Jenna's Move Up

Jenna and her best friend from school moved up to the next class this week. They're exactly 1 month apart in age, and, from what we hear, are inseparable. So cute! They moved up to the 3's class this week (which is really age 2 1/2 to 3 1/2) and were very excited to be able to start going to the BIG playground! The only other differences between the 2's and the 3's are that the 3's no longer get an morning snack (beginning preparations for kindergarten--scary!) and that their curriculum lessons are more in depth. She's really enjoying all of the new areas to explore this week, and especially is excited about still getting to spend each day with her best friend!

Jenna's French Fries

Jenna wanted to help make french fries the other night. I let her do it, and this is how she completed the task:



Needless to say, they were very crispy fries!

That's one way to eat a banana!

Beauty Times Two

We met Uncle Jeffery's cat named Beauty while we were in Louisiana. Jenna was very observant of her characteristics, so she now likes to mimic her. Take a look:

Swimming Lessons

Jenna started swimming lessons last week. She had 4 sessions last week and will finish with 4 sessions this week. She's done very well so far, and we've been very proud of how well she's doing. I asked her what her favorite thing to do in the pool was, and she said jumping. She's not quite jumping yet, but we're working towards it. So that's good to know she likes what she's learned so far. Enjoy these pictures from her first lesson...

Trip to Louisiana

Late last month, we made a trip to Louisiana to visit family. On the way down, we were able to break up the trip and stay in our niece and nephew-in-law's beautiful new home. It was great to get to see them and to have a perfect half-way stop!

We were only in Louisiana for two and a half days, but we had a great time visiting with everyone. Jenna always enjoys seeing her cousin who is so close to her age:

We also enjoyed a wonderful crawfish boil at our brother and sister-in-law's house. Don't these just make your mouth water looking at them?
This is before they were cooked, but believe me they were delicious. They had wonderful flavoring, as well as the corn, the sausage and the potatoes. A fabulous Cajun meal! It was typical summer Louisiana weather though...over 100 degrees at 5 pm and a heat index of 110! It was HOT! We did have a great time, and always love the chance to see our family in those whirlwind trips we always seem to make!

Touch-A-Truck Show

Jenna and I happened on to a Touch-A-Truck Show at Chick-Fil-A this afternoon. We couldn't resist all of the big trucks--she is totally into tractors and big machines right now!

Jenna was intimidated by all of the loud horns, so she didn't want to get in any of them but did enjoy looking at them.
She definitely enjoyed sitting in the dune buggy though...

Enjoying some sweet tea in a kid's size cup...

Within about 10 minutes of leaving, she had zonked out...

July 4th Weekend

Mom & Dad (aka Mimi and Poppa) came to visit this weekend, and, as usual, we've enjoyed our time with them. Mimi, Jenna, and I picked blueberries yesterday morning--something we all enjoyed and will have to do again soon.



Then we used my grandmother's recipe for homemade pie crust and my grandfather's blueberry pie recipe. It turned out really yummy, so I'll definitely have to try to make another one again soon.


We have eaten yummy grilled out meals this weekend too: hamburgers, hot dogs, and barbeque chicken. All were fabulous. We've almost finished an entire watermelon--mostly because of me--and also had some especially sweet & flavorful corn on the cob, which Jenna loved.

We then went outside to watch fireworks in our neighborhood--both on the 3rd and 4th of July. We enjoyed great displays of color against the dark sky and also caught some lightning bugs (aka fireflies) for Jenna. She didn't like the noise (even though she's covering her eyes in this picture), but she loved the fireworks.



She even ended up falling asleep on Randy, in the midst of all of the fireworks--a true sign that she's worn herself out with all of the fun.

Randy's Birthday

Here are a few pictures taken while celebrating Randy's birthday a few weeks ago. We went to Red Robin for the first time (it's new to our area). Jenna loved it--it's so loud there, even if she wasn't happy, no one would have been able to hear! She even ordered her own drink, like a big girl. We enjoyed yummy, unique burgers and endless fries; what a fun evening it was!