This and That ...

I mentioned in the last post that the girls and I got Steve a second chipmunk trap for Father's Day.  We really needed another one because the chipmunk traffic around here has gotten out of control. 

The very next day, we caught a chipmunk ... and Steve asked if we wanted to go for a ride after dinner to let him loose.  We piled into the car and travelled to a location a few miles from our house.  Sam helped her dad let "Chester" go.  (It should be noted that this is the second picture that I took of the event.  The first picture would have been even better -- you would have seen "Chester" actually making his rapid escape, but it turned out blurry.  Why?  Oh, because without me realizing it, Steve had aimed the trap at me and I jumped out of the way, thus juggling the camera, as Chester was running straight for me).

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Sophia has no fear of the sprinkler anymore.  She goes straight for it, even if she is fully clothed.



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The beach ... we spend a lot of time there these days.  A quick little sprint down to the beach, even if it is only for less than an hour, seems to rejuvinate the girls and soothe even the most irritable attitudes.  And this momma needs that every once in a while.

There is something so relaxing about the feeling of sand between our toes and the warm sun shining on us.

Digging deep in the sand and creating masterpieces is rewarding too.

We try to catch at least one fish, just using a net, every time that we head down there.  If you look closely, you can see a bluegill in the sand pail.  (We only keep them in there for a couple of minutes, just so the girls can see them up close).

And then Samantha lets them go.

How Sophia prefers to climb out of the water:

Spending some time on the slide at the beach playground:

Sophia loves to "swim" with her daddy. 

Sam likes to swim with her daddy too, but spends a lot of time just splashing around.

And then, we had the pleasure of having Uncle Jake (my brother) and his girlfriend come over and go down to the beach with us.  The girls loved it!

Sophia is very "hands-on" with all of the sand toys.

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Steve's friend, Eric (Sophia's godfather), stopped by today to show Steve the corvette that GM let him borrow for the weekend.  Sam wanted to sit in the fancy car, and within a few seconds, Sophia made it perfectly clear that she would like to sit in there too!

Our big girl looking out at Momma and Daddy:

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