The Sink Family!: Sweet Sink Summertime

We had such a fun summer this year. The girls have gotten... easier?? More fun?? I don't know the right words, but getting out and to the pool or just playing outside is so much more enjoyable. We tried to soak it all up the best we could, and by the time Labor Day came, I didn't want it to end. We tried exceptionally hard to get out and do things outside our comfort zone, knowing the girls aren't quite as fragile and can be more flexible with their schedule. We signed them up for gymnastics. We went to the pool a ton. We did Water Country and the beach. We tried to get out of the house, and also relax as much as possible. We tried to separate the girls and give them each one-on-one time.

Photo dump in 3-2-1....

starting off summer with serious gardening (yes, Ella has a snow shovel...)

kicking off lazy pool days with a baby pool at Nana and Papa's house

We learned super fast that two pieces and no diaper aren't really our thing. I mean, Ella can kind of hold her own, but Skinny Syd doesn't have a chance. I mean, Nana's sewing machine couldn't even help most of what we had. She legitimately needs 9m or 12m bottoms. So we did the best we could, but mainly stuck to a one piece. Which I thought might be awful from a bathroom standpoint, but really wasn't that bad.

On the flip side, we were able to wear just about all of our shorts/bottoms from last summer.. so can I get an Amen!?

hammock swing triplets

Memorial Day weekend pool party #2 - Uncle J's family pool

sweet, sweet crab girls

We were in the middle of enjoying a shrimp boil when it started pouring down raining. We ended up coming home to "rest":

resting - everyone but the mama

The Greatest Showman dance party

and my hydrangea bloomed! look how pretty

tutu dresses and necklaces

We have lots of rules around our house. One of them is: you can only jump in puddles if you're wearing rain boots. That rule was formed one morning during daycare drop off when someone decided to jump in a puddle wearing sneakers.

So when we can, we step into our boots and go find puddles. During this walk with their momma, they had THE BEST time!

Uh oh... I see one... get ready...

GO!

Splash!

Daniel and I were desperate for some alone time, and get away from being Daddy and Momma. We called in reinforcements (Grandma) and tried out a new thai/sushi restaurant for dinner.

just us two

being fancy and stepping outside of our comfort zone... sushi, fancy beer, and a boozy drink

trying a sushi roll of eel

Then Monday morning rolled around and the girls wanted a picture in their new crab dress. (Ella says "trab"). They had the great idea to do a big jump off the step...

Poor Ella! She crashed and burned. And a few months later... she still won't jump by herself hahah

It was a gorgeous evening, so we packed up dinner for the girls and headed to the park.

swinging Sinks

The newest obsession: finding ladybugs and bringing them home from school in two cups taped together with holes punched in. Oh, the joys of toddlerhood. So much to their surprise, they found one while eating dinner!

so excited about her find!

checking out her "yadybug"

Saturday rolled around and we went back to the park. Much to our surprise, we had it all to ourselves! The girls have gotten soooo much better at the park. They can do most everything, which is great, but the main problem now is other/older kids. They are having so much fun, they just trample over the little ones. So when we showed up and it was empty, we breathed a huge sigh of relief and enjoyed our coffee and chatting away.

drinking coffee with this guy.

and they're off, having a blast

"Daddy's being silly"

Daddy and E snuggling... love having the porch back open for the season

Pretty dresses
Minnie slippers
Star Wars light saber, mask, and cape
Typical

using The Force

when you have a twin sister, she holds your dress up for you while you potty... I have a sneaky feeling they'll be doing this in bars later in life ;)
(the daycare teachers tell us they do this often at school, ha!)

sweet kisses wearing Sweet Honey

spinning

We tried out an open gym at the local gymnastics place, just to be sure they loved it before we signed up for summer classes. Spoiler alert: they are obsessed

leotards, sippy cups, fruit snacks

doing the crab walk together

After the girls got ready, I went into my room to put on my jewelry and shoes. I came back to them just like this... they had found a bug and were investigating together

Ella is wearing my shoes and she is "walking my puppy" (aka Sydney crawling around wearing a dress up necklace)
Seriously... this isn't even an unusual scene at our house. Their imaginations are so hilarious.

