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Thought I'd just brag about my game the other day. (It's the one on the top). I guess bowling once every three or four years has finally paid off. Time to go join a league. Though I'll have to work on my consistency; I bowled a 105 with no strikes the game just before.

Where we spent the Summer

Only at our favorite water park on this side of the Mississippi! (ha, my uncle owns Seven Peaks, so I couldn't say our favorite water park ever:) We bought season passes for the summer with some friends and I can easily say that this was our highlight of the summer. (We didn't go on any trips this summer, which is another reason we decided to fork out the money . . . . you know, the whole "staycation" idea.) Anyways, the girls LOVED going and each time I would say, "Who wants to go to Zoombezi Bay today?" they would scream and yell, "MEEEEE" and run upstairs to get their swimsuits on. Such fun.

Here they are with their best bud Cohen. Kristie and I traded off driving each time we went, which saved on gas money and made the trips all the more fun!

Some of the group that had passes. We had a great time chatting while watching the kids swim.

This last set of pictures were taken on Saturday, August 29th. Our last visit of the summer. The girls especially loved it when Dan could come with us, because that meant more water slides and more fun! And I loved it because I had someone else there to help entertain and watch the girls.

I love this picture. Leah is practicing her swimming. Look at that determination on her face! And I love her little arm muscles as well.

With Daddy, it also meant more time in the big kid section, and less time in the "baby" section.

The girls' favorite attraction was by far the lazy river. Annie usually preferred hanging onto a single tube by herself or just swimming on her own. I'd start out in a double tube with Leah, but soon abandon it when she decided she wanted to swim like Annie. My favorite would be when Leah would try to walk along the bottom, her tippie toes just barely touching, forcing her to take really quick little steps with her head barely above water. She loved it and it was so funny to watch.

We upgraded our Zoo pass (Zoombezi Bay is connected to the Columbus Zoo) to a Gold Membership which meant we could also get into Jungle Jack's Landing for free and ride the rides. A trip to Zoombezi just wasn't complete without riding a few rides before we left! Annie is pretty brave and loves most rides. Leah, on the other hand, is a little chicken. She liked the train, safari cars, and the little teacups, but that's about it.

Thanks Zoombezi for a great summer!! Oh how we wish we could take you with us when we move!

1st Day of School!

This year Annie will be going to preschool 4 days a week in the afternoons. Perfect for us. We've heard excellent things about this preschool and she was so excited to start! Her first day was today. She had a great day. Here is how it went in her words: "First we did puzzles. I don’t know what was next. We did paint and we did sand and we played kitchen. The snack was the last thing. We went outside and played on the playground. They had slides and a pole. They have little foot things. And stairs that we can climb up. Oh yeah, and bikes. And stop and go and slow down lights where we can turn around. My teacher’s name starts with a G. But I forgot what her name is. She’s nice and a little bit loud. There are a ton of kids. Inside there are green lights and yellow lights and red lights. The green light is if you stay good. If you’re bad you go on the yellow light. I forgot what happens if you go on the red. The red light is a frowny face. The yellow light is straight lips and the green light is smiling. I never got on the red or yellow. Only one kid went to the yellow light. We were sitting down in the circle and they needed to be quiet. It was time for the teacher to talk, but some kids talked while the teacher was talking. So they went to the yellow light. That’s all I know. Sometimes I’ll have bad days. Remember in my blessing? And sometimes I’ll have good days!"

I thought it was so cute how she remembered that in her Father's Blessing last night, Dan told her that sometimes she'll have bad days and sometimes she'll have good days. Although when I asked her what Daddy said she should do on those bad days, she said "I forgot." (He said that she should pray to Heavenly Father and that He would help her and the Holy Ghost would comfort her.)

I also thought this picture was too cute not to post, even though it's kind of blurry. I was walking away after I dropped her off and looked back, and she was sitting all cute doing a puzzle waiting for class to start. Of course, I got teary eyed. My little girl is growing up. She is going to be such a good little student. I am so proud of her.

Camping

We were happy to be able to squeeze in one more camping trip before the summer ended. Perfect weather, perfect campsite (the same campground in Hocking Hills we went to last time, but a different site - we liked this one a little better), and great company led to another successful trip! Memorable moments include fun rounds of late night Mafia (Murder) around the campfire, trying to get back at Rocky and scaring innocent Joni instead, and our 1:30 a.m. visit from the Ranger (he was hiding in the bushes watching us, probably wondering how we could possibly be sober.) Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and here are a few pictures:

Taking Daddy to the Bunny Fountains

The other night we finally took Daddy to one of our favorite places in Ohio - the Bunny Fountains! The girls had been wanting to take him for a long time. They were so excited to finally get to show him this place they love so much! They were in heaven playing and splashing with Daddy, especially Annie. She was just laughing and having the time of her life trying to get him with her cup full of water, and then running away before he could get her back. These girls. They just love playing with their Daddy.

This statue is why they are called the Bunny Fountains. Actually, I have no idea what the official name of this park is, everyone just calls it the Bunny Fountains. Because of these 3 large dancing rabbits at the top of the grassy hill. The girls always have to go up there and play in the rocks.

The weather on this particular evening was absolutely perfect. We spent a good hour playing on the hill. Relaxing and just enjoying being together.

They also discovered the thrill of rolling down hills! They were cracking up so hard, coming up with all kinds of ways to go down the hill, including one they named the Backwards Bum Bum. Annie kept saying, "Isn't this just so fun?" I just love that she thrives on spending quality time with us. I hope that's always the case.

This is a rare sight for the Bunny Fountains. Usually it's just packed with kids. It was nice going on a warm evening when it was significantly less crowded.