Leia's & Shenan's Big Day in VA

Today, Leia Rose, Annie, and I traveled to Virginia to visit with Shenan, Armelle, and Laura (their Mamma). On the way to the pool, the girls stopped to pose for this picture for me. Hey, who's that homey with the scooby doo winter hat on? Oh! It's Shenandoah! Thanks for letting us hang at your crib today! : )

Since there was a big storm last night, the girls got to help the lifeguards pick leaves off of the bottom of the pool. This reiterated the fact that Leia Rose still cannot dive down to the bottom of the pool to save her life. She definitely prefers to remain on top of the water while swimming. Hope she gets inspired by you again, Shenandoah!

After the pool, the girls shared popsicles together.

The popsicle pictures were just too cute to only include one . . .

And no visit between Leia and Shenan would be complete without a came of beach (where they jump off of a large stuffed bear (the diving board) onto a big blue blanket (the ocean). When they were younger, they always wanted to play that game bereft of clothes, . . . now they're a bit more modest. I don't know how I missed taking a picture of this game. I suspect I was up feeding Annie or something because when I came down, all of the accouterments were strewn around, already played with. : ) And today the girls added a new game to their repertoire:

Look at this ferocious face! This is Leia's and Shenan's new game of "Dinosaur" in which they did lots of roaring while they were pretending to be Tyrannosaurus Rex dinos. They even had baby dinos (really dolls) that they dressed in clothes. Before I knew they were playing and I came over to give Leia Rose a kiss, . . . she roared and actually startled me!

And here are the dinos getting ready to roar!


And they ate some silly snacks, . . .



And they played dress-up . . .




I got to play, too! (Can you see the hat on my head? Leia Rose suggested that I try it on.) [You can see my injured knee that's trying desperately to heal from when I saved Annie from falling on the tile a few long months ago. And you can see my new crocs, too.]



Then it came time to play on the Worrel's personal bouncehouse! What a fabulous idea for fun-filled playdates!!! Inflates and deflates in seconds! Rolls up to fit on a shelf! The girls even got to ride on the bouncehouse while it was blowing up! (We're going to consider buying one for a joint-birthday/Christmas idea for the girls. Please let me know what you think in the comments.)

Leia Rose loved the slide exit area.

Later, Annie got to ride on the bouncehouse while it was blowing up, too!

I was playing peek-a-boo with Annie through the back flap, and her face was just precious!

Took this pictures to see if you can get an idea of how large this bouncehouse really is. Phenomenal!



And Armelle smiled for the camera (a rare instance, I've heard) because I gave her a high five!

And Leia swung on Shenan's cool disk swing in the backyard. Finally, we needed to suggest the end of playtime before we had to leave (because even though both Leia and Shenan were starting to feel sad about ending their day, we had to get home), so Laura and I got out the timer. I asked Leia Rose how many minutes she thought would be good. She thought hard and said, "Hmmm, . . . four." I laughed, and said, "That's a bit short. How about fifteen?" She agreed, . . . but one day she's going to figure it out and say 90. : ) I told Leia that her behavior about leaving would determine if she could sleep over next time. (She tends to endlessly complain if I don't say something like this, you see.) Needless to say her behavior was perfect. (Not even one complaint about leaving! Unheard of!) And she made me promise (with pleading eyes) that this elusive sleepover would be before she turned five. Okay, Leia, okay. And now I wonder if it's because Shenan's going to get to watch Star Wars on her fifth birthday, . . . and Leia's really scared of it. How the heck can you be scared of it with a name like Leia!?! : )

During their last fifteen minutes of playtime, Leia and Shenan played outside while Laura and I watched from the elevated screen porch. . . .

And Annie watched them play, too! (Such longing in that face! Such longing!) : )

[And I must mention here that it was a special day for Mamma, too. It isn't every day that she gets to hang out with her pal, Laura. We're two peas in a pod about so many things!]