May was beautiful with lots of outdoor time! It wasn’t too hot, which was perfect for my hugely pregnant self!

Samantha boogies at the park.

Apparently, everyone was in a good mood at the park today!

Snacking and lounging at the Lake Forest Sports Park.

Our caterpillars finally emerged into butterflies and after a few days of trying to keep Meredith from poking them, it was time to let them fly free (likely to get eaten by the plethora of hungry birds in our backyard seconds later).

Our neighbor had the cutest flower planting/gardening birthday party and one of the games was eating donuts off a string. Very entertaining for the parents!

Meredith totally cheated!

One perk of Jake being on the Board of Directors is being invited to special events, like this private party at the water park for Board Members and volunteers in our community. It was a little chilly, but the kids didn’t care and due to the live steel drum/reggae band and catered dinner, if I closed my eyes, I imagined I was in the Bahamas for just a second…

Meredith made a new friend!

The girls’ favorite part was the ice cream sundae bar.

Arts and crafts time.

I was lounging by the pool when Jake was with the kids at the craft table. He later told me there were some old lady volunteers nearby whom he overheard remark, “Did you see that lady in the blue and gray? She looked like she should have given birth YESTERDAY!” And then I walked up to Jake about two seconds later and they realized I was with him haha! Gossipy old ladies!

Knocking over the Jenga tower was a huge source of contention, so we left when the girls started fighting!

The end-of-the-year fundraiser at the girls’ preschool was the Helicopter Golf Ball Drop, which like last year, was a huge hit with the kids. Meredith couldn’t believe she got to see a helicopter so up close, and one dropping hundreds of golf balls to boot!

Another highlight was finding this eerily friendly bunny on the green.

I wish the kids would pick up their toys at home as fast as they picked up these golf balls after the big drop.

The girls were so excited to meet up at the splash pad with Noah and Hailey who were visiting town. Cousin time!

Hailey was not too happy about Meredith constantly being in her face!

Noah and the girls making mud pies.

 

We started our yearly swim lessons with Miss Conni and Miss Erica and the twins worked on their freestyle stroke, began learning the butterfly and breaststroke and of course, had fun on the diving board. Meredith does her own separate swim lesson with Miss Conni that Jake takes her too and Miss Conni says Meredith is a natural! She looks forward to her Daddy time twice a week and is the only kid in the class who can jump off the diving board and float to her back. I need to remind Jake to take some pictures and video of her, because every time I go to the twins’ lesson, Miss Conni raves about Meredith.

A monthly recap would not be complete without documenting squabbles and fights. There’s a lot more where this came from.

Meredith begs to sleep in the twins’ room every day at nap! This month, Meredith also had her first impromptu day of preschool. I had to be at school setting up decorations for Teacher Appreciation Week and asked Miss Debbie if Meredith could join the toddler class while I was setting up. Meredith didn’t bat an eye or say goodbye to me– she joined the other kids right away and had the time of her life! We were there all morning and Miss Ericka said she was the star of the class!

Our new pool cleaners.

Don’t know that much pool cleaning is going on.

S’mores time in our backyard fireplace.

Who you looking at?

Weekly park playdate with friends.

A rough day for Amelia!

Experimenting with curlers.

Highlight of the month: playing with this enormous box for a few days until I got sick of it being in our garage and threw it out, to the girls’ great disappointment.

I can’t believe the girls had never actually done a pinata before, but they got their chance at Allie’s birthday party. Meredith was especially fascinated with the concept of whacking something with a bat and collecting the candy that spilled out.

 

At the end of their ballet/yoga class, the girls do a relaxation time and then a craft– their favorite part!

Movie night.

I spend a good majority of my afternoon ignoring tattle tales over who knocked over their block towers.

Playing with neighbors at the pocket park.

We spent pretty much every weekend in May working on projects. Meredith helps Daddy with the closet floor!

Lazy hammock afternoon.

Samantha and her acrobatics.

This is how Meredith wakes up:

Meredith’s crazy toddler tantrum side:

Sweetly singing!

Our ward went on a Memorial Day morning hike to the top of a peak in San Juan Capistrano overlooking the ocean. At 9 months pregnant, I stayed home, with Jake braving the hike by himself. I was concerned it was 3 miles roundtrip and really steep, but the girls did great, even though they were the last ones up the trail!

At the top, they signed the visitor book and sang some patriotic songs before heading back down. Apparently, our Bishop helped push Meredith in the stroller while Jake carried both exhausted twins on his shoulders!

A sweet post-hike reward.

Lots of love,