Day 290 - A fruity afternoon tea

Spring and Summer are my favourite fruity times. The summer fruits are coming into season - delicious mango, strawberry, pineapple, berries - as you can see Ava likes to indulge in a bowl of these fruits too. 

Day 288 - Giddy Up

Today we planned a day at the races with my dad as his present for Father's Day. Morgana, Isabel, Matt, Melanie and Dave came along as well. It was a beautiful day to spend at the races. The girls had a great time - Ava on the jumping castle and following Isabel around, Olivia drawing and also following Isabel around. There was a few moments of horse race watching - in today's photo I distracted Ava from the big race which she was watching with her dad.

It was a wonderful day, with wonderful company - some wonderful gambling results for some as well. Looking forward to planning another very soon.

Day 287 - Big bear cuddles

Today, like most days,when I am looking for Ava, I found her lounging around with nanny's big bears on her bed. She is either cuddling those bears or carrying around her bears like babies and playing imaginary games with them. I just love this picture that my mum took of Ava today giving the bears an extra big cuddle.

Day 286 - Meeting Joseph.

Today we went over and met beautiful baby Joseph who is just 5 days old. Such a beautiful treasure. He is the newest addition to the lovely Agius family. Mel, Simon and Patrick were very gracious enough to allow us to come visit so early on. Ava has been asking me every day when we could see Mel's baby, for this reason alone, I was excited to visit.

Funnily enough when we got there, she wasn't smothering baby Joseph, instead made herself at home with all of Patrick's toys.... luckily the Agius family home is like her second home! Before we went home, she had a cuddle with Joseph, Olivia wasn't so so fussed, but she'll be back around soon for a cuddle.

Congratulations Agius family - you all look amazing! Who knew you had a baby just a few days ago? We look forward to watching your newest addition grow up to be a fine young man.

Day 284 - Emotions

Emotions are so varied in the afternoon at our house. They range from extremely happy through to devastatingly tired and sad. This afternoon when I picked the girls up from school this afternoon, they were indeed very happy, as usually today is a Daddy pick up day, it was a nice surprise that I got there first. While enjoying an afternoon snack of strawberries, I tried to capture as many different emotions of the girls. I think Ava's surprised face is my favourite.

Day 282: Swimming! YAY!

Swimming lessons are a favourite in our house. They create such excitement each and every Monday, with screams of we are going swimming with 'Margie'. She is famous in our house. Can even use her as a bit of bribery when they aren't being the perfect angels they normally are.

Swimming lessons are apparently even more exciting when you get to wear your brand new swimmers. Ava was very excited this afternoon to hit the water.

Day 281 - Floriade

Today we went for a family outing to Floriade. It is something we do each and every year. The flowers this year are beautiful. The girls like walking around and picking out their favourite coloured flowers. We did have a couple of touching incidents - lucky the flowers were dying and the petals were already falling off! However I didn't feel so bad when I noticed another little girl walking around with a perfectly formed tulip.

I am going to have to ask my aunty if she is going to dig up some bulbs this year - there were a few flowers I had my eye on.

I captured this picture of Ava with her dad after we stopped for a little lunch break. Couldn't resist that cute smile and the comforting hand on her shoulder.

Day 279 - Enjoying the Weather

Sometimes it is really hard to choose just one photo for the day. Today we had a very full day. We went to the movies to watch 'Tinkerbell - The Secret of the Wings', had lunch with Shane in the city- including a ride on the merry-go-round, played outside and went for a walk to the shops. The three of us had a wonderful day together.

Today's photo is a collage of all the fun we had while we played outside in the beautiful Spring weather.

Day 278 - Outside time

This afternoon we came home and had a play outside. I just love the imaginative play - especially when their play is reflecting their learning. Today, Ava was washing her hands before she cooked dinner in her little kitchen. While she was washing her hands she was busily having a conversation with her friend the shadow. It was all very cute to watch.

