Good Ol' Family Fun
This past weekend was, as usual, as filled as possible with activities and family fun. We kicked it off Friday afternoon with a trip down to the creek near in the national park near our house. Jaden and Sienna (and our pup Jack!) have grown up spending many an afternoon throwing rocks into the creek together. Friday was such a gorgeous day and seemed like the perfect opportunity to throw some rocks and splash around together while showing Bristol how to have fun at the creek!
Bristol's big thrill at first was the endless supply of rocks to touch and feel. She loves touching and exploring new things and places!
Jaden and Sienna immediately started walking through the shallow water. They wore their water shoes that Nana had gotten them for Easter and probably would've gotten all the way in if I had given them the go ahead!
While her sisters waded in the creek, Bristol was so cute exploring the different sized stones...
Then, Jaden showed off her throwing skills...
And Sienna used her big muscles to throw a heavy one as far as she could:
Before we knew it, Bristol realized that the real fun was in the water and crawled towards it!
I helped Bristol dance around a little at the edge of the water and she thoroughly enjoyed getting splashed. I hope this is just the first of many trips to the creek this summer for us since it's closeby and has proven to be fun for our girls at any age!
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed out for an excursion with a surprise destination. Each May Thomas the Train comes to our town for train rides and a little festival. We've taken the girls to the festival part a few times and as soon as they see the Thomas signs around town, they start asking when we're going to see him again.
The train tracks where Thomas arrives are alongside a bike trail, so we loaded up our bikes and a picnic lunch Saturday and told the girls we were going to take a ride. They had absolutely no idea where our ride would take us. Even when we stopped and started locking up our bikes, they were in the dark. Then Jaden spotted train cars moving on the tracks near where we had stopped and within moments the bright blue engine appeared!
Excited doesn't even begin to describe how both Jaden and Sienna felt in that moment and we quickly walked towards the festival tents. I love pulling off a good surprise!
Teeny B is oblivious to trains and such, but she was happy to ride in the detachable bike trailer which turns into a stroller with an extra wheel attached. She was especially thrilled that her sisters had Barbie dolls in the trailer from the bike ride which she played with the entire time they were involved with the train activities.
First, we looked at the models set up:
Jaden posed for a picture behind the Railroad car cut-out:
Then both girls got a Thomas tattoo:
We sat down for a quick lunch:
And finally the big girls went into some train-themed bounce houses while Bristol and I danced to a band performing next to them. Bristol has become quite the tiny dancer and it's the cutest thing!
There were several tents we didn't get to visit because we were strapped for time, but we still had a wonderful time with all we got to do. If you're reading this and you live in the Cleveland / Akron area--Thomas is still in town through this coming weekend and the festival is FREE and FUN! Check it out!
We hurried back to our bikes and rode quickly the 4.6 miles back to our car. We were running late for the second fun thing on our calendar for that day--a first birthday party for our friend Elizabeth!
Baby Elizabeth is such a special little girl--she is truly a MIRACLE in every way and it was an absolute joy to be able to celebrate her turning 1 Saturday afternoon. She wasn't too thrilled when I snapped this photo, but she's usually the happiest, sweetest little baby. She and her parents and her two big sisters have so much to be happy about--she was born at only 26 weeks and she not only survived, but she has thrived over this past year.
Elizabeth was due last August, but was born just 6 weeks after Bristol. She and her mom both fought for their lives and came out on top. Celebrating her first birthday was so much more than the average excitement over first steps and first tastes of cake and sugary icing. We prayed for this baby girl and our prayers were beyond answered. So this party was a true celebration of LIFE!
That night we all spent a lot of time relaxing. It had been a day packed with activity and fun and we all needed to rest up for another full day Sunday!
The girls were up bright and early Sunday morning. The big girls were looking forward to a friend's birthday party at The Little Gym (Scott took them and didn't get any photos, but they've told me all about the details and had a very enjoyable time) and Bristol and I were excited about her friend Ethan's first birthday.
Does any of this look familiar?
Ethan's mom and I planned for our kiddos to have the same theme for their first birthday parties and even shared some decorations. We each had plenty of our own little touches and details to make their parties individually unique, and it was great to see how someone else pulled off the same theme.
Like our friend Elizabeth the day before, Ethan was none too thrilled about smashing into his first cake. He was still so adorable though. His big brothers tried to encourage him to enjoy the icing, but he wasn't having it! Bristol was very concerned when her lil friend was crying:
Bristol and I enjoyed our 1-on-1 time at Ethan's party and she loved eating all of the Hungry Caterpillar food. She also had a great time trying out Ethan's new bike and playing with a game on his family room floor, all the while being her social little self and commanding attention from as many of Ethan's friends and family as she could (little miss personality this girl!!).
I have to say I was shocked, but Bristol kept her little butterfly headband on for the entire party. Ethan's mom put those on the kids' heads as each walked in and I thought she'd pull it off right away. What a good little party-goer to keep her special headgear on for the entire celebration :)
At that point of the weekend, the girls' fun "tanks" were all filled up and they were exhausted. Once we all reunited at home we fed them dinner and they started winding down for bed. I met up with girlfriends for a monthly book club meeting over dinner after which I slept more soundly than a baby...it had been one unbeatable weekend!
