrum repeat!

Claire Turns 8!

Claire was very specific about her Birthday wishes this year- she wanted a large cookie cake with no frosting because she "hates" frosting. I made two cookies- one with, one without, frosting.

Then she was angry because Grandma didn't have Birthday candles- hence the grumpy face. But, we improvised by finding a huge Christmas candle that she seemed satisfied with. All was right in the world again.

We got her and American Girl doll (used), so now she and Audra have twins.

At 8 years old, Claire continues to be feisty and very opinionated. She loves monkey bars and climbing. She also loves to read, especially Aesop's Fables. She likes to take charge and be the leader, and to do things on her own without any help. I am learning that when she has an idea, she has it set in her mind exactly how it should look. It is usually best to let her figure it out instead of trying to help her out. She likes having her hair in pig tails. Oh, and she LOVES pigs and stuffed animals. Especially her stuffed animal Piggy. Her favorite color is pink. She is excited for soccer again this year, and really wants to do gymnastics. She is in the 50% for height, and 25% for weight. She is doing well with piano, though hates the patience involved in practicing. She loves to color and to do puzzles. She is pretty darn awesome, and we sure do love her lots!

Chuck E. Cheese

In order to help Claire feel special for her Birthday, we met at Chuck E. Cheese. It wasn't a Birthday party, just something fun to do for her Birthday- if that makes sense. It was a lot of fun, although it was very different than from what I remember as a kid!

These Chuck E. Cheese pictures are always the best!

Enchanted Village/Wild Waves

What a fabulous day today! It almost didn't happen, but serendipity was on our side!

For two weeks we had planned to go to Wild Waves on Thursday. But, unfortunately, after a long day at the beach on the lake and eating perhaps a bit too much homemade ice-cream, Audra threw up 7 times throughout Wednesday night and we had to cancel. We were all super bummed, but we needed a day to just relax. We wen to Melissa's house and watched the new Beauty and the Beast instead (side note: it was really good, but not as good as the original).

The weather on Thursday was 86- basically a heat wave in Seattle. Apparently, WW was extremely crowded and the lines were very long.

I didn't hold out much hope that Friday would be any better- Fridays are typically always busier than Thursdays.

But, the weather was 10 degrees cooler so there was a little bit of help.

With some reshuffling of schedules, we decided to give EV and WW a go.

It was AWESOME!!!!! There were basically ZERO lines anywhere! Just like at the North Pole, we just hopped from ride to ride. Even though the Kanga Bounce was closed for maintenance, we enjoyed the other rides. I thanked Audra and told her I was glad she got sick so we went on the not crowded day. She said, "You're welcome...I just kind-of wish it was somebody else who got sick instead of me." Fair enough!

Even though Lumberjack Falls is much more intense than Splash Mountain, peer pressure paid off and Camille LOVED Lumberjack Falls- though she says she is still scared of Splash Mountain.

But, there was great sadness when we had to say good-bye to the DeCremer's. It was the last time the girls would see them as they are heading off for a road trip of their own tomorrow. Audra was sobbing all night long- she is so sad that she won't see them for a year. These girls got along so well- especially Claire and Makenna who really became two peas in a pod.

 More rides were the short term cure:

I didn't get pictures from Wild Waves because I didn't want to ruin my phone, but let's just say we had a great time! I even got to go down the Rapid River- my favorite ride! We probably should have spent more time at the water park- since there were no lines, the slides were a blast to hop back and forth from. I just need Camille to be a little bit older so she can do more than stay in the Pirate's Lagoon.

A memory that I want to sear into my mind is Audra and Camille playing in the wave pool. Audra would hold onto Camille and help her ride the waves. It was so sweet, and made me so grateful that my girls have each other. Siblings are so important and so awesome! It was so neat to see them having so much fun together. My girls really are the best of friends, and I'm so thankful we get to be a family forever!