Don't Go Summer!

This past week Grana, Grandad and Uncle Blake came to visit! In three days we went to Moody Gardens, Galveston Beach, and Schlitterbaun!

My favorite part of Moody Gardens was the 4D Dora Adventure. I sat in my seat with my huge 3D glasses on and was so captivated by the presentation that I didn't move an inch the whole time! The wind blew when Dora swung through the forest, it 'rained' on us, the theater lightninged and our seats vibrated, it was the ultimate Dora experience! Annabelle stayed awake for the whole moody gardens experience, she didn't have a nap until 3:30 that day, what a trooper!

My favorite part of the beach was building sandcastles with grandad. He built an awesome fort with a tunnel, bridge, pathway and more. I liked putting sand in my frog and dolphin molds and then stepping on them! At our beach house, I got to sleep on a bunk bed with Uncle Blake, what a big girl! Annabelle also had fun playing in the sand. Getting dirty in the Galveston mud/sand didn't bother her at all :)

Schlitterbaun was my favorite day of all! It was the perfect place for everyone in the family to have fun. The best part was the 'circle' slide. It was a slide in the pirate ship that was cylindrical and curved around before dumping me out in the water. I must have slid down it 50 times that day along with many other slides throughout the park. Annabelle loved her ride on the lazy river sharing a tube with mommy. She looked so cute curled up in the tube with her life jacket and sun hat. At one point, she almost fell asleep but then a big wave came with a splash and she was wide awake again.

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Play Mat: HallieBelle City!!!

(Mommy is stealing the blog from Hallie again to post about the new play mat.) Let me just say that I love having girls, love, love, love. I do want a boy and hope that God's plan is to give us a boy next, but for now, I am so much enjoying taking advantage of as much of the pink girly stuff as possible. But I decided that although playing tea party, kitchen and dress up all day everyday is great, maybe we should introduce some cars into the mix. So one day at Target (my favorite weakness!) I let Hallie pick out some cars and a track to play with. That brought me back to my childhood and I remembered hours spent playing on our plastic car mat with my sister. So I started researching car mats to buy for my girls. They are all great but just seemed kind of masculine and 'boyish' so I started looking into making my own. I liked the idea of making it personalized to my girls (they each have their own house) and of course making it super girly! I am not a sewer and not really open to learning so I decided to go the felt/glue stick route. I was amazed by how easy it ended up being!  I am so excited to be done and hope that the girls can enjoy this for years to come! Our neighbors offered to lend me their sewing machine to make it more sturdy and I might take them up on their offer but for now the glue is holding like a champ :) Hallie tested it out today and doesn't quite get the idea of keeping the cars on the road (hers tend to fly or off-road) but we are working on that ;)

Cost: $12
Time: 8ish hours
Features: Hallie's House, Annabelle's House, Dallas, Conroe, Cupcake shops, School, Church, Forest, Garden, Airport/Runway, Swimming Pool, Grocery Store, Shopping Mall, Coffee Shop, Parking lot, Zoo, Park and other accessories.

Beginning Stages:

HallieBelle City! 

Parking Lot, Gas Station, Mailbox, Church: 

Cupcake Shops and Conroe (complete with Gramps' pumpkin patch!): 

Coffee Shop, Mall, Grocery Store and Dallas: 

:)

We Heart Summer!

We are taking full advantage of summer and packing in as many fun things as possible! Last week we went to Noah's Ark with Aunt Christy. I loved the slides and waterfalls and running around splashing! Since we met Christy there, I assume it was Christy's pool. So from here forward I will refer to Noah's Ark as Christy's pool. (man, you have a nice pool Christy!) Then Sunday was mommy's birthday so the family came over to celebrate with Rudy's and Cheesecake factory cheesecake, yuuum! Shame on mommy for not taking any pictures of that event. On Tuesday, mommy's friend Emily invited us to their Galveston beach house. On our car ride to the house it was raining cats and dogs, not a good indicator for a fun beach day. But we waited out the rain with lots of toys and bunk bed fort playing in the beach house before the sun peeked through after naptime. Annabelle and I had a great time at the beach but I must admit that I hate salt water. As soon as it hit my lips I freaked out and starting crying for my juice. But eventually I got used to it and enjoyed jumping each wave that came our way! Annabelle loved the free reign to practice her new fast walking skills. Mommy had to keep an eye on her every second or she would take off on the sad into the sunset! All in all we had a great day!

Still loving our chairs! Best money spent ever!

Hallie the Chef

 I love to help mommy cook! I absolutely insist on being a part of the process even if mommy is just microwaving a hot dog! Even though mommy spends more time cleaning up the messes I make while I am "helping" than the time it takes for me to help, I love being a part of creating our meals. :)

Summer Days!

Ah, it is July 8th and we are just now settling into our summer routine. I am having so much fun at home with mommy and 'Belle Belle' as I call her. We keep our days very busy because mommy says she would go crazy if we didn't. I am becoming a pro at potty training! Yep, I'm a big girl now. I have also stepped up to the plate in other ways to prove I am a big girl. I put the silverware away for mommy when the dishes are clean, I get Annabelle's changing mat, diaper, and wipes as soon as I smell a poopy, I climb into my car seat on my own as mommy straps Belle in, and I love drinking out of big girl cups. My favorite thing to do these days is play mommy! I love love taking care of my baby dolls. I change their diapers, sing to them, put them down for naps in bellebelle's crib, feed them tea and cupcakes, and take them for walks to the mailbox. I've got this mommy thing down pat, I don't know why mommy seems to think its so hard!

Annabelle here :) I am walking everywhere now! Everything has changed now that I have perfected (well kind of perfected) walking. Its like I'm a whole new woman! I am a happier baby now that I can keep up with hallie. I can even push her on our lion push toy (see picture below :))! I follow mommy and sister everywhere now. When Hallie needs to go potty, I go to the bathroom too. When mommy slips away to put some make-up on, I am right there spreading blush on my cheeks. When I hear the crinkle from Hallie's fruit snacks, you better believe I am going to get a fruit snack too! If Hallie is building a detailed house out of blocks for her farm animals, much to her dismay, I jump right in to help with the construction. I also love being outside now despite the 100 degree weather. Every chance I get, I ask mommy to play outside or go on a walk. My face will turn the color of a red pepper but I don't care, plop me outside and I am in heaven.

What we have been up to these days: *playdates with new friends *chalking outside *tons of tea parties *spending way too much money at target *watching new shows like bubble guppies and little Einsteins *splashing in our kiddie pool *shopping for a new car *eating lots of hot dogs and cheese mamiches (hallie's way of saying cheese 'sandwich' aka grilled cheese) *morning walks in the stroller *surprise trips to get gelatto... we love summer!