B's Bubble Bash!

No babies here!  We have a big girl in the house now -- the big 2, that is.  And as you can see, we're pretty pumped about it. :)

Last Saturday was our sweet girl's 2nd birthday -- how is that possible?  We had a great time with on of her current favorite things -- bubbles!  And I gotta say, a great party for a group of big and little kids alike.  I'm not sure who had more fun -- the little ones or the grown ups!

We started the day with letting her see her gift from us -- her very own playhouse!  

Later in the morning we had a little party to celebrate the big day.  And you know I had to keep with the theme in our snacks for the day -- so all kinds of things "popped."  A little popcorn, popped chips, cake pops...we also had circle cut sandwiches, bubble pasta, and designed by big brother -- a fruit salad with all bubble shaped fruit. :)

We didn't forget the big people either in our theme...;)

A little something for the little ones to play with -- can't have enough bubbles! 

Then it was time for all things bubbles!  The biggest hit was definitely the giant bubble maker.  Best $4 ever spent!  Riley got really good at it by the end of the party. :)

We experimented with some homemade bubble mix -- and made sure we had plenty of it ready to go with lots of bubble wand options along with it.  And of course it wouldn't be complete without a bubble machine, right? :)

Lots of time with friends in the pool too, of course.  I'm not sure two kids could love each other as much as Elyse and Will do, but I think these two might make a run for it.  When they aren't mad at each other for not sharing (gotta love friends at this age...) they do love each other -- and here's a litte proof. 

No shortage of presents for the birthday girl!

Every time we got pulled out another present she got really excited about opening the card.  Then as soon as I told her who it was from she would run over and give them back their card and say "thank you!"

There is a whole lot of pink in my house right now -- and I'm not sure if it was bought because they thought she would like it or everyone wanted to watch me squirm...but either way they got their wish! 

A little castle for the princess...

She's 2!  

Thank you, thank you to all who love us near and far -- whether you blew bubbles, sent a message, had a present delivered, called...love was felt in many ways all week.  We are a lucky bunch. ;)

The first of many...

We have a graduate!  Mr. Will had his first graduation ceremony at the end of the school year to mark the end of his PreK days and the beginning of so much more.  He was such a proud little grad -- it's hard to believe that we have a kindergartener in the house, but it's official!

He had a few fans in the audience. :)

Coming in...and so excited to find us and wave.  I love that one of his teachers is just as excited right behind him trying to snag a pic.  Such a testament to how much they have loved and cared for him this year.

Daddy and B (And more excited picture taking in the background).  Love ya Aunt B. :)

Yay Will!  I hope he could hear her cheering -- she was so excited! 

The graduates. :)

So big.  

Yay Will!  

No celebration would be complete without a little pic and hug with his main squeeze(s) of course. 

The obligatory attempt at a family shot...we'll get one right one of these days.

And finally, the ladies that truly deserve being celebrated.  These wonderful women have cared for our sweet boy all year and have done an outstanding job molding him into a little guy ready to take on kindergarten.  We will all miss them as we move on to this next journey...but can't wait to see what it has in store.  Look out!

Lake days

Ahhhh....summer.  

Even though both Todd and I decided to work this summer (why?  great question!) it is still summer!  And although we are working (not taking that term tooooo seriously, I mean, we do still get three day weekends til August) we are still taking time for some good old fashion summer fun.  

To kick off the summer season we were fortunate to join the Simmons crew on a trip to Shreveport for a weekend of lake fun.  It was the first time we were all there together as families of four and was so much fun -- especially for the big kids.

I am sure there will come a day that they don't absolutely adore each other the way they do now, and if that's the case, we have lots of ammo to embarrass them with when that day comes. :)

The lake lady.  Don't kid yourself.  Before this picture was taken she had a full out fit for a good part of a boat ride about putting that life jacket on.  She is a fashionable little gal -- maybe it didn't go with her outfit.  However, once she accepted the required accessory, she asked to put it back on every time she got the chance.

