Keeping up with big sisters

Daddy's girls (and little man too)

Pool action

I want to remember...

For quite some time, Miriam has been saying "anything" when she means "nothing."
-Mommy/Daddy: "Miriam, what are you doing?  Or what do you have behind your back?"  Etc, etc... you can imagine the many scenarios.
-Miriam: "Anything?"
Recently, Miriam is often reminiscing about "When I was a little girl..."

Cora's world revolves  around the color yellow.  She is passionate about it.  It's really pretty neat to see... except when you go to the store and she points out and wants to buy every single thing that is yellow.  We will post pictures later to prove the infatuation.
If Cora offers to share something with you and you refuse - even politely - she is completely crushed and tears will well up in her eyes and sometimes she won't talk to you for several minutes.

A favorite

One of mommy's favorites of the girls together this summer

Different personalities

When I get the camera out, Miriam feels like she needs to be the center of attention while Cora often runs and  hides.  You can see glimpses into that personality difference through this series of shots.

Playtime

Morning glories

Fourth with friends

The kids played...

...and then the guys set off these.

Who says you can't have fun in the city?!?

Summer concerts in the park

7 wonderful years

We celebrated our 7th anniversary this summer by going out to dinner and seeing Wicked at The Fox Theater.

Drop and give me twenty

Discipline starts early around our house.

And a few minutes later...

Blessings

I realize why we don't have as many pictures of Walker by himself as we have of each of the girls... every time I get the camera out, a crowd assembles and everyone (especially Mim!) wants their picture taken.  And unrelated, I love Walker's 'Scooby Doo "Huh?" look' in this picture.

Miriam's store

We so enjoy Miriam's creativity and imagination. She created her "store" all on her own then asked me to take her picture by it.

Marcus, Shanna & Harper's visit

Uncle Marky, Aunt Shanna and Harper visited a few weeks ago, but I think most of the good pictures were taken on their camera. Here are a couple fun videos to share though. We visited the fountains in the Children's Garden of the Missouri Botanical Gardens:

And Uncle Marky had a lot of fun with the girls in the backyard:

Now THAT is a look of pure joy!

Zoo with friends

A visit to the StL Zoo with some good friends from our community group...

As you can tell, the train ride was the highlight of the day!

More fun on the farm

Aunt Ali's softball game

Kittens, calves, killer waterslide

A visit to Grandma and Grandpa Hess' house at the beginning of June:

Memorial Day Weekend

Not documented with pictures: nail in Miriam's foot :)

Make Tracks

A few weeks ago, our whole family ran a 5K in Forest Park to benefit the St. Louis Zoo. Cora thought we might be most competitive like this.

But Mommy and Daddy decided it would probably work best like this.

Daddy ran really fast (and even left Mommy behind at the end of the race, per Mommy's request) and was the first stroller across the finish line... and the only stroller that we saw with more than one child that was actually competing in the "run" part of the race as opposed to the "walk."

Cora did finally get her own chance to run; Miriam opted not to compete this time. Bear with the shakiness at the beginning of the video; it gets better. Cora is STILL talking about running over the "big bump" at the end and how she wants to do it again sometime soon.

Happy Father's Day!

I meant to get this up yesterday, but didn't get it done and would rather do it late than not at all.  :)

Miriam's self-portrait

Complete with a flower!