Another day away

I decided to go ahead and blog about another run away day we were able to have since I am desperately trying to stay awake right now! As I am sitting here typing, I have a lovely tiara, because I am the queen, Makayla is a fairy princess and Hannah is a ballerina. I'm not sure when they grow out of this stage but I really hope it's awhile away!
Our latest family adventure was Paducah, Kentucky. The girls and I drove down to meet Greg when he was getting off of work. There are tons of state parks and outdoorsy things to do along the way but we stuck to eating out, shopping and the hotel pool. The girls enjoyed themselves and totally crashed with no problem at the end of the day! I love how they look sleeping but love it even more when they are sharing a bed!


On the way home, we became the ultimate tourists in Metropolis IL! The home of Superman! Greg and I spent 2 years at SIUC and never even considered going down there but since we were passing through it sounded like a fun idea, and it was! Here are a few highlights.......
All 3 (or 4!) of us


Makayla


Hannah


Mommy


Makayla in a Superman Stance



Hannah holding up the man of steel (I think that's his motto)



Time to get back to the My Little Pony Pageant and folding laundry!

Maternity Pics and Birthday Party

Saturday was a busy day for our family, we had maternity pictures scheduled and then headed up to Peoria for a nephew's birthday party. With the unpredictable rain lately we were not sure what would happen for outdoor maternity pictures but the weather early Saturday could not have been more beautiful! I am not a fan of having my picture taken but I know that I will regret never having pictures so I do them anyway!
We met the photographer, Tisha Gruel with Priceless Images for the first time last fall. She had a pay it forward contest and someone had submitted our family to have a free session and picture package. I still do not know who submitted us but am so glad we have found Tisha. She is so calm, sweet and patient at the shoot and when I say "Tell us what to do because I don't know!" she does just that!

Here are a few from our sneak peek!

This one she told me to look at Greg and I started laughing because I asked if he wanted to make out. Very immature, I know!!!!


Hannah was not very cooperative so we had pictures with them as she decided she would hop in


And the final one for now since everyone has probably already seen these on facebook!


I am so glad we did pictures early because it sounds like the weather was just horrible later in the day. After pictures we hit the road for a 3 hour roadtrip to celebrate Greg's nephew Nathan turning 5!


It was a great weekend and I spent most of my day today sleeping, who would've thought sitting in a car would wear someone out so much????

We Ran Away!!!!

Since Greg had to be away for work this week, the girls and I took advantage of it and ran away with him! He had to stay in Springfield, which is about 2 hours away. The hotel was already paid for and had a pool so we thought it sounded fun.

I had not realized that the girls had never stayed in a hotel until I started packing. We have done alot of day trips but never a big vacation since they were born so this was a big test to see how it would go. They were thinking of a million things to bring and I kept telling them that we would be home before they even realized they did not have their stuff with them! They wanted their pillows, blankies, stuffed animals, books and more toys. I finally got them to narrow it down to 2 tiny stuffed creatures and 4 books for the ride.

Hannah passed out on the way up there looking incredibly rough!!



Another first was a trip to Chucky Cheese.




Yes, such a small thing but we have none close to our house so have just never been to one. We had a great coupon for pizza, drinks and game tokens. The girls had a blast and ended the fun with 150 tickets. They each got a box of nerds, a bracelet, activity book and a top. All junk to us but they were pumped.

After our dinner fun we went back to the hotel to play in the pool. Makayla is comfortable with arm floaties and will "swim" all over the place. Hannah has been glued to my neck in water this summer and while it's sweet that my independent little lady needs me, I still need my neck!!! I will say though, the last 15-20 minutes in the water she was venturing off on her own. We still need to keep a close eye on her since she has not mastered "swimming" but what a relief! To top it off, I had a random person tell me how much the girls look alike tonight. That does not happen often, Makayla is compared to Greg and Hannah paired up with me. I know it makes Makayla feel good because little girls do not want to look like their daddies, daddy is a boy and she says she looks like mommy. I always agree with her even though I know she is a little Greg :)

Although it has created a late bedtime being away from home, it was totally worth it to just get away for a night and enjoy family fun without distractions. The girls did make sure to pack their Bible so we kept our bedtime routine and read a story before bed. It helped Hannah, she was asleep fairly quickly.....Makayla on the other hand, finally caved at 11:00.



By the time this is posted we will be loading up or already home. I am not crazy enough to post that my house is empty, please come rob it:) The girls and I will be heading home after breakfast and I know that next time the opportunity presents itself, we will run away again!!!

Crazy May

I have been horrible with keeping up with my blogs lately so here is a quick recap of our May. It is always my favorite and busiest month of the year, our girls' birthdays are in May, their is always something going on to help kick off the summer season.

May Timline:

May 4th-Makayla turned 5!



May 8th- Mother's Day

May 12th-Olivia's 1st birthday



May 15th-Makayla and Hannah's birthday party. Original park location was swiched to the church since the weather was 50 degrees and rainy, of course the next day was 80 and sunny! (picture is girls with the girl cousins)


May 21st-Girls first dance recital (still waiting on professional pictures and hope they turned out better than the ones I took!


May 23rd-Hannah turned 4! We let the girls decorate cupcakes, we were running out of original cake ideas by this birthday. The adults enjoyed store bought cupcakes :)



May 28th-Trip to Scovill Zoo, turned out rainy and cold again but the girls were able to ride the carousel, train and get snowcones so they were happy


May 30th- Memorial Day, the girls were in the parade with the dance studio followed by a fundraiser fun day at the park with inflatables, face painting, dunk tanks. Then we went to a dinner for Greg's cousin who had been in Brazil for almost a year. They were so excited for such a big day and I took one picture! (the girls are 3rd and 4th from left on the flatbed)



That's our May in a nutshell plus many doctor appointments/checkups, preschool, playdates and LIFE! I'm sure I am forgetting a few highlights but now we are on to June. June is it's own kind of busy but is nothing compared to our May! Maybe we'll try to throw another May baby girl in the mix for May 2012 ;) Kidding! My body needs a rest, we'll give till July ;)