The Art Barn

Catch up time!  First up - The Art Barn.  Guesses as to what we did?  Art in a barn, perhaps?  Why yes, yes we did.  But really it's a working farm that lets kiddos come pet the animals, go on a tractor ride, have a picnic, with the added bonus of doing art in a barn.  Sadly, I got no pictures of our art work.  I actually got no pictures at all, as I forgot my camera - but my friend and neighbor came to the rescue and took some great ones! 

The girls had a great time running around, petting the goats, horses, chickens and Thomas, the turkey.  Thomas was awesome.  His head turned from blue to red to white and back again - who knew?  It depended on his mood, they said.  Mommy learned a lot on this trip too! 

Mommy, Kate & Bella

Kate loved the horses.  She just kept wanting to put her hands in their mouths. 

Thomas!

Kate & Ella practicing their donkey grooming skills

This is Snickers, the goat. 

Kate loved Snickers.

Checking out the baby chicks

Tractor ride!

Group shot

Farmer Kate

Farmer Elle

Princess Party

Our local library is awesome.  They have a great kids program and the girls love going to story time most every week to listen to Miss Laura read to them.  So can I tell you how excited they were to go to the "Princess Party" hosted by Miss Laura & the library?  And can I tell you how excited Tyler and I were to take them?  I had to meet them there, so Tyler got to dress them up in their princess gear.  It was so sweet watching him walk up the sidewalk holding his two little princesses hands'.  Tear.

And when Cinderella came out?  Ooh boy.  They both just stared.  She waved and smiled and told them all how beautiful they were and sang a song.  A song which Tyler managed to keep a straight face through, which if you know Tyler, you know is no small feat.  They got to decorate their own princess crowns, color, sing a princess song and listen to a princess story and it was all just super cute. 

Singing a Princess song with Miss Laura

TinkerELLE.  Or Stinkerbell.  Depends on the day.  :)

Princess Kate

Coloring their crowns

With Daddy's help, of course

Not entirely sure about the crown.

Pictures with friends

Kate & Cinderella!  Elle was not all about having her picture made.

Pirates

So, the girls came out of their room the other day and were dressed as you see below. 

They told me they were pirates. 

"Well, OF COURSE you are!" I said.

That's pretty clear, isn't it?

You can't make this stuff up people. 

They crack me up.

Puerto Rico

Oh, Puerto Rico.  Will you be mine?  Tyler and I were able to take an "adults only" vacation here and fell in love with it.  Thanks, Khaki & Ben, for letting us tag along on your 10th Anniversary trip and BIG thanks too, to Mimi & Grandbob, for taking such good care of our little squirts while we were away!

This was the longest both Tyler and I had both been away from the girls, and apart from crying a little bit when the plane took-off, Tyler handled it very well.  Hmm?  It was me who cried when we took off?  Oh, right.  Maybe it was.  And then I watched a movie about rescuing whales.  Were they TRYING to make me have an emotional breakdown? 

Moving on.

We stayed in an apartment in Old San Juan that was quite lovely - minus the air conditioner that did not work in 2 of the 3 bedrooms.  Tyler and I ended up in the one room that did have it.  Khaki and Ben?  We owe you. 

San Juan is beautiful and charming and relaxing and I would go back yesterday.  We visited the birthplace of the Pina Colada.  We ate mofongos & empanadas.  We toured the Bacardi factory.  We had delicious fish tacos from Jersey Mike's place.  We visited the Old Fort.  And at the Old Fort?  We sweated.  We sweated much.  But boy was it awesome and beautiful.  We laughed.  We had awesome travel companions.  Mostly, we just relaxed and enjoyed.

And we missed our girls.  But we are so thankful we were able to take this trip! 

First Day.  First Pina Colada.  Not our last.  :)

Old San Juan

Ahhhhh

Enjoying one of our free drinks at the Bacardi factory

Tyler getting all artsy with the camera.

Giggity. This just makes me laugh.  And it's a great picture of Caty.

I want to go to there.  Again.

Waiting for dinner.  And by waiting, I do mean W-A-I-T-I-N-G.  The scenery helped.

Fort!

 

More fort

View from our balcony.  That's Ben driving down the road in our awesome Jeep rental. 

So much fun.

Hello Sunshine!

We took our annual trip to the beach a few weeks ago with my family and had a lovely time!  We had some quality time with Mimi, Grandbob, Uncle P & Mallory, some tasty seafood, lovely weather and of course, Pina Coladas (made with love by Uncle P).  :)

I am so excited to report that BOTH girls loved the sand this year.  I was hoping Kate would outgrow her tactile issues with it and she definitely did!  She had fun being "buried" in the sand by Daddy and playing with him in the waves.  I hung out with Elle, who played and dug in the sand most of the time, as she was not cool with all the seaweed that had washed up because of a big storm.  

The pool was a big draw too, though it was COOOOLD.  Again, didn't bother the girls one bit!  Daddy was the biggest chicken about getting in.  :) 

Unfortunately, Elle was sick most of the time we were there, but she so tried to be a trooper.  You know your toddler doesn't feel well though when she just lies on the couch without moving and watches 47.2 straight hours of Dora.  But she managed to make it to the beach and the pool and in an effort to convince us that she was fine, would happily exclaim "I'm AM feeling better!" at the top of her lungs.  And then she had an "episode" that resulted in the pool bathroom looking like a scene from CSI.

Fade to black.

Kate had a grand ole time - she was ALWAYS ready to go to the pool and had a lovely time splashing around with everyone.  She was such a silly, joyful little waterbug! 

Can't wait for our next trip!  Thanks, Mimi & Grandbob!

On the road to Eufaula, AL (the halfway point) - Elle is WAY into High Five magazine.

Breakfast at the hotel.  They thought they were SUCH big girls.

Kate was so worn out, she fell asleep in my arms at dinner.  Nothing much better than sushi for dinner and a sleeping doll in your lap.  No really.  It was so sweet (and delicious).

Mother's Day!  Happy to be snuggling with my girls even though one is sick and the other looks like she just smelled something disgusting.

Elle & Grandbob

Big fan of filling up and dumping out.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Mommy & Elle

Kate framing Daddy

So much fun.  Sand is my friend!

"Daddy made a hole for me!"

Still diggin'.

Of course Elle had to have a hole too!

Mimi & Kate

Kate & Uncle P

Bless her heart.

Please find the similarity in this picture.  :)

Shave and a Haircut

Well, really just a haircut.  We made it to 2 1/2+ years before the girls first haircut - but it was time.  Elle was starting to look like a ragamuffin!  Kate not so much because of her curls, but she did have a bit of a rattail in the back - which though it does make me think of my beloved NKOTB back in the day - is not so attractive on a 2 year old.

So off we went to Pigtails & Crewcuts for their very first haircut.  Daddy was able to sneak away from work for a bit to witness the excitement (which took approximately 15 minutes total).  They did remarkably well, though Kate was definitely more excited to be driving a taxi and getting her hair cut.  Elle sat and read quietly most of the time.  They also psychically knew that this place would have lollipops because as soon as we told them they were getting their haircut they immediately said "We will get lollipops!".  Really?  It's like weird toddler intuition. 

Below are pics!  Can't believe how old Elle looks with her new summer 'do and Kate is looking cute as always.

Kate really needs to up her fare if she's going to be a successful taxi driver.

Looking sassy in the leopard print.  Dalmatian would have been MUCH more appropriate. 

Getting a little steering assistance from Daddy.

Nose in a book!

Kate giving Elle their other prize - a fancy plastic ring.  Bling!

Enjoying the psychically intuited lollipops post-haircut.  Elle even got a "princess braid" out of the deal!