Doing nails!  Veta took her tutu off because she was afraid it
would get dirty.  The other two had no such qualms though!

Today we had a little ballerina party for Hazel to compensate for her missed birthday party this year…well, we had a birthday party, but it was only family, which isn’t as fun.  Hazel invited her little friend Millie over and they watched The Twelve Dancing Princesses (and danced along in their tutus that my sister made for them), had fancy cupcakes, made wands to match the tutus, and did nail painting while waiting for the glue on the wands to dry.  They were having so much fun that when Millie’s mom came to get her three hours later, Millie was very reluctant to leave!

The girls had a lot of fun gluing rhinestones on the ribbons
and stringing glow-in-the-dark beads on them, too.  Now, when
they wave them, they sparkle in the light and glow in the dark!

Veta took this picture of Gemma falling asleep while clutching
Dale's cell phone.  He had turned some music on for her to
 listen to.

Dale went home yesterday.  Even though he has yet to secure a job here, I expect he will be back in a few days for another lengthy visit.  I am enjoying having the space back that his stuff occupied, but I miss being able to pass Gemma off to him when I wanted to get some things done…particularly around her nap time!  

Veta and Hazel

Hazel asked me the other day when summer was going to come.  It is rather silly that it’s more than halfway through June and we’ve only seen a sprinkling of warm days amongst all the cold, overcast, windy, and sometimes rainy days…and in that sprinkling, there was only one day that had the heat of a summer day.  Luckily, we had been anticipating a nice day and were able to take advantage of it.  We spent the day at the park, where the girls played soccer with Dale, we picnicked, and then topped it off with smoothies when we got home.

Dale taught Veta how to head-butt the ball.

The park field didn't have a soccer goal, so Veta's flip flops
were serving as markers.  Hazel almost scored!

Gemma watched them play for a while, but it didn't take her
long to decide that pulling the grass was more interesting.

We drove to Blackfoot this week to visit Grandma Great in the hospital.  She had fallen and fractured her hip, so Veta and Hazel made her get well cards.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think to bring my camera for pictures (I blame Danny), but it was a fun visit and Grandma Great seems well on the road to recovery.  After the hospital, we went out for lunch and then headed to Rainbow Park, where Veta and Hazel got to play with some of their cousins and burn excess energy before the drive back home.

...and hooray for comfy pants to watch movies in!

Hooray for summer vacation!  Although the first day was cold and windy, today seems to be shaping up to be quite warm.  Surprisingly, when Veta came home from school on the last day, she wasn’t very thrilled for summer vacation to start.  She had grown to love her teacher so much, she didn’t want to miss her!  Veta got her teacher’s address so she could write to her over the summer.

I don't know who was having the harder time - Dale with all
the extra weight, or the girls trying to keep their balance!

Dale has been staying with us for the last week.  He is trying to get a job here so he can justify to our mother moving in for the summer.  The girls have been having a lot of fun harassing him.  They make him give them horseback rides up and down the hall and enjoy sitting on his back when he tries to do his daily push ups.

Gemma caught in the act!

Danny has taught Gemma how to climb.  Gemma used to be content to sit in my lap while I was at my desk sorting mail, paying bills, or whatever, but now she insists on climbing out of my lap and sitting on top of my desk.  Anything short enough for her to reach her little knee up to, she climbs.  Dale was complaining that Gemma kept turning off his computer when she pulled up on it (the blinking blue light is irresistible!) so we put a laundry basket upside-down beside his computer for a quick fix, thinking that it would be wide enough to deter her.  A few minutes later, Gemma had climbed onto the basket and was back to poking at the power button.

Hazel and her hazelnut brownie (missing a bite)

Hazel and I went to the grocery store a few days ago to buy some walnuts for banana bread.  I was having a hard time finding them, so I was reading aloud through all the nuts to be sure I didn’t pass up the walnuts.  When I read “hazelnuts,” Hazel immediately decided that we needed to buy a bag of them.  I’ve never purchased hazelnuts before, so I was a little uncertain what to make with them.  Luckily, there was a recipe for brownies on the back of the bag so I didn’t have to look any recipes up.  We made a batch of the brownies last night and I would have to say that they were some of the best brownies I have ever had from scratch!  Hazel was very proud.

Veta took this picture of Hazel being "cool" in Dale's sunglasses.