Another Great Week of Summertime in Santa Cruz (July 17 - 22, 2014)

This is the face you get when you ask Lily to say cheese, "Nooooooo!"

 ... but then, I know it's taboo, and it was the first time ... but, I bribed her with a cookie. She flew up onto the couch, put her arm around her sister and said cheese for like a minute straight. It was super cute. Then when it was done, she hopped down and said, "cookie"

Here she is hopping down for her cookie

Then it was inside to play around. These girls know how to have fun. First you run around and go crazy, and then you kiss everyone ... and repeat

Lily of course wants Chloe in on all the action. As Chloe is not too mobile yet (just crawling), this means dad carries Chloe around ... like Lily's favorite game "Chloe Getchoo" where I chase Lily around with Chloe held out and keeping saying, "Chloe's gonna get you" and then we have a big hug and tickle when they meet up

Lily is getting more and more into books every day

... and Chloe is learning new things all the time. She has recently started crawling, pulling herself up to standing, and now edging along couches and tables ... her new thing is clapping. She loves the excitement and attention everyone gives her when you ask her to clap and she does it right.

Then we had Chloe's big baptism. She was a pro. She didn't make a peep the whole ceremony.

Like a boss. Chloe's godfather.

Chloe's parents and godparents, along with Father Ron (who also baptised Brendo)

 Then it was back to the house for a little get-together. Chloe was looking pretty gangster in her gold chain.

Lily, Stella and Camille were adorable together and immediately ran off to play together for the entire party.

... but don't forget the babies. There are always lots of babies around.

 Then, the hit of the party as usual, was the old tool wagon. Here are all the girls having a BLAST together, riding around in the wagon.

 Then the next day, a sunny Sunday, Camille, Jama and Robbie came over. Then Nonnie and Poppy came over to boot. We had a great day of pool time in the sun.

We have also been spending a lot of time at Nonnie and Poppy's, and the girls are getting more and more comfortable and happy with them. After a nice dinner at their place, Lily began one of her favorite games ... Lily always finishing eating first (because Chloe eats twice as much as her). Then Lily runs over to Chloe's high chair and starts playing peekaboo. Chloe just goes absolutely bonkers with energy.

Then the next day, while over there, it was dance time. The new favorite to dance to is Happy by Pharrell Williams. Once Lily found out you could dress up and dance, she needed her whole outfit on before she would start ...

After going through her diva phase, it was back to dancing. Here she is dancing up a storm with her sis. She is getting to be quite the dancer ... soon she will surpass both her parents in dancing skill level