Destin

Please, don't faint...yes, I am blogging two days in a row.  Over Cinco de Mayo we went to Destin for a family wedding.  Our entire family had soo much fun!
We started our trip on a Wednesday, by driving to my parents.  On our way, we made a stop to drop Cooper off with my in laws so were so great to watch Cooper for 11 days!  I know Coopie loves his grandma and grandpa time!

Everyone woke up early Thursday to get on the road.  Alex was the most excited because I had all sorts of new car friendly activities to keep her entertained.  The biggest hits were Crayola Color Explosion markers, a magnetic Tic Tac Toe set and new apps on the iPad.  She did amazing in the car for the drive.  We stopped twice to eat and a few times for potty breaks.  She never fussed and slept for about 30 minutes.  Mom and I tried to sleep, but every time we'd fall asleep, Alex would poke us.

We spent Friday on the beach.  The day started off overcast, but cleared up after a couple of hours.  There were jellyfish everywhere so Alex was very timid about going to the water.  She finally gave in and had a blast.  She spent most of the time making sand castles.

my silly girl dancing on the beach

That evening we went to the rehearsal dinner.  We ate on a covered patio where Alex had a perfect view of the play ground on the beach.  Josh was so great to take Alex to play while I visited with family.

my sweet dad

My cousin, sister to the groom, made the beautiful wedding cake!  Here she is hard at work!

Saturday my mom and I went to Seaside to walk around.  My grandparents, aunt and uncle went as well while Josh, my dad and two other uncles golfed.  We had lunch and did some shopping.  We took a gelato break too!

Alex insisted she wanted Key Lime

after 2 bites she wanted to taste mine then decided she wanted to switch so she ate my blood orange while I ate her Key Lime

me and my girl at the wedding

Daddy and his girl

Michael and his beautiful bride!

Most people who know my girl, knows she will not just fall asleep anywhere.  She rarely sleeps in the car and just doesn't like to miss any of the action.  I think all of the activities finally caught up to her and she crashed on Josh at the wedding reception.  My baby was soo tired.  She even started snoring.

On Sunday my parents and I (along with 9 other friends) went on a jet ski tour to see dolphins.  It was the coolest experience.  We found several groups of dolphins and were able to get right next to them.  We spent 2 hours on jet skis.  Let me tell you, driving a jet ski on the ocean is a totally different experience that driving one on a lake.  My dad and I rode together and he was so sweet to let me drive the whole time.  While we did that, Josh took Alex to the beach.  That evening, Josh and I broke away for a fun afternoon.  His birthday fell on the day we drove back so I wanted to celebrate a little early.  I rented a convertible and we spent the afternoon driving around then went and had dinner.  We headed back to the condo so my parents could go to dinner.  Alex was still awake and hungry so we made her a quick dinner and she ate while we packed.  The next thing I knew she was out like a light with her food still in her hand.

Our drive home was uneventful and Alex was perfect again!  My girl was built for road trips!

End of School



Alex had her last week of school last week.  I was thinking I would have 3 days to finish doing things I wanted to.  Boy was I wrong!  I was at her school every single day for something and spent the rest of the time running errands for school related activities.  Tuesday she had group chapel, where the whole school performed together.  It was soo cute seeing her up there with all of her friends.  Wednesday we celebrated her birthday.  They spent the last 2 weeks of school celebrating the birthdays of the kids who have summer birthdays.  Josh and I took cupcakes for her class.  I had a little break before I went back up for their water day.  They had so much fun playing car wash with shaving cream!  We had her end of the year party on the last day of school.  I spend the morning picking up a gift for her teacher (who has a summer birthday), wrapping end of the year gifts for the teachers and kids and taking care of the food for the party.  I am so grateful to her teachers.  Alex learned so much in the last year.  She is turning into a little lady who loves to pray before each meal, help clean, she is smart as a whip and just so sweet!

I am so excited about our summer!  We have gymnastic, pre cheer, dance camp, vacation bible school and lots of play dates!  We have our first one tomorrow with a friend from dance.  The funny part is, Alex's friend Ava, has a little brother who is actually Alex's age.  Alex tend to gravitate to the kid who are older.  Most of her school friend turned 4 very early in the school year while her dance and gymnastics friends are all 5.



Long Lost Blogger

We are still here, alive and doing well. You know how you take a break from blogging, then a few days turns into weeks, months and so on.

I'll just skim, Christmas was great. We loved seeing the family. The end of winter and beginning of spring was just filled with school, activities and busy weekends.

Alex is still loving school. I can not believe she has 3 weeks left. Her summer schedule is jam packed with activities to make up for the lack of school.

