MIMI!!!!!!!!!

We counted down the days and then it was finally here!!!  We were beyond thrilled to welcome our BFF's from Canada to Texas!!!  It was their first time in Texas and it was all I hoped it would be.  We left Canada before Mimi's baby sister, Charlotte was born.  I was so excited when I learned Carolyn was pregnant with Charlotte and loved watching her belly grow before we left.  It was so wonderful to finally get to meet that sweet baby girl.  We really had an awesome awesome time and wished it would never end.  Love those girls something fierce!

 Look at those happy happy girls!

 Playing dress up was a very common activity while they were here.  Olivia and Mimi are recreating last Halloween.  Mimi is wearing Olivia's costume and Olivia is wearing Eliza's size 18 month lady bug costume :)

 Olivia has been DYING to have a tea party.  She has several books about tea parties and she just adores reading them.  I figured this would be a great time to have some of her friends over to meet her best friend from Canada.

 Their place cards made from a giant marshmallow and lollipop.  She has a Fancy Nancy book that gives all kinds of great ideas for hosting tea parties.

 She loved it all :)

 How cute is this stinker?!

 Love this girl and miss her as my sister wife!

Two little girls with so much wonder.  Love this photo!

 Fun at the park!

 Playing with Baby Charlotte.  Eliza actually has a little trouble "sharing" with her.  It seems she didn't like another baby infringing on her "territory".

Sliding Fun!

 Silly foamy girls

 We had to borrow my parent's car in order to fit 4 car seats and 2 Mamas in one car!

Cutie Charlotte

 Olivia really loves babies and with Charlotte was no different

 More dress-up!

 Silly!

 Charlotte very interested in watching me cut Maya's toenails!

 Love those sweet smiles shared between two little girls with such huge hearts

Baby Proofing Fail

At least once a week, Eliza does some sort of dangerous or destructive something to make us alter the environment.  One week, it was using the middle drawer in the bathroom as a ladder to get up on the counter and flood the bathroom.  The next, it was moving the bar stools to gain access to the kitchen counter to dig around in my purse and eat all of my sour Ice Breakers...I could go on and on!

Starting several months ago, every time we went outside she ran right over to the playscape and immediately climbed the ladder.  That meant we had to also climb up to keep her from falling off.  So, we had to figure out some way to keep Eliza from climbing to the top.  Mike found some old 2x4's in the garage and tied them to the ladder.  That worked for a few months.  Then I found her doing this:

No need for these anymore.  At least I feel okay with her up there now.  She has finally developed a small sense of fear and sort of knows her limits now.

Aimee's Birthday Party

Olivia's good friend, Aimee had her birthday party at Monkey Bizness.  To say the girls had fun would be a major understatement! 

 Olivia was enormously determined to climb the rock wall

 Happy Birthday, Aimee!

Eliza throughly enjoyed her cupcake.  This little one has a huge sweet tooth!

Daddy Day at Gymnastics

The gym where Olivia and Eliza take gymnastics had a Daddy day on a Saturday for the kiddos to share everything they had been working on this year.  Olivia loved having her Daddy there!

 In the ball pit!

 Daddy in the ball pit

They made the Daddies do push-ups :)

Dance Recital Rehearsal

Seriously, what is cuter than a bunch of 4 year olds in dance costumes?!

 Ducky and Pong Pong were not able to make the real recital, so they came along to watch the rehearsal (and to help me with Eliza!)

Rosina's Wedding

We drove down to Austin for one night to see our dear friend, Rosina, get married.  It was an absolutely beautiful wedding at Laguna Gloria.  In all of my time in Austin, I had never been there.  It is a perfect place for a wedding and reception.  We had an absolute blast.  Great food and even better company.

 Gorgeous bride!

 Us with Trey and Tracy

Us!

In perfect keeping with everything Rosina, they had an 80's after party upstairs, later in the evening!

 

 So. Much. Fun.

(Jolyn, Trey, David, and SSR)

Roller Skating!

Olivia was invited to a roller skating party.  I was skeptical about how well this was going to go over.  She was a little nervous at first, but once we got her the little toddler helper frame, she took off!  She LOVED it and actually got pretty good.  The party was at the Dairy Ashford Roller Rink, the same roller rink I spent every weekend at when I was a child.  We walked in and it even smelled the same as I remember.  It was so funny; a blast from the past.

It hasn't changed one bit in 25 years!

Peek-A-Boo

To this day, Eliza still gets so tickled by playing peek-a-boo.  Eating at a restaurant can be tricky with Eliza.  She gets bored easily and wants to ROAM!  Sitting at a table eating is way too boring for her.  We usually go out to eat early and try not to bother too many people.  Going that early, we usually find lots of grandparents.  Eliza loves to go chat with them and often plays peek-a-boo :)