 While we were there we also decided to go check out the alligator farm that isn't too far from the lake.  They had so much more than alligators!  It was great for the kids -- all kinds of animals to look at and lots of room to run around and check things out.  

Of course the big kids couldn't pass up an opportunity for a pony ride.

By total luck we were standing in the exact right spot to get a chance to touch a real alligator -- our little  vets were taking it all in....

And the littles decided it was better to check the alligators out from a little farther distance...

It was an awesome weekend with great people.  Til next time...

5!

Will is 5!  And is quite proud of it, I might add.  So before it officially is a month since his birthday before I get this post done...let's talk about turning 5 around here!

We kicked off the festivities with the Will birthday tradition -- hot dogs and cake with his godparents and Will's best friend, Elyse.  This year he decided that he wanted a dinosaur birthday, so here he is with his gigantic dino egg birthday cake. :)

This was the first year that Will decided to have a small friend party rather than having all our family and friends at our house.  Instead he wanted to take a few special friends to the dinosaur exhibit and we just had a little picnic in the park.  It was so fun!

Meet Mr. Rich.  Also known as Will's dino hero.  Mr. Rich was our tour guide through the paleo hall -- who knew you could schedule private tours for cheap?!?  It was awesome and that was absolutely because we had an incredible tour guide.  I love this picture because it totally looks like Mr. Rich and Will are having a serious conversation about a fossil or something here, possibly debating its origins or something.  Which could have happened...Mr. Rich was pretty amazed at the knowledge base of our new 5 year old and even invited him to come to camp when he turns 6. :)

The tour was great because the tour guide not only tells the kids great stories and facts, he also brought out a bunch of fossils and different things for them to touch and look at along the way.  I equipped each party goer with a magnifying glass so they could properly investigate.

After the tour it was time for some snacks on the lawn!  It turned out to be a beautiful day, so we took the kids outside to enjoy the weather and get a chance to run around a little.  Here's our little dino friends cupcakes we enjoyed. :)

Each special guests got their own box of dino treats to enjoy, complete with their dino name on the box.  Willasaurus Rex had a great time picking out foods and names for all his friends to enjoy. :)

A few adults got to enjoy the fun too if they were the chauffeurs to the special guests.  Or your name is Aunt B (Beckatops for the day, of course).  She was the only adult to get an actual invitation to the event and was an awesome sport about it.  

Once everyone had a few snacks and a cupcake we headed back inside for one last treat -- a ride on the T Rex!  

It was such a fun day!

One of Will's birthday presents was tickets to Legofest that came into town a few weeks later.  Dinosaurs and Legos all in the same month?  A boy's dream, for sure!  And then Nana came in with Dino Legos??  It doesn't get ANY better than that!

Here's Will hanging out with his Lego friend. :)

There was this great art gallery where you could make your own Lego creation and then add it to the wall with everyone else's.  We were there early so there was plenty of spaces to choose from.  Here's everyone proudly showing off what they have made.  

There was tons of Lego creations to take your picture by all through the hall and of course we stop at just about all of them.  But by far the winner of the day was the lion.  I mean, people, he roared.  Which also meant that B would have absolutely nothing to do with him or any other large Lego creation after it.  But Will was more than happy to hang out for a photo op.  

And just because it also happened in May...a quick tball shout out.  Will decided to play this year and really had a good time, although he told his dad that he likes soccer better.  We will see...

This picture of Will's base running cracks me up not because of him, but the action behind him.  This pretty much sums up the season.  Child hits ball, the entire other team swarms the ball and falls on top of it until someone picks it up.  Hilarious.

I have to say, his skills may not be honed, but he has the stance and the look down, don't you think?

And here are the two reasons I think he really played...

sweet Elyse and promised snacks at the end of each game. :)

And through it all, his little cheerleader.  Happy to "yay!" for him while he rides a t-rex or runs the bases, she loves her big brother and his little shadow these days.  And he loves her right back.  

Now, off to plan a party for a big 2 year old!