Some mornings you just have to snuggle in Momma's lap

they decided they didn't want to match today. it only lasted a day, ha!

headed to the pool

Sydney and her big ole jump right into Summer

we tried to do pizza + pool on Fridays. it started to thunder, so we had to move the pizza party home

<3 <3

Hey, Elle

We celebrated Father's Day at the pool

Splash Day

First gymnastics class... ironically enough, Ella is WAY more flexible than Syd

balance beams

"I yike yemons"
translation: I like lemons.

they have their daddy wrapped... he bought them the fanciest two-seater he could find

We decided last minute to go visit the Lehmans for the weekend. It was the first time away that the girls didn't sleep in pack 'n plays! They did great, and we all had fun.

bounce house fun place with Emmett

The next day, we visited the aquarium. Nana and Papa gave us tickets for Christmas! Feel free to keep scrolling... the majority of our pictures are of their backs.

the dads and their kiddo(s) looking at alligators

looking at Komodo Dragons, like Abby across the street

Momma and E

they were so excited to see a Dory fish

stingrays... we walked up to the exhibit right at feeding time, and one even splashed water all over Sydney

snack time with our buddy Emmett

look at that Shark... and look how fearless they are!

such a cute picture.. and Bobby was a true superhero picking up the girls with Emmett on his shoulders

I spy two girls looking at something cool

And then we paddled our way home! Such a fun day

We realized on the way home our AC in the van was barely working. Whew, such a warm drive home! To cool off, I told the girls to strip down when we got home... so naturally, they found winter gloves, sparkly tutus, fairy wings, star wars stuff, crown, Minnie slippers....

time for Brave

these two sometimes can't get close enough

this is how we feel about Monday

Momma's lap is filled up to the brim

Daddy is the funniest

secrets with Syd

gymnastics... notice Ella didn't want to have any part in jumping ;)
#ptsd

these two had the best time wrestling and racing in the baby pool... for some reason I can't upload the video right now, but I have the most hilarious and adorable pic of them wrestling

chicken nuggets and the play place make for two happy girls

we had to take Daisy for a walk, and naturally, we did it in the new whip

Since we are lame and fireworks are hard on the 4th of July, we went to see them the Saturday before. We found a nearly deserted field and the girls played and ran until it was dark. We missed all the crowds, and were far enough away it wasn't too loud.

running back and forth and back and forth

watching fireworks while holding hands with my favorite guy, and looking at these two sweet heads

for Seth's birthday, we went to "Abby's pool" and were so thrilled that Nana stood in line with us at the slide

Daniel and I didn't mind the zero-entry pool, complete with a mushroom water feature and lounge chairs

cheering on Abby

it.was.so.hot
so we brought along popsicles!

And instead of sparklers on the 4th, we did them on the 3rd!

4th of July surprise breakfast courtesy of their Daddy

After breakfast, we went to the pool for a bit

And did water balloons at the Couringtons

headed across the street for a cookout..

... and poppers!

American girls in Noah's American truck!

Sydney came home with another taped up cup. Assuming it was a ladybug, she quickly informed us it was a "big ole ant". And they proceeded to tell us about the "big ole ant" for days and days after.

she was just thrilled with herself and that big ole ant

Clara turned 1! And that was all for the pictures we took.

princess Belle

I found two monsters at the pool

ring pops

Sydney's butterfly net caught a little girl!

just a little bit of behind-the-scenes footage

another Wednesday, another splash day

"I picked a flower for you"

sweet sisters

We go together like peanut butter and jelly

Daniel was helping his mom, so I put on my big girl pants and took the girls to the library to get library cards and some books, then to the park by myself (HUGE deal, go me *pats on the back*).

they did so good, until they didn't ;) it was clearly time for a nap

We took the girls to Buckroe Beach for the day... there aren't many waves, and it was perfect for us.

looking for birdies

they needed sandy snuggles, so we happily obliged

so few and far between, I'll take them when I can

bear walking right into the water

we tried to get them to lay down and rest. they had to chat instead

Ella had to get in one more chapter before school

Nana came to watch us at gymnastics

they aren't good at hiding... they giggle too much

I just love us

Where the Wild Things Are
library book time before bed

you always need your person to fix your wings for you

this week's letter is F, so we flew right into school wearing fairy wings

I don't know what got into me after the library/park... because then a few days later, I took them to the pool!

And yes, I felt like a total badass... because that ain't no easy feat...

