Bowling

The family went bowling over the weekend. We had so much fun! The girls first time.  We had a few minutes to wait and played a couple arcade games. Rylee rocked the mini hoopes game. . . . . not so much on skeeball :)  Kelsey pushed every button in the place.

 Rylee in bowling shoes was adorable.

 Kelsey was tolerable once she was quarantined to the ledge/gate.  It became her race track. She's a bit of a trouble maker that one.

 Rylee LOVED bowling. She insisted on carrying the ball (I was terrified it was going to crush her toes but she did great on her own) She'd set the ball up on the ramp and then push it and chant "Go! Go! Go! Go!" as it rolled down the lane.

She was also enthralled with the ball return. We had to remind her to step back several times.

 She "winned" :)

 

dress-ups

Rylee has started to really get into dress-ups.  I must say this is one of my most favorite past times as well :)  I love the creativity and make believe. I love watching her face light up when she wears an especially "twirly" dress. Rylee is now part of a playgroup (we rotate houses once a week and let the girls play (or fight).  They pack a lunch and Rylee LOVES it.)  They take turns dressing up.  The last time we hosted the girls played candy land.  It got a litttle lengthy for some but it was fun.

 Kelsey is even getting in on this dress up action (aren't those itty bitty wings the cutest?)

 Rylee tried on the wedding dress for the first time.  Isn't she beautiful :) She was sure to tell Michael "I got married today Daddy!!" lol.  She got a little upset when the sleeves would fall down saying "its broken Momma!" The little veil kills me.

 and the flip of the wrist. adorable.

pre-camp

In case you're wondering: I'm our ward's co-camp director and we had our pre-camp camp-out last weekend.

 

We had between 14-17 girls over the 2 days and it was my first night away from my own little princesses.  I traded 2 toddlers in for 17 teenagers. yikes!

 

There is a state park just a few miles from our house that recently opened up camp sites so that's where we went.  It was perfect camping weather (which makes me even more terrified for August): warm in the day but cool at night to where you actaully WANT to build and hang out around the fire and curl up in a sleeping bag. We had a great time - accomplishing all we set out to do  :)

This trip only confirmed what I've already known- camping is too much work for 1 night and had me itching for a 'real' family camp out - one with less stress and more down-time.  Rylee told me she didn't want me to go camping again and I asked her if it would be ok if she came with me. "And Daddy and Kelsey too?" "Yes." "ok" Sites were scarce but we have a reservation. woohoo!!

Matchy-Matchy

I couldn't resist buying matching aprons on a deal site a while back. Rylee loves "helping" in the kitchen.  Mixing, pouring, tasting, she even helps unload the dishwasher fairly regularly.  Its kinda fun being matchy-matchy.

 This picture kills me every time I see it.  Its hard work waiting for stuff to bake. . . . . .  in this case: cinnamon rolls.

Easter

 

After the Grandparents left, Rylee spent the day asking when they would be back. We kept her "busy" with the promise of coloring eggs after naps. Apparently it'd been an long time since I've dyed eggs but I remembered it taking a lot more time than it actually did.

 Rylee loved it.

 Kelsey was very dissappointed she was allowed to help.

 Sunday morning Rylee was quick to locate her basket.  Kelsey was distraught. She threw a fit because she couldn't get into Rylee's basket. 

 She calmed down a little once her own basket was placed in front of her.

 And eventually a smile after chocolate.

 She didn't waste time unwrapping any after that.

 

 I'm a sucker for matching dresses.  Especially from the clearance rack.

 

 

 

 After church we had our own little hunt in the yard.  Then we met up with friends for a tasty dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter!

Poc and Nana

Poc and Nana came to visit us for their spring break a couple weeks ago.  We had such a great time.  We didn't plan a whole lot. Nana's birthday was that week so we celebrated by taking lunch to the park and BBQ'ing that night, followed by a tasty (if I can say so myself) spring-ish Strawberry- lime-coconut dessert.

 Happy Birthday Nana!

 Kelsey loved the strawberry cake so much she kept stealing all the utensils thinking she'd get more.

 When Grandparents visit that equates to nearly unlimited pushes in the swing, tricycle rides and readings of Pete the Cat (her new favorite books from the library).

 Rylee's new best friend: her tinkerbell doll

 Since we didn't have a lot of other plans keeping us out of the house Michael put his Dad to use getting to the "honey-do" list.  The most exciting on said list for me was installing the fan on our back porch and putting together the girls little table and chairs. (Thank you!!).  Rylee got in on the screw driver action whenever she could.  And she's practically a pro at ladder climbing.

 We did run up to the temple one day to run errands.  Unfortunately the day we chose, the temple happened to be closed in the middle of the day so we just walked around instead of going inside.

 Rylee had a fun time feeding her goldfish crackers to the snap dragons :)

 Michael and I got a date night in.  Their last night the boys went hunting and so the girls went to see Rapunzel at the children's theatre.  Rylee had more fun than the photo leads on.  Good think I brought a booster for her and she was strapped in as I refused to take her to the bathroom during the show.  Rylee liked it and talks about it often.  Her favorite part was when Rapunzel got her hair cut "just like I got a hair cut!"

 She was excited to see the princess after the show, the line was really long so I tried to change her mind but that wasn't happening.  She kept saying "I want to give the Princess a hug!".  I really didn't feel like carrying her and Kelsey to the car screaming so we went back inside.  The actors/actresses were roped off to form a line and they were signing autographs and posing for pictures so there was some down time between each of the characters.  Nana held up the rope and asked Rapunzel if Rylee could sneak in to give her a hug, of course she obliged.  Rylee was satisfied for a few minutes but as soon as we got on the freeway she said "Oh NO!! I forgot to give the Princess a kiss!" she was panic stircken.  I told her to go ahead and blow the princess a kiss and all was right in the world again.

We had a great time visiting all week.  Rylee asked if Poc and Nana were going to come back to her house tomorrow. Sorry! Hopefully this summer will be sufficient and maybe Kelsey will recognize them and not run away as fast as she can at first sight (she nearly took down Miyoshi trying to get away from Poc while at church).  That girl loves her Momma. If only Wisconsin weren't so far away. . . . :(

Hunts

Our pre-Easter festivities included a egg-hunt marathon.  Ok, so there were two.  The neighborhood HOA and the other at the Church.  Daddy was home attending to the yard for the first hunt so I took both the girls.  I underestimated the help Rylee would need and focused on helping Kelsey  (Apparently "see all those eggs? They have candy in them, go put as many as you can in your basket" wasn't enough instructions . . . . I think she got stuck on the word "candy" and spent most of the time working on opening eggs.  they were taped. . . . . both of them. She literally had 2 eggs when the hunt was over. Not really sure if it was worth rushing out of the house. . . . .

 The Bunny came though (which to be honest, I don't really care much about).  Rylee ran right up and gave the Easter Bunny a hug.

 The afternoon hunt was at the church - we had lunch and then another hunt.  Everyone gets 12 eggs so timing isn't an issue (although both hunts were broken up by age as well). Here's Kelsey with a friend:

Happy hunting!