Bristol's big thrill at first was the endless supply of rocks to touch and feel. She loves touching and exploring new things and places!
Jaden and Sienna immediately started walking through the shallow water. They wore their water shoes that Nana had gotten them for Easter and probably would've gotten all the way in if I had given them the go ahead!
While her sisters waded in the creek, Bristol was so cute exploring the different sized stones...
Then, Jaden showed off her throwing skills...
And Sienna used her big muscles to throw a heavy one as far as she could:
Before we knew it, Bristol realized that the real fun was in the water and crawled towards it!
I helped Bristol dance around a little at the edge of the water and she thoroughly enjoyed getting splashed. I hope this is just the first of many trips to the creek this summer for us since it's closeby and has proven to be fun for our girls at any age!
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed out for an excursion with a surprise destination. Each May Thomas the Train comes to our town for train rides and a little festival. We've taken the girls to the festival part a few times and as soon as they see the Thomas signs around town, they start asking when we're going to see him again.
The train tracks where Thomas arrives are alongside a bike trail, so we loaded up our bikes and a picnic lunch Saturday and told the girls we were going to take a ride. They had absolutely no idea where our ride would take us. Even when we stopped and started locking up our bikes, they were in the dark. Then Jaden spotted train cars moving on the tracks near where we had stopped and within moments the bright blue engine appeared!
Excited doesn't even begin to describe how both Jaden and Sienna felt in that moment and we quickly walked towards the festival tents. I love pulling off a good surprise!
Teeny B is oblivious to trains and such, but she was happy to ride in the detachable bike trailer which turns into a stroller with an extra wheel attached. She was especially thrilled that her sisters had Barbie dolls in the trailer from the bike ride which she played with the entire time they were involved with the train activities.
First, we looked at the models set up:
Jaden posed for a picture behind the Railroad car cut-out:
Then both girls got a Thomas tattoo:
We sat down for a quick lunch:
And finally the big girls went into some train-themed bounce houses while Bristol and I danced to a band performing next to them. Bristol has become quite the tiny dancer and it's the cutest thing!
There were several tents we didn't get to visit because we were strapped for time, but we still had a wonderful time with all we got to do. If you're reading this and you live in the Cleveland / Akron area--Thomas is still in town through this coming weekend and the festival is FREE and FUN! Check it out!
We hurried back to our bikes and rode quickly the 4.6 miles back to our car. We were running late for the second fun thing on our calendar for that day--a first birthday party for our friend Elizabeth!
Baby Elizabeth is such a special little girl--she is truly a MIRACLE in every way and it was an absolute joy to be able to celebrate her turning 1 Saturday afternoon. She wasn't too thrilled when I snapped this photo, but she's usually the happiest, sweetest little baby. She and her parents and her two big sisters have so much to be happy about--she was born at only 26 weeks and she not only survived, but she has thrived over this past year.
Elizabeth was due last August, but was born just 6 weeks after Bristol. She and her mom both fought for their lives and came out on top. Celebrating her first birthday was so much more than the average excitement over first steps and first tastes of cake and sugary icing. We prayed for this baby girl and our prayers were beyond answered. So this party was a true celebration of LIFE!
That night we all spent a lot of time relaxing. It had been a day packed with activity and fun and we all needed to rest up for another full day Sunday!
The girls were up bright and early Sunday morning. The big girls were looking forward to a friend's birthday party at The Little Gym (Scott took them and didn't get any photos, but they've told me all about the details and had a very enjoyable time) and Bristol and I were excited about her friend Ethan's first birthday.
Does any of this look familiar?
Ethan's mom and I planned for our kiddos to have the same theme for their first birthday parties and even shared some decorations. We each had plenty of our own little touches and details to make their parties individually unique, and it was great to see how someone else pulled off the same theme.
Like our friend Elizabeth the day before, Ethan was none too thrilled about smashing into his first cake. He was still so adorable though. His big brothers tried to encourage him to enjoy the icing, but he wasn't having it! Bristol was very concerned when her lil friend was crying:
Bristol and I enjoyed our 1-on-1 time at Ethan's party and she loved eating all of the Hungry Caterpillar food. She also had a great time trying out Ethan's new bike and playing with a game on his family room floor, all the while being her social little self and commanding attention from as many of Ethan's friends and family as she could (little miss personality this girl!!).
I have to say I was shocked, but Bristol kept her little butterfly headband on for the entire party. Ethan's mom put those on the kids' heads as each walked in and I thought she'd pull it off right away. What a good little party-goer to keep her special headgear on for the entire celebration :)
At that point of the weekend, the girls' fun "tanks" were all filled up and they were exhausted. Once we all reunited at home we fed them dinner and they started winding down for bed. I met up with girlfriends for a monthly book club meeting over dinner after which I slept more soundly than a baby...it had been one unbeatable weekend!
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