Day 274 - Fun times

With beautiful weather in Bingara Gorge, we decided to head out for a little lunch and then a play in the park. We had a great time, me getting lots of manual practice and the girls having fun at the playground around the corner of their house. It was one of our best visits to the beautiful Pearson family, mostly because the girls are really coming out of their shell and instead of hiding behind our legs or holding our hand, they happily hugged Neri and Andy and held their hands while out and about instead of ours. It truly is love - from all sides.

Day 271 - Sleeping Beauties

When the girls are asleep I find it the best time for a spot of relaxing. Currently when I am enjoying my cup of tea and possibly a treat before bed, I am usually found playing the Song Pop App on my iPhone. This collage fitted in well with todays photo theme of love/hate. I certainly love bedtime, while I am pretty sure some days the girls hate it - one day, they might come to love it!

Day 270 - Happy Birthday Grandad

Tonight we went out to dinner to celebrate Dave's birthday. Ava and Isabel were very happy to pose with their Grandad. We went to dinner at Walshes, where the kids ate free - what a score, and enjoyed a delicious flourless chocolate orange cake.

Happy birthday Dave!

Day 264 - Musicians

There is nothing like a little music in your house. I am sure that I wouldn't mind if they had a little tone and rhythm. The girls had a wonderful afternoon playing with their instruments singing songs like 'Hey Diddle Diddle', 'A.B.C' and even some modern pop classics like Maroon 5's 'Moves like Jagger'

I wonder if this musical development is a sign of things to come... maybe they will be my key to being rich and famous. I am sure that they both do indeed have the X Factor.

Day 263 - Underneath

It is amazing how quickly Ava falls asleep. We can kiss her goodnight, tuck her in, walk out, put pyjamas on and she'll be asleep. Amazingly the shenanigans that Olivia gets up to before she falls asleep do not wake her up - nor does she stir from underneath the blankets for a few hours.

Day 261 - Swimming Lessons

Tonight was the last swimming lesson for Term 3 - safety week. Swimming lessons are sometimes the funniest 30 minutes I have all week. Aside from being funny, it was a very serious topic as well. Watching the girls float around with their life jackets around their ears, trying to keep their feet pointing down rather than allowing them to kick to the surface like they normally do, was definitely something I wish I had captured on video. They saved each other with their noodles and life jackets and sometimes they didn't want to save one another.

I look forward to many more adventures of swimming on Monday afternoons next Term.

Day 260 - Strange

Today we took the girls to their movies, Ava who is pictured above, is usually my television junkie. However today, while at the movies, she asked if we could go home and covered her eyes. Which is why I picked this photo for today's photo a day topic of Strange.

We went to watch Madagascar 3, which incidentally, she loved and did not cover her eyes again.

Day 259 - Kitchen Helpers

Today we caught up with friends - while we had a lovely lunch and a catch up, we also discovered through the help of Debbie the skill our children have at washing dishes. They are both possibly happy that we have a dishwasher, but I am sure that I can keep some dishes aside for them to happily wash up.

Day 258 - Favourite

Favourite: most liked; preferred above all others.

Suprisingly I am often asked if I have a favourite twin, of course I do, it just depends on which day it is! What my favourite thing really is - the bond they share. They don't always demonstrate it with the sibling disagreements they have, however mostly they are just in love with one another. Best Friends, Sisters. Could it get any better than this?

Day 256 - Reading Together

I believe there is nothing more important than instilling a love of reading in the girls. I think the amount of times I catch them reading stories, so far I am successful. I love listening to them reading and telling each other stories, especially when they are reading a completely different story to the book they are holding. It is just a little heartwarming because I remember growing up, with my nose often in a good book.

I wonder if I am going to have to look out for reading beneath the blankets with a torch when they get older. Secretly I hope so!

Day 253 - Picnic

Today we enjoyed a beautiful picnic in the sun. The girls are getting into the warmer weather playing outside and having a wonderful time. Olivia is getting right into the warmer weather with a request to wear her skirts every day.

It was a lovely afternoon playing together outside - hopefully the warmer weather continues on the weekends when we get to enjoy it most.