Happy because I love to see them thriving, getting bigger and developing their own personalities. Sad because with every stage that comes and goes, the present becomes the past and what’s left are memories. Wonderful memories to be sure, but memories nonetheless.

The good news is that although memories are formed all the time, the future eventually becomes the present. With all the attendant experiences, laughter, tears and smiles.

My cuties – I love them so.

Our first winner was Sophie, who won a cute little pink pig of which she was very proud. Chloe was not so happy at that point – she would have accepted the defeat if Sophie had simply benefited from a bit of beginner’s luck, but because Sophie benefited from Papa’s steady hand at the water pistol contest, she was a little upset that she didn’t get the same assistance.

Before we knew it, Chloe and Papa had disappeared into the arcade. Sophie and I were conversing outside when we realized that it was taking them a really long time to come back out. So we went to find them, and as it turns out, we couldn’t miss them! Chloe had just won her very own cow, which is almost as big as she is.

Needless to say, Chloe went from tears to elation in about a minute. And Sophie, went from elation to tears in about 30 seconds because her cute little pig suddenly wasn’t so cute anymore. What to do? The only thing we could do. Let Sophie try to win a big cow of her own. That, however, did not work. So we let Sophie play balloon darts. And she won! A cute little pink bear to keep the cute little pink pig company. And all was right in the world.

It’s a very rare occasion that I get to see my two beautiful girls wearing dresses on the same day. The reason for that is simple. Chloe only wears dresses (and skirts, for that matter) under extreme duress.

However, she wore the dress in this photo quite willingly last night; she had, after all, been the one to find it at the store. And if you look at it closely enough, you’ll see that it’s a “French” dress, which was an extra plus in its favor.

Sophie’s dress, on the other hand, is notable for another reason. Anyone who knows Sophie knows that she LOVES to wear dresses. However, she’s generally extremely reluctant to wear anything that doesn’t have at least a hint of pink (the name of my blog strikes me as more “be careful what you wish for” with every passing day) on it. And yet, she wore this dress with pleasure last night. And the only nod to pink was the little pink purse she had in her hands.

I will end today’s entry with a quote from Sophie, who asked that I write, “I love Mommy because she’s my best mother ever!” To which I respond, “I love Sophie because she’s my best Sophie Bear ever!”