5/52

"A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2016."

out for a stroll and enjoying a break from the cold weather

this girl.
she is so aware of when I pick up the camera, and usually makes a funny face or closes her eyes.
it is getting harder to catch her in the moment.

linking up with Jodi for The 52 Project

{almost} wordless wednesday: the sound of music

I adore when Sophia puts on her headphones and gets lost in her music. Each time the song changes, she asks what the title is and I love listening in with her.

4/52

"A picture of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2016."

playing chase

cozy on the couch with blankets

These pictures sum up our week pretty well...pajamas all day...staying warm inside...avoiding the winter weather. Is it spring yet?

linking up with Jodi for The 52 Project

Gym-tastic!

One of the best things we have done since moving to Cincinnati is enrolling Sophia in classes at The Little Gym. We started with the parent/child classes, but for the past year she has been taking classes independently while I watch (and try not to be too much of a mamarazzi with my excessive picture taking). This past week was Show Week, where the parents got to go inside the gym and the little ones showed off all of the skills they have been working on. I love seeing how much she has grown - both in her gymnastics skills and her confidence.

Part of their warm up cracked me up - they were a human train and it was hysterical and super cute at the same time. I have a bunch of videos of her routines, but she loves the bars. She recently learned how to flip and will continually go around and around the bars. She is still developing her grip strength and focus, but she continues to be a little monkey.

Sophia loves Mr. Nic and being silly in his class. They both share a love of mis-matched socks.

Emma waiting for the show to begin...and wondering when she gets to start class in the gym.

we truly love the little gym and this is not a sponsored post :)

3/52

"A picture of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Emma is fascinated with the camera. Hard to capture an image of her being still.

Sophia loves her weekly gym class.
This week she was able to show off all of her new skills for us and she had a silly grin on her face almost the whole time.

linking up with Jodi for The 52 Project

Beach! {part three}

This is the last part of beach trip from the summer and these are some of my favorite memories from while we were in Ocean City. The resort that we stayed at had several private bayside beaches that were perfect for our little crew. The beach areas were smaller and allowed for clear visibility of the kiddos and the water was so calm. The sunsets were gorgeous too!

All of the families that stayed in our house. Thanks for letting us crash your annual beach vacation!

After getting covered by a wave when we were by the ocean, Emma wasn't sure what to think of the water by the bay. Fortunately the waves were teeny tiny.

The kayaks were a fun way to explore the area around the bay. Shortly after the bottom picture was taken, Dave flipped the kayak and him and Sophia both got wet. She was brave and enjoyed her trip once she got back in.

Dave wasn't a fan of the paddle board, but I loved it. Surprisingly, I didn't fall off, 

I waited until our last nights to attempt sunset pictures with both girls, which was foolish. Sophia ended up with an upset stomach (most likely from swallowing a bunch of sea water) when these pictures were taken.

We had so much fun at the beach and spending time with our friends. Sophia asks weekly when we can go back.

Beach! {part two}

Way back in August we made the trek to Maryland to spend a week with some of our favorite people. We stayed at a resort called Sunset Island that I would highly recommend. There were six kiddos and six adults in our house and we lived the resort life while we were there. We had access to a splash park, pool, restaurant, bay beaches, and lots of other amenities. It was our first time vacationing with a washer and dryer and it was amazing coming home with clean clothes to put away. The little things make me happy.

We all came with toys and games for the little ones to play with in case of rainy weather, but Emma seemed to be the favorite form of entertainment.

While we were at the beach, some of our college friends came into town too and we had a little Millersville reunion, It was so good to see everyone and their families and it sure made me wish I was closer to see them more often.

We didn't spend much time at the house. If we weren't at one of the beaches, you could find us at the pool. I made a water ring sling so that I could wear Emma into the pool, but thanks to the water flowing off of the mushroom, little ones under two were not allowed in the outdoor pool. Emma still had fun watching and playing on the side of the pool.

adult swim

You can't make a trip to Ocean City without visiting the boardwalk with all of the rides and games. Sophia loved getting tickets and needed a lot of convincing to trade them in for prizes. She could not get enough of the rides either. She was rather disappointed that she was not quite tall enough to ride all of them. I'm glad that Dave will have a rollercoaster buddy when she is bigger.

I can't remember the name of this ride, but as soon as Dave saw it, he knew he wanted to ride it. It basically was a slingshot that shot them up into the air inside a little sphere. It also made me wish that we had added to his life insurance before our beach trip.

Late nights and lots of fun adventures led to some good naps for our little ladies.

Tomorrow I will be sharing the last of our beach pictures (only a few months after they happened).