And the crib is bare :(

Gracie insisted on napping in her big girl bed earlier and sleeping in it tonight :(


I think that makes it official, she's a big girl now. It's hard to be too sad about it, when she is SO happy. Her awesome big sister donated a stool so she could climb in and even let Grace borrow her favorite stuffed animal at nap time.

The room still needs a little work, so I'll wait and show it to you another day. Sleep tight Gracie Tato :)

I shouldn't be laughing...

....but seriously, this is funny!


I was in the kitchen doing dishes when she SCREAMED. She wasn't very happy that I went back for the camera before helping her.

Her sister teasing her about it afterwards didn't help either...

Trophy night!

Last night after Maggie's softball game Coach (Miss) Lauren gave each of the girls a trophy! They were so excited.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are all SO blessed to have this
amazing young lady in our lives!

 

 

...and a hug for Coach Dad!

 

Gracie took about 150 self portraits during the game :)
whatever it takes to keep her occupied!!!

Maggie did great during the game. She had 2 big hits. Both Grandmas and Grandpa were there to watch. She was pretty pumped!

Last night was supposed to be the last game, but we have one rescheduled for Friday night and they decided to play in a little tournament in July, so they will play together a couple more times. Maggie has really enjoyed Softball this year. I will be happy to have our week nights back, but it has been fun watching her play and make new friends.

Seriously???

I had a five minute argument with Maggie before swim lessons today about why she wasn't allowed to wear a swimsuit that just covered her boobs!!! I thought I had a few more years before we'd fight about swimsuits.


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Shhhhhh, don't tell Gracie!

Saturday morning Arnie, Maggie and I flew to Colorado. We left Gracie with Grandma and Grandpa.

We went for family day at the NIM plant in Greeley. It was really nice to spend some time with those folks and to be a part of their picnic.
Before the picnic Maggie got a tour of the warehouse. She was really excited. Our warehouse in Norfolk is almost always working, so she's never gotten to go in.

  Her favorite part of their building was the warehouse sink....it's pedal operated. She wants one at home :)

At the picnic, Maggie dove right in and played. She did a great job talking to all the adults and meeting all the people. She's turning into such a big girl. Arnie and I were really proud of her.

They had 3 safety presentations for the kids at the picnic. Maggie thought it was really neat to watch the LifeNet helicopter land, she decided when she was big she was going to be a nurse on a helicopter.
I got an email last week requesting that I sneak Arnie's swimsuit into my purse for the picnic.....

  Maggie got to throw he first balls, she missed but then ran up and hit the lever :) There were lots of kids in line to throw balls at him. He fell in over and over and over....he was a good sport about it.
After the picnic we drove through the canyon to Estes Park. We walked around and had some dinner. First thing Sunday morning we headed to the stable. Maggie has been asking to ride in the mountains and this seemed like a good opportunity. That's why we didn't take Grace, 3 hours on a horse with her might have been rough.

 

The scenery was beautiful, we went way up in the mountains and enjoyed lots of hilly terrain. Maggie was worried about Arnie she kept looking back to check on him (and correct his form).
 
Brrrrrr.......that water is FREEZING!!!

  Their monkey bars have a much better backdrop then ours. I love the mountains!

Before we headed back to Greeley, to fly home, we played a game of miniature golf and Arnie & Maggie took a spin on the go-carts.

We had a great time and were all totally worn out when we got home. It was fun to spend some time with just one of the girls. We warned Maggie that sometime we might have to do something like that with Gracie....she said it would be ok if we did something boring like shop :)

Don't feel too sorry for Gracie, she was enjoying being an only child at Grandma and Poppies :)

Check-ups!

Friday was check-up day for the girls. Thankfully nobody needed any shots, Maggie had to have her finger poked but she was very brave.

No surprise here, both girls are still well above the 90th percentile. Gracie was 33lbs. and about 38 inches tall (she wasn't very interested in standing still). Maggie was 56lbs and 45.5 inches tall.

The doctor asked if Grace said at least 30 words and occasionally put together 2 word phrases....Gracie interrupted her and said, "I climb on table, by self, no help mommy." The doctor laughed and said, "never mind." :)

Everybody checked out great. Maggie needs a follow up with the Ear doctor. One of her tubes hasn't fallen out (it should have by now) and it looks like it may be effecting her hearing. We'll go see him next week and figure out what to do next. For now we're just talking loudly into her good ear :)


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Summer Fun

Thursday we spent most of the day at the park with our friends.....we LOVE summer!


















It's 97 degrees outside tonight and Maggie insisted on wearing pants to her softball game....you never know when you are going to need to slide :)

Gracie time...

After months of refusing to use the potty at school, I had just resigned myself to letting Gracie hold it all day. Yesterday when I picked her up, she ran to the door and told me, "I four potty stickers!" We've tried all sorts of bribery in the past, apparently yesterday stickers were the magic weapon! Let's hope she remembers next Tuesday when she goes back!





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Family Camping 2013!

Thursday morning marked the beginning of O'Brien Family Camp 2013!!  We loaded up early and were on the road to Lake Shetek, Minnesota. By mid afternoon the girls were playing with Hailie and Connor and we were eating and playing and snacking and chatting and grazing....

We had the best time. Maggie and Gracie love having Hailie and Connor to play with. They all get along so well. The girls are both really missing them now that we're home.

Maggie made 2 trips to the lake to fish. The first time she said, "fishing is kind of boring." Duh! When I got there to check on them Arnie, Paul and Mark were all untangling and fixing fishing poles, it seemed something was always caught or broken. I think I'd rather just relax and look at the water. Her second fishing trip was a bit more exciting...

...she didn't want to touch the fish, but she was really excited to tell us all about it when she got back to camp.

For Maggie's Birthday, Hailie and Connor got her a new game. The object is to make the dog poop, it's totally disgusting, but the kids laughed SO hard while they played it, we had to love it!

Maggie had Arnie take her training wheels off a few times and she worked on riding
without them. She did pretty well.

Poor Elsie had a lot of big kids "helping" her with everything!

 

One day all the kids had lunch in Mom and Dad's camper and watched a movie. I went to check on them after awhile and Maggie was doing the dishes. (she can hardly reach the sink.) When I asked what she was doing she said she didn't want to leave all those dirty dishes for Grandma so she was cleaning up. I noticed there wasn't a dish towel and asked how she dried them and she said "I couldn't find a towel, so I just grabbed my blanket and dried them off." :) Bless her heart, she was SO proud of herself. She came out beaming to tell Grandma what she'd done.

One night Uncle Mike filled a giant bowl with shaving cream and gave it to the kids. Gracie wanted NOTHING to do with it, but the big kids had a blast!

COUSINS!!!

Oh Gracie!

Sunday night the kids wanted to have a sleepover together before we headed home. Connor was asleep about 5 minutes after I took this pictures. Gracie was mad because I actually made her go to bed (because she wasn't about to let the other kids lay down and watch the movie), and Maggie & Hailie stayed awake until after midnight watching a movie. We had tired kids the next morning but they had a great time.

Now were home, the camper is mostly cleaned out and we're getting back into the swing of things. I'm very thankful that everyone could make time to be there and that we all enjoy each other so much. We had 5 days filled with memories my kids and I will cherish forever.

Time to implement the post camping diet (have I mentioned we ate, pretty much constantly!) I can't wait to do it again next year!