Beavers Bend

We took a trip to Beavers Bend, Oklahoma this past weekend with the McGilvray family. Dale & Gary won a bid in a silent auction for a weekend stay at a cabin there. The cousins had a great time running around the wrap-around porch, playing hide-n-seek, looking for bugs (a Makenzie and Megan favorite), taking a train ride through the woods, relaxing in the hot tub, playing basketball, making s'mores, and fishing and swimming in the lake. The trip ended with Aaron's find of a family of armadillos which he proceeded to chase and had his daughter and nieces following pursuit. We had a great time together as a family and are thankful to Gary and Dale for planning/organizing the trip!

Ashlyn's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Ashlyn turning two with family and a few of her closest friends. We decided to keep Ashlyn's birthday low-key while we can still get away with it. Truth be told, I was not ready for a huge party since we just had Makenzie's big carnival party in March. About a month ago, I took Ashlyn to Party City for her to pick out birthday plates, and we came away with Strawberry Shortcake. I asked her several time if she was sure that was what she wanted, given that she really has no clue who Strawberry Shortcake is, but her answer was the same every time. As long as she was happy, so was I, and Strawberry Shortcake is still the sweet and innocent little girl she has been for years (although her appearance has changed a little as her looks are more suitable for an 6-8yr old party rather than a 2yr old party-oh, well).

I decide to try my hand at her cake as Aaron has taken on that responsibility the last couple of years and he put in so much work for Makenzie's party. He did help me decorate the cake as I prepared chocolate-covered strawberries and made strawberry-shaped cookies for the party favors. I was pleased with the way it turned out, but would still prefer to leave the cake making to Aaron!

We are so thankful for the blessing of having Ashlyn in our lives for two years now. I am sad that time is going by so fast as I absolutely love this age and find myself laughing at her all the time. Although a little head-strong at times, Ashlyn is a very grateful two year old who thanks me all the time for little things such as changing her diaper! She LOVES to sing, LOVES to play with her babies, and LOVES to do just about everything her big sister is doing at the moment. Her daddy and I are truly blessed!

Ashlyn is TWO!!

Aaron was able to take a day off from work to spend Ashlyn's birthday together as a family. Earlier in the month of April, Aaron attended a silent auction where he bid on tickets for the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science and won the bid. We knew from our friends Scott and Summer that it was a neat place to take the kids, so we decided we would use the tickets and try it out.
The girls had fun making bubbles, "milking" a cow, gathering eggs, riding a tractor, looking at bugs, and so much more. We would have stayed longer, but we needed to get home for nap time and to prepare for more birthday celebration. I will share more in the next blog about my baby turning 2...

Dallas Arboretum

As always, I am going to be playing catch-up with our blog. A few weeks ago, the girls and I made a trip to the Arboretum with my friend Stephanie and her two boys. I have lived in the Dallas area for twelve years now and this was my first time to go. We had a good time, although I have to say there were a lot of people there. I think it had to do with end of TAKS testing and probably the just the season for school trips. According to Stephanie, we didn't even see half of the Arboretum, but the kids enjoyed the picnic lunch, aggravating the fish (my child), and running around the flowers. I would like to go back in the fall when all the pumpkins are out and possibly have professional pictures taken there. I can see why so many people do....

Thanks Steph for taking us with you!