I'm a bit behind with my blog entries because I've been trying to complete my continuing education courses in order to renew my speech-language pathology license. I have to have 10 hours each year and, being the procrastinator I am, have waited til the last month and actually last weeks and days to complete it. I work best under the pressures of a deadline obviously. Anyway, I finally completed the last course today. No worries! The girls were a bit bored today but it is good for them to use their imagination and play by themselves some.
We had a fun weekend. I took the girls to the new rec center on Friday. They have a really nice outdoor and indoor swimming area. There are several huge water slides that, unfortunately
, Ashlyn is not yet tall enough to ride. Being the dare devil she is, she desperately wants to wrangle these slides. I'm very glad she is a go-getter and has little fear, however, my ears can only listen to so much of her ranting about not being able to go on these slides. She even plots and plans how she is going to override the system... "Mom, how about you go with me on the slide." My response: "The lifeguard did not give us that option, but even if she did, what will we do with Avery?" By the looks on her face, she must have thought that was none of her concern." Then later she noticed the lifeguard was not standing at the bottom of the several flights of stairs that lead to the top of the slides... "Mom, let's go! The lifeguard isn't standing by the slides!" Now, I thought you had to reach teenage years before feeling it is ok to completely disregard the rules! I was afraid to break the rules at that age... well, I still am to be 
quite honest. But not my 4 year old daughter. Oh, help us! Anyway, Ashlyn did not notice the lifeguard standing at the very top of the slide who would have sent us climbing back down the 100's of stairs. Despite not getting to experience the water slides, we were able to enjoy the several large connecting pools, a lazy river and a splash ground (water playground). We took a picnic lunch, played in the water, and treated ourselves to a fudge icecream bar. I didn't have my camera with me, but here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of what the rec center looks like.
, Ashlyn is not yet tall enough to ride. Being the dare devil she is, she desperately wants to wrangle these slides. I'm very glad she is a go-getter and has little fear, however, my ears can only listen to so much of her ranting about not being able to go on these slides. She even plots and plans how she is going to override the system... "Mom, how about you go with me on the slide." My response: "The lifeguard did not give us that option, but even if she did, what will we do with Avery?" By the looks on her face, she must have thought that was none of her concern." Then later she noticed the lifeguard was not standing at the bottom of the several flights of stairs that lead to the top of the slides... "Mom, let's go! The lifeguard isn't standing by the slides!" Now, I thought you had to reach teenage years before feeling it is ok to completely disregard the rules! I was afraid to break the rules at that age... well, I still am to be 
quite honest. But not my 4 year old daughter. Oh, help us! Anyway, Ashlyn did not notice the lifeguard standing at the very top of the slide who would have sent us climbing back down the 100's of stairs. Despite not getting to experience the water slides, we were able to enjoy the several large connecting pools, a lazy river and a splash ground (water playground). We took a picnic lunch, played in the water, and treated ourselves to a fudge icecream bar. I didn't have my camera with me, but here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of what the rec center looks like.Surprisingly, we didn't have anything we HAD to do on Saturday. So, we took advantage of that and hung out at home most of the day. Usually we have a full day of birthday parties and other activities to attend so an occasional lazy Saturday is a nice break.
On Sunday evening we had a group of friends over for a BBQ. Ashlyn planned all weekend for this and we even went to Hobby Lobby to pick up a couple of crafts for the kiddos to make. The kids kept themselves busy in the bounce house, hanging out in front of the misting fan, and the greatest fun was playing dress up with Ashlyn's 2 trunks full of outfits, shoes, and accessories. Some how they managed to sneak in to my bedroom and complete their 'looks' with some of my lipstick (applied clown-like). We were able to get the kids to stand still long enough for a photo op. I'll post it as soon as it is emailed to me. Surprisingly, I didn't take any pics. I usually have my camera ready at all times, but since I was playing "hostess with the mostess" I wasn't able to play photographer this time. We all had a great time hanging out and enjoying great food, great wine, and great friends! I don't know why we don't do this more often!
I took the girls to another waterpark last week while we were staying at my parents' house because our air conditioner was being replaced. Never fails, if an A/C is going to go out, it will pick the hottest day of the year yet and it will make sure it happens on a Friday evening so you have to spend the entire weekend waiting for the unit to be replaced. Lucky for us, we had somewhere else to stay. Below are the pictures from that water park. Ashlyn, of course, was full force into the water as soon as we got there and immediately made friends with the kids around her. Avery decided to observe and stake out the place at first, but was soon in the water right along with her sister and the other kiddos.
