We never get tired of the beach. There is something so relaxing about spending an hour down there. We fill buckets and buckets of water, if only to keep dumping them back out again.
And it doesn't matter how dirty we get because the girls are always stripped down and rinsed with the garden hose when we get back home. Then we carry them, soaking wet, to my whirlpool tub to be thoroughly cleansed of all of the sand.
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Sam has always loved helping me in the kitchen. But now, Sophia has started wanting to be involved. I took this picture when we were making oatmeal raisin cookies for my dad (a belated Father's Day surprise), and both girls wanted to be on the stool at the same time.
Eventually, Sophia got to have the stool all to herself.
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My sister gave each of the girls a special cup to plant watermelon seeds in. I admit that I was skeptical that it would even work, but we planted them and they sat in our kitchen window until they began to sprout. One of the cups never progressed, but we were able to plant the other one and continue to watch it grow. Sam helped transplant the sprouts to a flower pot and then she made sure that they were thoroughly watered.
The pot is currently sitting on our back deck and is continuing to thrive. It may be a while before we are able to reap any of our fruit, but Sam really enjoys watching the development.
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I have always stressed the importance of washing one's hands before eating (and after using the bathroom). Samantha is very good about doing that; probably because she loves the apple soap that I keep in our bathroom. Well, Sophia now likes to wash her hands too (with Sam's help).
I obviously don't mind, as long as Samantha is there to oversee the process. The problem is that "Little Miss Independent" (a.k.a. Sophia) now goes in the bathroom on a regular basis, without supervision, climbs up on the stool and turns the light switch on and off a minimum of 900 times a day.
And, one might just suggest simply closing the bathroom door, however, that is not a viable option.
It seems that Sophia has successfully mastered opening our door handles this week.
Yes, nothing is safe anymore!
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Trying to get both girls to pose for a picture these days is a definite struggle. We are working with Sam to smile a little more naturally. Sophia seems to do it without even thinking; Sam just tries too hard.
Case in point:
A little better:
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When I was at work one night, Steve and girls set up a tent in the back yard. Sam keeps telling us that she wants to go camping, but this is best that it is going to get this year -- and she's seems content with that. It's just too difficult for me to imagine taking Sophia camping (at her young age, not even walking yet, and with her limited attention span).
Posing for the camera:
Steve picked up a couple of sleeping bags from his parents, and I suspect that Sam and him will sleep in the tent sometime in the near future. Right now, with daily temperatures near 100 degrees here, it just doesn't seem like a great idea.
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Samantha has been trying to teach Sophia new words lately. It's a great idea because Sophia really looks up to her sister and wants to do everything that she is doing. The other night, Sam was asking Sophia to point to certain items in her word book. And Sophia was doing it!
I love how much my girls get along with one another and rarely fight. Sophia is pretty vocal and lets you know when she is angry about something, but Sam never shows any aggression towards her. They really do make a good team.
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Finally, the girls received a special package in the mail from one of my aunts this week. She had specially chosen a few things that the girls would love to play with. One such item was some water creatures that would grow in size when placed in water.
Samantha chose a couple of them to put in water overnight:
Dropping them into the glasses of water:
The next morning (before I even had a chance to tame her wild curls), she raced into the kitchen to see the growth of the creatures that had taken place overnight:
She was amazed!
We are now drying them back out (watching them shrink), so that we can do it again ...
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