(Not So) Sly

Rylee walks into the kitchen carrying one of her little red plastic chairs...
Mommy: Hey Rylee, what are you doing?
Rylee: I'm NOT going to get any candy or cupcakes or cookies!
Mommy: Well then what are you doing with that chair?
Rylee: I'm putting it right here (next to the counter, just below a jar of candy) for the candy can be safe.

She's turning into a little sneakster right before my very eyes...

dear sunshine,

The Chef

Rylee has been way into baking lately - which is great for learning, bonding, making memories, and of course eating - but then we have all these treats sitting around our house...anyone want to come visit?

Anyway, this week we've made chocolate chip cookies, homemade oreos, carrot cupcakes (with PINK frosting...like pinkalicious)...and, a strawberry pizza. Rylee was very enthhusiastic about each step, although I missed pictures of her making and rolling out the dough...

She mashed strawberries sliced strawberries all by herself! (see video below)

made frosting (and sampled it)

put the toppings on

then took a break to eat dinner, which included these bacon-wrapped green beans (I decided to try a few new things in the kitchen myself!)

and, finally, ATE the pizza!

(We managed to make a pretty good dent in it!)

McNamara Reunion 2010

A couple weeks ago we went down to Oceanside for a week with the whole McNamara family and, of course, had a wonderful time! It was especially good to see the Berg clan - we miss them TERRIBLY since we moved away from Utah! It always makes my heart smile when Rylee and Ava are able to be together (: These first pictures (actually, the bulk of all the pictures!) are from our beach day...I had to include these ones of Cailyn in the car on the way there because her faces crack me up!

Ava, Rylee and Avery are quite the little trio! They played and played all week...Cailyn joined in now and then, but give her a year and I'm sure she'll be right there with them the whole time.

Cute Shellie's belly (:I just LOVE this picture, so I apologize if anyone objects to their butt being on my blog (:

The girls were gathering "dinosaur eggs"......Cailyn kept picking this one up and saying in an exaggeratedly strained voice "HEAVY!"

Really Ava, couldn't you share some of your lovely color with all of the poor whities?

As it got to be well past her naptime, Cailyn passed out wrapped in a towel...

...we almost stepped on her/tried to pick up her towel and move it several times!

The next day we went sailing, which was hilarious and so fun...as long as you weren't Ava (she was petrified, poor little sweetheart!) It was sheer chaos (whoever coined the term "gone sailing" as a relaxing phrase was DEFINITELY not sailing with us!)...I wish I had pictures to illustrate the experience because I'm not really sure how to put it all into words, but unfortuantely nobody brought a camera or even a phone on the boat for fear that they would go overboard. I'll just say there was lots of screaming from kids and adults alike over normal things (who knew that water is supposed to come in and out the back of the boat or that you would have to duck for cover every time the sail changed directions?)

The pictures I took before we got on the boat did turn out pretty cute though, if I do say so myself!

On Saturday we went to Sea World and made a little pink and white blur everywhere we went.

The stroller became a favorite spot the more we walked around (:The girls saw these ginormous pink whales in the carnival section and kept asking for one...luckily, a couple (probably in their 40's?) had won one and didn't want to carry it around so they gave it to Rylee. So yes, our living room is now half-way full with a pink whale. Don't ask how we managed to get it in the car on the way home, we probably couldn't figure it out again!

The Shamu show was the last thing we went to and the girls all loved it!

(I love this picture of Cailyn and Ava)

Everyone left tired and happy!

Wish we could have weeks like this with these people more often!