"Soccer, Ballet, even tennis"

Ask Madeleine what she does and she will say, "Soccer, ballet, even tennis."  I love how she throws in  the even tennis.  For her birthday Madeleine got tennis gear from Jim's mom an a tennis lesson.  She thought it was a lot of fun.  Dance has also started back up and this year Hadley gets to join in the  fun.  Madeleine has moved up a level and Hadley is in the class Madeleine was in before.  She is so excited to be dancing after spending so much time watching.  Madeleine is also doing a soccer class at the Y this fall.  Hadley also wanted to do that but you have to be 4 so I promised her she could do indoor soccer this winter... they start that at 18 mths!  I'm seeing now how hard it is being the younger sister and being told over and over that you are not big enough yet.

Madeleine in her fancy tutu

Hadley ready for tap

She is so excited to jump in the tap shoes

The soccer spectators

I love the cute shinguards

Working on passing

Even tennis

Vacation!!!

The week before Labor Day we headed down to the lake.  We had a great time and really enjoyed that it was empty down there with all the kids back in school.  It was a great way to end the summer.  And in other exciting news, google finally allows you to upload multiple pictures at one time to the blog so expect more posts... the picking the pictures one by one is the part of the blog that I hated!

The drive to the lake.  Madeleine kept asking why it was taking so long.  She slept almost the whole way home and asked us why the drive home was so short.

Madeleine has spent the summer watching her recital video and has picked up some of the moves from the hip hop dances.  It was nearly impossible to take a picture without her striking this pose.

The girls shared a bed... Hadley loves to snuggle and I think was happy to have Madeleine to snuggle with.

Both girls really took to the water this trip... hip hop pose even when swimming.

Thomas' first trip to the lake.  This is about all he can do right now :)

Uncle Dave and Thomas kicking back

The pool was great for when the lake was really busy over the weekend.  I let the girls wash the princesses in it which was a big hit.

The girls loved the boat.  It was so nice to actually be able to go out in it without the crazy high waves of the weekend.

Swimming off the back of the boat was also a big hit.

Thanks to D and Butch watching Thomas I was able to enjoy the boat too.

Think Hadley enjoyed the ride?

Feeding fish and ducks... they love french fries

Now this is vacation!

Mini-golf seemed like a good idea and was fun for about the first three holes but then the reality of mini-golf with five adults, two little kids and one baby set in.

The lake was so calm that we were able to spend lots of time in the boat.   Jim started the fun by wakeboarding

I waterskied for the third time ever.  It took me a few tries to get up this time. 

Dave demonstrated the water ski trainer to Madeleine and Hadley.  Madeleine said she will try it when she is 5.  I think Hadley was ready to try it this year.

Madeleine and Jim in the tube... wasn't sure Madeleine would ever get back in this after she went under in it last year but she did and loved it.

Hadley also enjoyed tubing.  She would bounce up and down it.

Racing to Daddy.  Hadley kept telling us "I'm a fishie" until she got tired and wanted you to hold her.  Then she would say, "I'm not a fishie"

Splashing off the back of the boat

Thomas went on a real short boat ride across the cove to lunch

The way home... Hadley was not very happy with Thomas' crying.