A Goldilicious Birthday Party

I decided to go with a "Goldilicious" theme from the Pinkalicious book series for Paige's golden birthday party!  The book had been a regular in our nightly reading for at least 6 months!



The birthday girl was ready for a fun day!





That morning when we were setting up for the party we were trying to decide if the party was going to be in the backyard, garage, or inside.  The forecast was calling for a chance of rain and temperatures in only the 60's/low 70's.  What a difference from last year when it was 100 degrees outside for her party!  We decided to set up outside and hope for the best - well the weather ended up being great!



We called on Aunt Abby and her business Life's Sweeter Side to provide the cake.



It was torture for Paige to take a picture with the cake without being able to eat it, but I wanted to make sure we got one before things got too crazy!





It was a great party for our little golden girl!  We had so many of our family and friends there to help us celebrate! 

And now for some pictures!

















She loved having us sing to her!















We ended the night with some Facetime with Paige's Godfather Johnny. He was sad to miss, but he was out of the country for work!

 

Night Swimming

We have had some hot weather this week which makes for some great evening swims!









I am so proud of this little guy! He is such a little fishy this year. He is holding his breath under water and diving for toys. He cannonballs off the deck and loves to practice swimming with us without his swimmies. He is getting stronger and stronger. He had a great few weeks at swim lessons!



And this little one is too brave - she makes momma nervous! She jumps in and goes under and gets splashed and doesn't care. She thinks she can go in without swimmies or a ring on. When she has her ring on, she just leans her head back on it like she doesn't have a care in the world (which I suppose you don't when you are 2!).



On this particular night we were working on our balancing acts! And Wally's still working on getting rid of that farmer's tan :)









Luke also showed me some of his "moves" off the deck!





See Paige back there?  She is busy eating a "nack" (fruit snack) which she goes into the house on her own and helps herself to everytime we go swimming.  It's like she can't swim without a packet of fruit snacks!





Oh and look what finally decided to bloom around our pool! I don't know why ours bloom so much later than everyone else's but they're pretty!

End of T-Ball {2013}

Last Saturday, we had Luke's "end of the baseball season" cookout.  It was actually very nice and held out at the Monee Reservoir.  They had a jumpy and face painting for the kids.  I have to admit though, this event was much better organized than the actual t-ball season - it was definitely a learning experience for us!

In any case, the kids had fun and Luke was awarded his very first trophy.  He has had one of Wally's old trophies sitting by his bed for probably a year now, but it has now been replaced by one of his very own.  While it's not just about trophies all the time, you have to admit it is fun to get one - especially your very first one with your name on it!

We aren't usually "skull" people, but this is what Luke wanted!



While Miss Paige got a strawberry!













It was a good first year of t-ball and Luke enjoyed himself, which is the most important thing!

A Good Family Friday

I still have a birthday party to post pictures from, but we are skipping ahead to last Friday. 

I take every Friday in the summer off so that I can have a nice long weekend with my family since Wally is home too.  We try to make that day a family day whether it be just hanging out together in our pool or going somewhere fun. 

Last Friday we headed to Brookfield Zoo. 

Before that though, we had Paige's 2-year checkup where we were told she is growing and developing beautifully!  And she is perfectly proportional - in the 95th percentile for both height and weight (31.5 lbs. and 36 inches!).  She did much better with the doctor than she did at her 18-month appointment.  She had her fingers in her mouth the whole time (that's what she does when she is nervous), but she fully cooperated and even said hi and bye in her super sweet soft voice.  Oh and by the way, remember when I mentioned that Paige didn't have too many words, well apparently she was just waiting until she turned 2 because seriously she is talking like crazy now - phrases and short sentences too!  She was just waiting until she was ready I guess!

So anyways...after her checkup we headed to the zoo. 

Paige wasn't in the mood for the lion or the kangaroo below!  She kept saying "cary" (scary)!





This guy was our tour guide for the day. He was so excited to have the map in his hands and direct us on where to go to next. We have even been playing "zoo" at home using this map now!





And you guys, we saw a polar bear dive into the water and put on a little show for everyone! It was seriously so awesome and you could go to the zoo 100 times in a year and never see that happen, but this bear was really working the crowd on this particular day!





Both kids loved the Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit!



And of course we ended our zoo trip as we always do - with a carousel ride!





After a nice long nap for Paige in the afternoon, we headed to the backyard for some swimming, playing, and grilling out!





We ended our fun day with ice cream with sprinkles!



I love my Fridays off!