iPhone Photo Dump

This is just a busy time of year for us- I'm sure you can relate. So, it was an iPhone photo dump or a sad lonely little blog. These are not in any particular order, just our life over the last few weeks.

Abby invited her friend Michael on a movie date. We saw Monsters University. It was cute and they both had a good time. Abby tried a Coke slush for the first time since they were out of cherry. 

Note that Michael stood on a bag of potting soil to be taller, he is the littlest and lightest thing. He is also one of the best behaved little boys. We both love having him over!

Play-doh is always a big hit in our house. Abby has started making cakes complete with candles during play-doh time. 

Of course we have been swimming! I love these little $1 cups of snacks at HEB for swimming time. They have lots of different ones and are perfect for the pool bag. They don't get smushed or wet and are just enough. Abby had cheese nips this week and wanted to send a picture to Daddy.

I bought this table top shuffle board for Marcus a few years ago for Christmas. Abby recently started playing it. She calls it the math game because of the numbers on the board and adding up the score. Somehow we have turned a bar game into an educational opportunity. ha!

Yesterday morning we met our friend Makayla and her family at the local park. We met at 8:30 AM to avoid the crowds and the heat and ate donuts on the picnic tables and let the kids play. It was so nice outside- perfect time to do the park.

We have entered the world of princess costumes. I wanted Abby to have them for our Disney cruise this fall and when they went on Zulily for $15 recently, I let Abby pick out two of them. They arrived this week and are so cute. Let's not talk about the fact that my 4 year old is wearing a size 7-8. 

She is attending a mermaid party next weekend and this will be perfect!

Friday night was date night. Abby stayed at the YMCA and we did dinner with two other couples from our church. It was a fun night and we laughed as the girls all sat together and the boys sat together. It was just necessary for the conversations we were having.

After dinner at Home Slice Pizza, we went to Lick for ice cream. I love that place. I had Dark Chocolate with Olive Oil and Sea Salt and Pecans and Cream in a waffle cone. Marcus had Smores and Spicy Coconut & Peanut. Delicious!

Last weekend, Abby went to Addison's 4th birthday party. It was a princess party, so she wore her Rapunzel dress (which is really a nightgown, but was in budget at the Disney store!). Marcus played the party of Flynn Rider so well!

Abby and the birthday girl being silly!

This is my life.... my child can DESTROY her room during rest time faster than I can blink. She loves to set up babies complete with beds, pillows, blankets, food, dishes, toys, etc. It has made getting to her closet a chore and a battle over clean up happens way too often. So, this past week we have been working to make this room a play room with more space and more organization and converted the guest bedroom into Abby's bedroom. I'll share pictures on the Birdie blog soon.

I ventured way out of my comfort zone recently and braved the MAC counter for some new lipstick. I wanted something red that stood out. I won't be wearing it everyday, but it is growing on me.

Finally, I had dinner with two college girlfriends in Marble Falls recently. Alison lives in SA and Katy was on vacation in the area, so we met for dinner, a drink, and late night chat. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends.

Field of Poppies

Last night I went to Painting with a Twist with three of my girlfriends. I had a gift certificate for 4 people, so we all got to paint without minimal financial risk :)

Natalie and I had fun with the painting props. She makes a good Willie :)

They give you a tabletop easel, a blank canvas and this plate of paint.

Everyone paints the same picture and the instructor walks you through it step by step. It really is simple as she breaks it down. The key for me, is being random and relaxing. It always looks better at the end than the middle and always looks better when you aren't inspecting it from 2 feet away!

First we did the sky blending blues and then adding clouds.

Next, we added the ground with greens and browns and made a horizon line of trees.

Next came the barn and the poppies. Amazing how many colors went into these flowers- red, orange, pink, dark purple and then a darker shade to look more black. White came later. 

Finally, we outlined our barn and added some white/yellow to the grass and the flowers. My barn looked awful, so I made it into a church. My friends teased me for that- "being a good Baptist girl". ha!

Everyone was nervous and certain they would fail, but we all did great!

Here is my finished product close up. It was fun and I like my art!

When you sign up at Painting with a Twist you are picking the picture you want and hoping the date it is offered works for you. I picked this picture with this little spot in my guest bedroom in mind. It works perfectly!

Little San Antonio Getaway

 We are taking a big family vacation in the fall, but it has been killing us (okay maybe just me!) to not go somewhere this summer. Seeing all the beach and fun family pictures of my friends made me jealous.... so, we booked a night at my favorite San Antonio resort, Westin La Cantera. 

We left at noon on Friday and drove downtown to eat at Home Slice pizza on South Congress. At 1 PM, we had a little wait, so we stood in the shade and took goofy pictures. 

This restaurant does the neatest thing.... they bring out dough for kids to play with while you wait on your food. Abby had THE BEST TIME with that dough! She added Italian seasoning and S&P to it, rolled it all around and it kept her busy the entire time. Such a great idea!

After lunch, we drove another hour to the hotel and hit the slide immediately! Abby would complain she didn't want to do it and laugh the whole way down with Marcus.

More than anything, she just likes to float around on her inner tube.

After swimming for 2.5 hours, we left and had BBQ nearby and then came back in time for smores and to watch Monsters Inc on the lawn. I went upstairs and enjoyed a little quiet time while they watched the movie. They had blankets for everyone and I brought them some snacks from the gift shop.

In Discovery Junction (tennis courts made into kids activities) they had all kinds of fun going on! Marcus and Abby tried to get to the gummy bears hidden beneath cool whip without using their hands.

Abby will tell you her favorite thing about the resort is the kids club. They have games, crafts, and toys for the kids. We let her go there for 1 hour on Friday and 1 hour on Saturday. The staff there remembered her from last summer and commented, "she loves the dollhouse and wants to play with it for hours". Yep, that is her! We love it too, because while she is there, we are here....

Peace and quiet to read a good book at the adult pool.

And, drink a nice cold beverage! :)

Abby played at the dollhouse this time, but also played a game called Headbandz, which looked quite fun and she made this kitty cat from melted beads. Well worth the $9/hour we paid.

Saturday we checked out at noon and then enjoyed lunch poolside before swimming a little more and then heading home about 1:45. It was just what I needed to hold me over until our real trip in 2 more months!

The Serious Side

Here are the remainder of our pictures without all that goofy nonsense! :)

By the way, there were all taken at Picture People in the mall. They are quick and easy and not nearly as expensive as going on location. I save the on location shoots for every other year. I just can't afford it! We took these, looked at them, ordered the CD, went to dinner in the food court and then picked it all up!

Plus, the membership at Picture People has gotten even better! You spend $40 on an annual membership, but you get that back in coupons and free sheets and now you get more stuff like free CD! Check them out if you are like me and like taking pictures often and are cool with a clean white background!

The Silly Side

We had family photos done at Picture People tonight. I had to buy the CD because there were so many cute photos that I loved, but didn't really want to frame on the mantel. Marcus and Abby drank silly juice before our session and it shows in our pictures!

This one belongs on a book cover about parenting... or honor thy father :)

We had to take this one before this big girl and "old" man couldn't do it anymore! Marcus calls this the broom and he does it with Abby often.

She wanted to be Superman!