Princess Festival

Saturday was a wonderful Mommy and Evie day!  We went to the Princess Festival with Dinee, Tay, and Libby.  Our two little princesses were so excited that when they picked us up, the girls just giggled at each other for five straight minutes.

We got to meet so many different princesses and characters like the Little Mermaid

Snow White

and Sleeping Beauty!

We flew to Never Land with Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Wendy

and played Ring Around the Fairy!

We had a tea party with the Queen of Hearts

and the Mad Hatter!

 Cinderella, her Prince, and the Fairy Lucinda asked us to help defeat the Snow Queen and her sisters who were trying to take over their kingdom.

All the princesses were ready to help!

The Queen of Spring had captured Aladdin...

The Summer Queen had turned the Little Mermaid and Beauty's Beast back into their animal forms...

And the Robber Queen of Fall had forgotten how to love.

The princess learned they had courage, grace and kindness and were ready to face the Snow Queen and Cinderella's Step-sisters.

There was even a frog who was kissed and turned back into a prince!

They warmed the Snow Queen's heart so that she only wanted to rule her own season instead of all the kingdoms.

After our adventure we visited Snow White's cottage.

The girls had fun sitting on toadstools,

checking out the dwarf's little beds,

and leaving by way of a convenient slide!

Evie hugged the dragon because Princesses are kind to everyone.

The girls went for a spin in Cinderella's magic carriage,

although I think Libby liked driving it even more!

The girls also participated in a treasure hunt for eight clues which culminated in the Prince trying on a sparkling pink shoe to see if they were true princesses.  (They were, in case you were wondering...)  So they both got a special story book called Princess Ilissa's Idea.  After all that running around we were all hot and tired and ready to get some lunch, so we head for the car but got a little side tracked at the Little Mermaid's fountain...

The seamstress in me couldn't bear to let her splash around in her satin gown I had only finished the night before, so I had her take it off and splash around in her slip.  I love the unselfconsciousness of this age!

After the girls (and Tay) had cooled down in the fountain we went for lunch at the Macaroni Grill. Yum.  But the best part for me was how sweet and happy Evie was the whole day.  She had so much fun being a princess and being with her buddy Libby. They are so cute to watch together, and it makes me smile to think that almost 20 years ago her mom and I were playing dress up and dolls together, just like they do now!  Thanks for a great day Dinee, Tay and Libby.  And thanks for being my special princess Evie!

Fun in the sun...

Today all that we needed to have a good time was a garden hose, a sprinkler, and our cousins!

Jake, Jack, and Josh: The three J's! These guys have so much fun and they play together so well.

Jake ready to run through the sprinkler.  Watching the kids playing brought back so many memories, living in our swimsuits, covered in grass and weber water, laying on the sun warmed driveway until our suits dried and we could start all over again.

Just like my little sun worshiper Lila!  

Evie on the other hand didn't stop moving once she got started...

The kids called this the "hot tub".  It is a low spot on the sidewalk where the water pooled, and it was the favorite place to sit and splash.

Thanks Aunt Tracie, Lunch and Water Fun at your house was huge hit!

A French Meal with Aunt Caite...

As promised the post about the meal the kids cooked using recipes out of a cookbook Jake got from the library last week...

Aunt Caite and Jacob decided on a French menu of Pain au Chocolat, Parisian Hot Chocolate, French-cut green beans, and Chicken Oh-La-La.  But first they all had to get into the proper French spirit.

"Can't you tell I am Fr-anch from sis expression of boredom I 'ave perfected?"  (Jake spent the next two days doing his very best Inspector Clouseau voice...)

Mademoiselle Genevieve couldn't look bored to save her life, so we opt to try for stylish and fashionable...

And for all you Phineas and Ferb fans out there, Jake and Evie posing with the "Triffle Tower"!

Okay, now that Mom and Caite are done being silly let's get down to cooking.  Jake helping to chop the pecans for topping the chicken.

Evie needed a turn too.  