And sometimes, you can't get enough of your sweet sleeping babes when you go to check on them

Daniel's family tries to get together to celebrate their dad around/on his birthday. I love the tradition they've started... they normally try to go to the pool (his dad was a total pool rat). This year, we had a ton of rain the weekend of his birthday. We improvised and everyone went bowling that morning. Then, we all dropped off our babies, and went to dinner, adults only. It was awesome. I don't think we've done that since before Jacob came (4 years ago...), and we had so much fun. I think this is the start of a NEW tradition!

I can't quite get enough of them

Ella bowling for the first time

Sydney gets it honest

The girls did okay... I think they were a little bored, and just a little bit young. They did, however, really enjoy the games

isn't this how you skee ball

she's so intense

Getting ready for Texas de Brazil

meanwhile back at Nana's... they made lemonade.

Sink sibling dinner

love this sweet man of mine

just a little bit of post-dinner shopping

silly girl

reading books in Momma's bed on a dark, rainy day

After gymnastics, I took Sydney to get dinner and our hair cuts. Ella went to dinner with Daddy and Grandma. After Ella and Daniel's dinner, they walked outside and saw a rainbow. Later that night, Ella told Sydney about the rainbow and said "Syd, want to see the rainbow with me???", and Sydney cried and cried when she found out she couldn't see the rainbow.

that dimple though

typical

...and still typical.

Sink cousins matching and looking so adorable

We celebrated Jacob's 4th birthday at Chuck E Cheese. I'm 100% confident Daniel was way more excited than anyone in attendance. He's been dreaming of this day since he was a kid - growing up and becoming a dad and bringing his kids to Chuck E Cheese.

sweet girls before we load up into the car

classic

Sydney was SO excited for her daddy to shoot basketballs

Ella was driving Miss Blakely

real life, ya'll.

After a good nap, we headed to Brusters for a sweet Sunday treat

My mom helped us out for a few days, and took the girls to visit their Great Granma Fails

love them playing with her necklace and earrings

<3 <3 <3

snuggled up with Momma

next fun adventure: Water Country

exhausted and worn out from a fun day!

We watched Pebbles for a few days while Robin was on vacation. Ella and Sydney were in HEAVEN. But no, sorry, no permanent dogs in our house ;)

Pebbles slept next to Syd

Georgia offered to watch the girls overnight... and even though we had separate plans, we happily obliged! Daniel went to his cigar event, and I spent much needed time with my sweet Momma. We had lunch and lounged in the adult pool for the afternoon.

good for the soul

I went home and cleaned up and Daniel and I went out for a late night date to a place we'd never been called Croaker's Spot. We split a huge fried seafood platter, and even made it past 10pm!

The girls came back home and we were back at the pool.

hanging out with Pebs

kisses before she heads back home

Since this was our "off" year for vacation with my family, we were sure to make a day trip to Buckroe Beach together.

finding shells with Nana

birds!

beach bum cousins

Papa helped build sand castles

Ella's relaxing game is on point

I can't get enough of these two... they were giggling in the kitchen and I came around the corner to them sharing a cup of ice

New dinnertime obsession: corn on the cob

giving our Halloween costumes a trial run

Syd is always cracking me up

Ella's morning situation

waiting in line for a before-school snack... such hard decisions so early in the morning

post-dinner and post-rain walk

I pulled up to gymnastics to this scene... they love getting dressed into their leotards in the car

those smiles

After a Sunday nap, we told the girls we were headed to the pool. Sydney was too cold from the day before, so she wanted to stay home. Daniel took Ella, and Sydney stayed home and helped me fix dinner. Corn... are you surprised ;)

Most mornings really suck.

I try to cut the light on early enough to get them awake. I heard them over the monitor after I had cut on the light, and peeked in to this sweet scene

putting on theisocks... also known as, adding 28 extra minutes to our morning routine

Enjoyed an adults-only outing at the Flying Squirrels game, courtesy of a work vendor.

not bad seats...

complete with a fireworks show! they shot them off right in front of us

I braved Chick-Fil-A by myself... and felt like a total badass. They held hands in the parking lot, stood in line to order food, ate their dinner, and played in the play place!

and then we all had to snuggle in the rocking chair before bed.

they took doggies to school for the letter D

To close out summer... TMA gave us a full day off to kick off Labor Day. Since it was unexpected and I didn't have plans, I marched myself to the pool to relax

Lazy start to the end of summer...