Summer Fun

We have had a fun and busy summer so far.  Here's a recap:

Paisley just being Paisley ... wearing whatever outfit she has decided she wants to wear, dressing herself and climbing up anything she can manage to get her hands on ..

 Taking a spin on Emery's new bike..

 We bought Emery her first real bike this summer.  Is it bad that it took us this long?  Anyway, it's Barbie and pink, and she loves it!  You should see her on it with her pink Barbie helmet and she's usually wearing all pink - such a sight!

 We got a slip n slide this summer too.  It brings back memories of me playing with my sister and the neighbors at my Great Grandma Ruth's on the slip n slide.  So fun!

 Paisley playing dress up - the girl loves to dress, undress and dress herself again.

 We were lucky enough to have Makayla out for a visit.  She's getting way too big!  Emery was attached to Makayla's hip the entire visit.  I tried to remind Makayla that she was the same way with me not too long ago.

 We headed to the pool a few times.  Not only is it fun to play in the pool, but it's also about the yummy treats.  Nachos, churros and coke - yummy in our tummies!

 Makayla being a typical "pre-teen" when I try to snap a picture

 Paisley being as happy as can be - she's has nachos and then digging into a churro

 We also went camping for two nights while Makayla was here.  I think we all know that I'm not much of a camper, but the girls and Ivan love it, so I go along for the ride.  We went up to Big Cottonwood - only about 15 minutes away from our house, but it was still in the woods and we slept in tents, so I consider that full on camping.  It was wet, rainy and cold the majority of the time, but we still had a really good time.  We enjoyed good company, ate awesome meals the entire time and had a great camping experience.

 All of the kids on the trip ..

 Paisley was spoiled and got held 99% of the trip.  I didn't mind when I got to hold her - it made me not have to do any work and she rarely cuddles with anyone at home, so I took advantage of every second I could cuddle with her :)

 For the 24th of July, I met up with some friends at a carnival close to home.  Here's a shot of all of the kids ..

 They had bouncy houses for the kids.  It was really busy and all of the bouncy houses had long lines.  So, the 3 women decided to divide and conquer.  We all stood in separate lines and the kids went to whoever was closest to the entrance.  Once it got dark, we gathered up on the grass for a fireworks show.  All in all, we had a great time!

Quinlan came over a few times to play with the girls.  On this particular day, he decided he wanted to roller skate.  Sorry Quinlan, you were covered in PINK - that's all we have in this house ..

 For some strange reason, Emery likes getting into Paisley's high chair.  The reality is, Paisley pretty much refuses to sit in it - she wants to sit at the table like a big girl.  I should probably just pack it away.

Well, there you have it.  A recap of what we've been up to this summer.

Happy Birthday Ivan!

Emery and I decided to make Ivan a chocolate cake for his birthday.  Emery loves to help me bake so her and I baked the cake while Paisley was napping.  When it came time to do the frosting and sprinkles, Paisley was awake and wanted to participate.  She wants to do every single thing that Emery and I do.

Notice how they both are licking their fingers (well, Paisley is getting ready to).  Paisley quickly learned that if she put her fingers in the frosting while trying to put the sprinkles on the cake, that she got to eat frosting.  That was just the beginning ..

 Finished product .. Happy Birthday Papa!!

 Singing to Ivan ... I love that you can see the happiness in all of their faces!

Easter Celebrations

Better late than never right!  Well, even though Easter was 3 months ago and I probably don't remember much of the small details that I usually post about, I still want to document it.  We had a small get together at our house and enjoyed a great Easter of good food, dying eggs and then hiding and finding eggs.  The weather was beautiful and we played outside on the girls' swing set.  

Little miss Paisley climbs up the rock wall on the swing set all by herself.  

 She has also mastered the sport of baseball ..

 Here are the girls' Easter baskets

 Emery loved dying and decorating eggs .. her hands were all kinds of colors afterwards

 Grandma Lola and Paisley

 Opening Easter baskets ... somehow Easter turned into as big of an event as Christmas and birthday parties - these girls are officially spoiled!

An attempt at a picture of me and the girls - I look exhausted and pale and of course, Paisley wouldn't cooperate - that's a 1 1/2 yr old for ya

 Emery searching for the Easter eggs

Soccer Time

Emery finished her soccer season just a couple of days after we got home from Mexico.  She really started to get into soccer, just as the season was ending.  I've signed her up to play again in the fall, so we will see if she still likes it.

Here is Emery with her medal and her Coach, Coach Mike.  I really liked the Coach, he was great with a bunch of 4 and 5 yr old and he really pushed for the parents to get involved.  

