Splash Pad

We had lunch with Kate and Candice today then we went to the splash pad. Alex LOVED it!

Driveway Dance Party

Last night after dinner, Alex was all over the place and was just a bundle of energy. I decided to leave the dishes for later and we went outside while Josh worked on sprinkler system. (He accidentally cut the power line for the entire system so he had to patch it and move a sprinkler head!) What do you give a kid who already has tons of energy? Why, a Popsicle of course! Alex's favorite Popsicles of the summer are the Minute Maid frozen limeade squeeze pops! She ended up spilling the melted mess all over her legs so when Josh was testing the sprinklers, I told her she could play in them. In between test runs, she had a dance party in the drive way. At first, she did not want me taking her picture, then she decided it was ok as long as I took pictures of her shaking her booty!

Father's Day!

We celebrated Father's Day a little on Friday and most of the day Sunday. We were heading to Dallas for the weekend and I decided it was easier to give Josh his gifts before we left. Poor Josh had been sick most of the week so he was home from work. Alex had her last day of dance camp and had been so excited about both of us watching her perform. Josh got out long enough to see her, then we came back home and he slept.

Before Alex went to dance, we gave Josh his gifts. Alex picked out a book and we made him a platter. The ants are Alex's thumb prints! (The picture isn't the best, it's from my phone)

We had a great breakfast with Josh's family Sunday morning, then we spent the afternoon hanging out by the pool with my family. It was a long day, we didn't get home until close to 10, but it was perfect! I got to spend the day with all the great Dads in my family!

Dance Camp

Alex had a big day today. She participated in her first "drop off" activity! The studio she dances at offers a few dance camps over the summer. I signed her up for the first one, a Princess Dance Camp. It's one week, Monday-Friday from 9am to noon. We have been talking about it for a week and she was sooo excited. She went right in and was ready to start dancing. She loves all the teachers at the studio and a few of her friends were in her class. I stayed for about 15 minutes to watch her then arrived about 15 minutes early to see how she was doing. They did ballet and Jazz today. I saw part of her jazz routine she learned and it was sooo cute! Friday they have a recital for the parents. Josh is taking lunch early so we can go see our little cutie! I love that her first day was a success and it just reaffirms that she is ready for school in the Fall!

Summer Days

I was thinking we'd relax a little this summer, boy have I been wrong so far! Our days have been go go go!

Wednesday we went to 2 Targets, Academy, Hobby Lobby and Petco before Alex's 11am gymnastics class! As soon as we left gymnastics, we went to Toys R Us and Walmart. Then met Josh for lunch, headed home to change clothes, Alex took a 20 minute power nap then we were off to a playdate at 2! We were home around 4:30 to relax for a bit until Josh got home. All the running caught up to Alex around 7...she got sooo cranky!

Here is a little peek into our Thursday...with pictures!

We dropped Josh off at work since he was riding with friends to the shooting portion of his CHL course after work.

We came home and got ready. Right before we were supposed to leave to meet Kate and Candice at the library for story time I went out to put Alex's bird feeder back out. We bring it in every night because some large critter empties it every single night if we leave it out. As I was almost there I caught a glimpse of something on the ground. It was a snake!!! I ran inside without putting the feeder out. I was going to grab a shovel and kill it but I wasn't sure if it was a good snake or a bad snake. Instead, I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures (through the window) and sent it to my Dad and Josh. They both confirmed it was a Copperhead! Yikes! It was gone before I found this out. Now I'm slightly obsessed with looking out the window to see if I see it again. I'm slightly terrified of the prospect of seeing it again and having to grab the shovel to kill it...especially with Alex watching out the window!

We ended up being a few minutes late to story time, which didn't matter because we were there on the wrong day! haha! We ended up going to Barnes and Noble. The girls had milk, we had coffee and tea while we looked at books!

Alex and I met Josh for lunch at Wendy's, then we went home for another power nap! I've become a fan of the power nap for Alex. She was to the point where she would sleep for about an hour and a half but wake up once or twice at night. Now, we come home at some point during the day and I tell Alex what our plans are after she naps, we pick a time (usually about 30-45 minutes later) and I set the alarm in her room. She knows when it goes off it's time to get up so we can go! Even if she doesn't nap, at least she is resting for a bit! It gives me time to start laundry, unload the dishwasher, get our stuff together for afternoon activities or just sit for a few minutes! We've only been doing it 2 days so far, but it seems to be working for us!

As soon as she woke up we headed out. We made a stop at the store for sunscreen and Popsicles, then we headed to Kate and Candice's. We walked to the pool while the girls had Popsicles.

We spent about 2 hours at the pool. Alex got to try out her new Puddle Jumper! We decided it was Dad day at the pool. There were 4 dads with their kids and the 2 of us with our girls!

We made another stop at the store on the way home. Alex said she wanted salad with "croupons" for dinner. When we got home around 6 I made her a quick dinner while I put a little pasta on for pesto pasta. Alex's deconstructed salad! Then we had a little pesto pasta.With all of the running around, the dining room table is becoming at catch all for the stuff we drop off when we are home. It's also been "party central" for all the party planning. I actually had Kate and Candice over the other day with my table looking like this. I guess that's the good thing about good friends, they don't care!
Next week should slow down a little, Alex has princess dance camp every morning. It will be her first "drop off" activity! We are both very excited about it!

Almost 3

This was us 3 years ago today! I was 9 weeks and 3 days away from my due date. Little did we know our little girl would arrive 4 weeks and 5 days later! I remember feeling like it would be forever until Alex made her arrival and I couldn't wait to hold her. Now, 3 years later, I want time to stand still. I feel like my little girl is growing up so fast.

With the big 3 a little over a month away, party planning is happening in full force (and has been for the last month)! We are cutting the invite list this year and making it more about Alex and her friends, but just because the guest list is smaller, doesn't mean the planning is any easier. I'm doing more decoration and planning than I have in the past and I can't wait for it all to come together! Invites should be going out any day now and as soon as they do, I'll share the invites and post a few details!

First Harvest!

Ok, so maybe not so much a full on harvest, but our first grape tomatoes were ready to pick this morning! The started turning red earlier in the week and Alex asked to go outside and see them about 500 times a day. She's been itching to pick and eat them. We decided today was the day!

We first planted our little grape tomato plant in April. He wasn't very big. Now he's several inches taller than the trellis!

Sweet little hands picking our first tomato!

Daddy and Alex showing off their tomatoes!

Enjoying the first tomato of the season!

Now Josh and Alex can eat a 2 pint container of grape tomatoes in about 3 days. Our little tomato plant looks like it's going to have about 3-4 tomatoes ready at a time. Maybe next year I'll have to plant several grape tomato plants to keep up with the demand!