Josh committed to riding in the MS 150, which he completed a few weeks ago. He rode a bicycle from Houston to Austin. It was such an awesome experience to be able to take Alex to watch him cross the finish line! We are so unbelievably proud of him!

We celebrated my birthday last weekend. We spent the day at josh's company picnic. Alex had a blast! Sunday everyone slept in until 9am, which is totally unheard of in my house. We spent the afternoon in Houston shopping and having dinner.

As we speak, we are on the road to Destin! My little cousin is getting married so the family is making the trek for the event. I am so excited for a little mini vacation. 9 hours in the car (so far) may be the reason I have time to update the blog!

We have super busy weekends coming up. Another wedding mothers day weekend, Alex's dance recital (and 2 birthday parties) the following weekend. June doesn't seem to be slowing down either. Josh has a fun work trip, I'm hosting a baby shower or my best friend (so stinking excited), fathers day and we are having Alex's birthday party early (in June).

Gingerbread Train

Alex and I had big plans to spend an afternoon making gingerbread people cookies...until I realized I didn't have a cookie cutter. We made 2 stops looking for a cookie cutter and had no luck. We did end up finding a gingerbread train set to make instead! Alex was sooo excited about making hers. Since there were 3 parts we each decorated one. I'm pretty sure Alex licked every single piece of candy before it went on her train. She ate just as much as she put on her train. It was such a fun thing to do together!

Dinner/Breakfast with Santa

Yes, I have been totally neglecting the blog. I have good reason. It's this little event called Dinner and Breakfast with Santa. It is the annual fundraiser for Alex's pre school. This is our first year at the school so we have never been to the event...and some how I ended up as the decorations chair. It was fun, stressful and totally worth it! The event happens twice. Once on Friday night at Dinner with Santa and again the next morning as Breakfast with Santa. There are several committees (Decorations, Silent Auction, Food and Arts & Crafts). The past years have had very traditional decor (think red, green, plaid), but this year our Parent Counsel President wanted to change it up to make it more kid friendly and whimsical. We chose the colors red, lime green, hot pink and aqua. Since it was our first year with the theme, we started from scratch with everything! Each event had about 300 people attend so once dinner was over, we had our volunteers clean up and we reset everything for breakfast. Our silent auction had great items, our food was delicious and the kids loved the arts and crafts. We are so lucky to have so many parents who volunteer their time, energy, and resources at Alex's school.

Here are some pics before the event started!

The entrance!

our adorable table settings. I made all of the table numbers and stands, a grandparent that has 5 grandkids at the school made the adorable centerpiece trees that were sold at the end of the event. We sold out of centerpieces!
We also took super cute pictures of each class holding thank you signs we placed on the tables of sponsors.

our stage where the photographer took pics of all the children with Santa. I pretty much created this on the spot with supplies from hobby lobby, trees borrowed from a parent and lots and lots of ribbon, tulle and fabric! It made an adorable back drop for the pictures!

bows and hanging ornaments behind the silent auction tables

the massive kitchen area. we made do with supplies the church had to hide the kitchen equipment!

I am still waiting for the pics with Santa to be posted. Alex did not want to sit with Santa. She opted to pick one of her friend to go with her so they each sat on a knee. It was soo cute! The event took up every spare second I had but it was so worth it to see the finished product and hear all the compliments!

Be on the look out for lots of post now! We have been getting into the Christmas spirit at our house!

Halloween 2011

We had so much fun on Halloween. We spent the evening with the Mikitaroffs again. Their street had a little party. Alex loved seeing Kate and Ella. There was a Disney princess overload, but of course, I thought Alex was the cutest! Once the trick or treating started we had a few issues. Alex feel about 4 times so we had to find safety pins to hem her dress a little, then we were great! She is already looking forward to next year!

Ita and Ito's

We headed to Dallas for the weekend. We drove up Saturday and went straight to my grandparents house. My parents, aunts and uncles were there. Grandma made her yummy enchiladas for lunch and the guys helped work on their storage shed.
Alex was very shy when we first got there. She would barely leave my side.

After she got a little food in her tummy, she opened up a little. It was a beautiful day so we spent most of the afternoon outside. Alex found pecans, watered plants and just played around.

Alex and Popi found a caterpillar. I so proud of my girly girl, she held it!

On our way out, I pointed out a stone to Alex that had Hudson's handprints on it. She put her sweet little hands on his prints, it was soo cute and sweet

Later that night we went to my best friends for a pumpkin carving party. Pumpkins post will come later this week!!