Lila just wanted to eat already!

Monsieur Jacob ready for the french feast.

Doesn't it look yummy?

Trois little helpers ready to make dessert.  (I can attest that the Pain au Chocolat was really tasty!) 

And once again we have documented just why Tante Caitlin is their very most favorite babysitter of all time! Merci Beaucoup Caite!

Father's Day Weekend

Oh my goodness, this second week of summer has been even busier than the first! I had somewhere to be every single night this week.

On Monday we went up to Brian's parents to say hi to the Mississippi cousins who are visiting for the next two months.  The kids were so excited, starting at breakfast they asked every 5 minutes if it was time to go yet.  "Not until Daddy gets home!"  I love that all the kids just jumped back into playing and having fun even though it has been almost a year since the last time we saw them.

On Tuesday we did some cleaning, (not that you could tell by Wednesday...) went swimming at Grandpa's, and then Caite and I went to a baby shower for a cousin.

On Wednesday we went to the library, and that night was our friend Adelynne's first birthday party. It was a fun night spent with Dinee and Tay and both of their families.  My kids picked out a ball for her present and were so excited to give it to her!

On Thursday we did some more cleaning (and again you couldn't tell by later that evening). Then I went to my knitting night.  Caite came which always makes it more fun for me. We were listening to everyone else talking about a bakery where they make the best cookies, and looked at each other and said, "Great, now I am craving cookies."  So we ran and got some and then came back and finished knitting.

On Friday I gave up on cleaning and just played with my kids. Caite came over in the evening to babysit while Brian and I went to my cousin Sarah's "30th again" birthday party.  We had a great night just hanging out and playing board games and eating Canadian fish.  The kids had even more fun cooking a French meal with Aunt Caite, but that is a post all on it own...

(Hmmm, this post is starting to remind me of A Very Hungry Caterpillar...)

And then it was Saturday!  The first thing that happens each and every Saturday when Evie gets up is that she realizes that her Daddy doesn't have to go to work for that day and she gets soooo excited!  We had decided that we were going to have a family fun day for Father's Day, so we got up, got ready and took Daddy out to breakfast.  Then we went and saw Toy Story 3.  It was a fun movie and even Lila watched most of it.  When we got out of the movie they were having a Chalk Art Festival at the Gateway.

It was a lot of fun to wander the street looking at all the neat pictures and they had booths where they were giving away all kinds of things.  Cotton candy, popcorn, face painting, hair painting, balloons, sunscreen, pencils, stickers, candy, coloring books on water conservation... and we didn't even hit every booth!

After we explored to our hearts content (i.e. Lila was letting us know it was nap time... NOW!) We went home and got ready to head up to Brian's parents again for a barbecue.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and taking turns riding on Grandpa's toy cars.

After dinner my sister-in-law gave her dad his Father's Day present which was a DVD of family pictures set to music, so we all got to watch it.  It was really neat.  There were pictures of him with all the grand kids,  but even more touching were sections of pictures of their sister Brooke when she was adopted and Brian when he had his car accident.  Brian had never seen the pictures from when he was in the hospital and recovering after he woke up from his coma, so it was a little emotionally overwhelming. But it is a part of his history and I think it is important that his children learn just how miraculous and special our family is as they get older.

My mother-in-law gave each of the boys (her sons and son-in-law) a card and a pie for Father's day. So that was dessert. My favorite quote of the night was from her as they carried in the pies,  "This is how you have a good time for $20!"  (I love my mother-in-law!)  We all ate pie, and indeed, had a good time!

On Sunday we went to my Dad's for dinner.  Dad cooked a brisket (even though we offered to cook the meal...) and Grandma-great, Grandpa Jerry and Kaleb joined us, and we enjoyed a great meal and fun conversation.  It was a nice low-key ending to a somewhat hectic week.

Happy Father's Day everyone! Whether it was your first, your last, or somewhere in between, I hope you enjoyed (and survived) spending time with family!  I know I did...