This and That

Now that I've finally finished posting about Utah, we can move on to other things.  This summer has been crazy busy, but if you were to ask me what we've been doing, I'd draw a blank.  Our days are filled with parks and picnics and walks (and the ever-present errands).  Between that and potty training Ella (!), we have been running. And yet it feels like we aren't doing any one thing in particular.

Well, other than the potty training.  That sucks up all your time and energy.

Anyway, here are some random pictures (complete with the stories behind them) from the past couple of months.  They aren't in chronological order, just in the order they loaded up on my computer.

Julia went to Vacation Bible School this summer, and she LOVED it.  She goes to school at one of the Presbyterian churches in town, but their VBS was during our trip to Utah.  So we opted to go to the other Presbyterian church.

She learned bible stories, scriptures, and lots of songs.  The song that stuck (and continues to stick, in our heads, every. single. day) goes like this:

I am a C!
I am a C-H!
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N!
And I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my H-E-A-R-T,
And I will L-I-V-E- E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y!

Her latest superhero name is, "Super C-H."  I think it's fabulous.

While Julia was away, Ella and I got to play.  It made me so excited for school to start,so I can get some one-on-one time with this lovely girl.  Our library has Touch A Truck day every year, so I thought it would be fun to take Ella.  Unfortunately, it was postponed due to rain.  Fortunately, the fire truck came anyway!  Unfortunately, Ella was less than impressed.

We waited in line for a few minutes, got up in the seat, I snapped this pic:

And then I got an, "All done!"  I guess it was a good thing we didn't have all the trucks there, she was not interested.  We opted not to go back for the real deal.  I think it was a good decision.

We've been loving our little zoo!  Here are the girls, taking a rest on a hot day.

I actually did Julia's hair.  And it involved a braid.  This is big news. 

Ella was walking around the house like this, bringing laughter and joy to all. 

Then she put a skirt on.  Still a great outfit.

One of the rare moments they were playing together, instead of fighting with each other.

One night for FHE I pulled out the old, "Sock Toss Game."  Ball up some socks.  Throw them in a laundry basket.  Repeat.  I remember doing something similar as a kid and thinking it was the best game ever.  I'm pretty sure Julia and Ella felt the same way.
 

Ella gets quite the handicap.

And finally, we made a bold move and took the front off Ella's crib back in June.  I'm pleased to report that she has only fallen out of the bed once.  And she still won't get out of bed unless you give her the ok, which is great news for us.