 Emery and the other kids on the team playing soccer.  Now, it looks like they did a lot of standing around, and since they are young, they did do some standing around.  But, the way the Coach had the games set up, in mini teams of 4 playing against 4, all of the kids got a chance to kick the ball.  It was a lot of fun for Emery.

Cancun Baby!!

We had the pleasure of going on a much needed family vacation in May.  To be honest, we talked about it for a few months but I was having a hard time committing to spending the money, but ended up just going for it and planning the trip about 6 weeks before we went.  That meant having to rush passports for the girls and I - an extra $300 on top of an already ridiculous price.  Then, the passports arrived in our mailbox in less than a week.  I was a little annoyed and wished the post office would have just held onto them for a couple of weeks to make me feel better.  Oh well, if I hadn't put a rush on them, I would have been stressed everyday until they came in.

So, the day finally came to head out.  Our flight left at 6a!  I picked this flight because the total travel time was 6 hours and we got into Cancun around 2p.  I figured we would get in, check into the hotel, get a good dinner and go to bed early.  That way, we would recover from the travel in one day and not loose a day of vacation due to tired and crabby kids.

Ivan and I got up around 3:30a and got ready.  Then we got the girls up and into the car and were on our way to the airport.  We picked up Grandma Lola who joined us for the vacation and Uncle D who was taking us to the airport.  The entire ride to the airport, Emery was complaining that her tummy was hurting.  She tends to be a little dramatic at times so we just kind of blew it off.  As soon as we pulled up to the airport, Emery started crying and threw up all over herself and her car seat.  Throw up of milk and water, EVERYWHERE!  I immediately started stressing but luckily, we hadn't checked our luggage so I grabbed a change of clothes and Grandma Lola took her to the bathroom to get her cleaned up and changed.  Emery ended up throwing up all day long, the last time was when we were in line for customs in Mexico.  Luckily, all of the people who had to witness/hear her throwing up throughout the day were very understanding.  Now, the best part, pictures to document our exciting and relaxing vacation!

The girls on the plane.  Even though Emery was sick, she was really good and not too whiny.  Both girls were really good on both flights and the layover to Mexico.

Cuddling in the morning ...

We spent basically everyday relaxing at the pool..

We saw iguana's everywhere.  Some of the waiters even gave Emery a little cup up fruit to feed the iguana's

We had a pack n play in our room for Paisley to sleep in.  The first night we were there, Paisley just could not get to sleep - she cried and fussed for hours.  We finally gave her some Tylenol and let her sleep in bed with us.  Bad idea!  She ended up sleeping in bed with us every night.

Paisley LOVES, LOVES, LOVES birds!  She spent a good amount of time every day chasing these birds all around hoping to finally catch one

Our view from the patio of our hotel room

Sisters ..

I only took the single stroller figuring that Emery would walk since we wouldn't be walking far.  Wrong!  Emery rode in the stroller 90% of the time and would occasionally let Paisley ride with her.

We went to Wet N Wild one day and had a great time!

This is one of the rides at Wet N Wild.  Normally, I would never get on something like this.  I don't really like water, especially in my face.  I also don't like heights and I'm not the greatest swimmer.  Well, earlier in the day, Emery and Ivan were going down one of the twisty slides together.  Emery told me not to be a chicken and to go down with them, so I did.  I then decided to join them on all of the slides.  I screamed like a baby both times I went and then decided I had enough.

 We spent basically everyday at the pool, but we did go down to the sand one day for a couple of hours.  The girls had a good time playing in the sand and making sandcastles.

Back at the pool for a day of fun and relaxing ..

Both of our rooms had these huge jacuzzi tubs in them.  Emery and Paisley loved taking baths and playing in the huge tubs.

Emery and I had the pleasure of having a mommy-daughter date for a mani/pedi.  Emery loved it and asks to go back to Mexico to get a mani/pedi all of the time.

Paisley, the "baby monster" in action - she drew all over the marble floor with marker - good thing it wiped right off.

On the flight home, Paisley pee'd through her diaper.  I've been lucky with both girls that they never really had diaper blow outs and never really pee'd through their diapers.  So, because of this, I don't carry a diaper bag or a change of clothes with me.  My purse is big enough for a few diapers, wipes and sippy.  Well, after Paisley pee'd through her diaper, I didn't have clothes.  So, in the Dallas airport, I was forced to buy her some clothes - this was the only thing they had, so I went with it.  She doesn't look to happy about being in them either ..

All in all, we had a fabulous vacation to Mexico.  On most trips, I ready to go home to reality after just a few days.  We spent 7 days in Mexico, and we really could have stayed for another 5+ days and been perfectly happy.  We will be going back to Moon Palace for sure!  In fact, I wish I could be there right now ...