Haircuts

We started out our Saturday morning by cutting everyone's hair (except mine). I cut Alan's hair first (not pictured) before moving on to the girls. They have been needing a haircut for a while, but I always put it off until the cooler weather gets here. I like to keep it long during the hot months so it is easier to pull up and off of their necks, but it is the end of September and cool weather isn't that far away. Even though it is 80 degrees today, we actually had an unscheduled Saturday morning, so it was now or never.

I get attached to the girl's hair and I have a hard time cutting it, but I've been trying to prepare myself for a while. I started with Elsie to sort of ease my way into it.

She is a pro at sitting still and letting me work by now.

That is a lot of hair that came off....

Finally, the really hard one. This is Alice's first ever haircut. I've never even trimmed it before...

It was really long, and really needed a good cut to keep it healthy.

The first cut. Yes, I did cry when it came off. It has her one little baby curl that she was born with. We stuck it in an envelope to save with her keepsakes.

Alice's hair is still pretty thin and wispy, and resulted in a lot of breakage. I have been mentally preparing myself for a while to the thought that I would give her bangs.

"I don't think you're doing this right, Mom...."

The finished product. Their hair is so much healthier and lighter, and even though I have to do a double take every time I look at them, I'm pleased with the results. Alice's look is going to take a little longer to get used to, but she is really excited about it. Alan carried her to the bathroom to look at it after I was done, and she kept touching her bangs says "Look!! Look my hair!! My hair right here, and I can see!!" Her hair was constantly falling into her face when it wasn't freshly done up, so it is pretty exciting for her to finally be able to see.

Summer Rewind - Epicnic

We went to Epic's annul company picnic back in July. We caught a lucky break in the weather; the previous week had been topping out around 95ish degrees, but picnic day only got up to around 80. It felt downright balmy. 

We started off the day with some ice cream...

 And a wagon ride around the property. We saw a lot of the new construction that we hadn't had a chance to see yet.

We had our typical lunch fare of steak, lobster, and roasted potatoes, with hot dogs for the girls. We meandered over to the dessert tent to grab a cookie and a root beer float.

The girls played on all of the big bouncy houses...

And then we checked out the animals.

We even saw a sheep getting her annul haircut.

A bunch of BYU guys formed a team for the Tug-O-War competition. Alan is in the plaid shorts near the back.

The guys did really well, but it was really hot sitting in the sun watching them...

They ended in second place behind the reigning champions of 3 years. Even though they lost the final pull, they gave them a run for their money and won one out of the three final matches against them.

Hot, sweaty, and very full, we headed back home.

Summer Rewind - Swimming Lessons

For the last six weeks of summer we did (almost) daily swimming lessons with Elsie. She was signed up for three sessions, Monday through Thursday, each lasting two weeks. It was a pretty intense schedule, but Elsie loved it and gained a lot of confidence in the water. At the start she would barely get in the water, much less get off the stairs and see if she could touch the bottom with her feet by herself. By the end she was swimming alone (with a floaty) across the pool, bobbing underwater, and even (when she was brave enough) diving to the bottom of the pool for a toy. It was a pretty big improvement.

Alice was a little upset the first few days that she had to stay in the stroller and wasn't allowed in the water, but she got used to it soon enough with the help of an old phone loaded with games and episodes of Mickey Mouse.

First day of lessons

Another shot of her great black eye. I felt like I had to be extra nice to her in public while it was at it's peak...

Last day of lessons

Summer Rewind - Olbrich Butterflies

(Yes, Elsie has a black eye in these photos. She was climbing on the entertainment center trying to retrieve a balloon when she slipped and bonked her face. She sported a shiner for about two weeks before it finally faded)

After a really long trip to Baltimore, Alan had a recovery day in the middle of the week. We packed up the kids and we to see the butterflies before the summer exhibit closed.

Showing off their butterfly stamps.

 Just like last year, the big koi fish in the pond were a big hit.

 Elsie really wanted a butterfly to land on her like one did last year, but it just didn't happen. One did land on Alan, though...

 Back to look at the fish.