Birthday bashes - 1/2 birthday, 31st birthday, and 60th birthday

This past weekend we had a fun family dinner to celebrate three milestones - Bubbie's birthday, Neal's birthday, and Jillian's 1/2 birthday! I fried up some chicken at Neal's request and Aunt Katie brought cakes that she made at at cake workshop that day. It was so fun to get together and have fun with everyone - especially for Meredith and Landon who can never get enough of having everyone they love all in one room!

The girls of honor sharing a dance.

What fun - our little 1/2 birthday girl even got a few presents - she had so much fun with them!

Having fun with her princess balloon

Somehow all the ladies left the room - I came back to find this scene all the men on the iPhones. Well, not Granddad - maybe that is what he needs for Christmas! :)

The adorable (and delicious!) cakes. Meredith chose the theme for Daddy's cake based on a picture she found of Uncle Neil circa 1985 at Gigi's house. She knew Daddy needed a cake with cars on it too and has been talking about it for months. Luckily Aunt Katie was able to come through on that request. And how cute that Jillian got her own little cake - she sure would have loved it if I would have let her have a taste!

Meredith's 3 Year Photo Shoot

Here's a chance for me to show off my beautiful 3 year old! We had a great photo shoot with Adrien at apmDesign Photography at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens complete with the most adorable outfits from Miss Sugar Pops. Luckily, Miss Sugar Pops made a little version for Meredith's favorite little sister so we got some shots with both girls. Adrien wanted a few more to share with her friend that made the outfits so we got to have a little extra time with her and got some more really great shots. I can't believe how much I love all of these yet again! I am so lucky to have such a talented friend!











Thanks again Adrien!

Disney World

So of course we couldn't be in Orlando with a 3 year old and not stop by Disney World, right? Meredith was so excited to get to go to "Mickey's house" - and at the end of the day, Neal and I agreed that Monday probably was the best day of her life. She was just so happy and excited about everything - watching that is priceless and we can't wait to go back to experience it for longer and get to see Jillian enjoy it just as much.

I knew she would enjoy the rides and love seeing all of the characters on things, but she isn't too wild about "characters" walking around places, so I wasn't sure about that piece of the trip. As soon as we got into the park, though, Daisy and Pluto were there waiting. I had an autograph book for her and we waited in crazy line - then she walked very confidently up to each of them with her book, stood quietly next to them, and posed for a picture or two, like it was no big deal. Then, we would walk a foot or two from them and she would be jumping up and down screaming "I met Pluto!" (or whoever) and she loved that they would write their names in her book. She would plan out which page to use next as we waited in the next crazy line. Neal and I started trying to avoid some of the characters that we didn't think she really cared about since we had such a short amount of time and didn't want to miss out on any of the other fun stuff, but this was such a highlight for her! We ended up meeting Pluto, Daisy, Ariel (her favorite!), Pooh and Tigger, Mickey and Minnie, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle.

We waited the longest to meet Ariel, but it was well worth it. Meredith can not stop talking about meeting her! Which again, is so funny because Ariel would ask her questions and talk to her, but Meredith would just sit there mesmerized, until we walked out of her view and she couldn't hold in her excitement any longer!

Kisses from Pooh

Meredith was so excited to hug and kiss Mickey and Minnie. After we left she told me "I kissed Mickey's arm. He was so excited. He can't wait to tell his family all about it."

You almost can't tell which one is the real Cinderella, right? :)

On top of meeting the characters, we all loved the rides. Luckily Jillian was able to go on pretty much all the rides we took Meredith on, including the Teacups, Dumbo, It's a Small World, Peter Pan, and Pooh - and probably a few others I am forgetting. We really had more fun than you could ever imagine in one day!

We even got a green teacup - Meredith's favorite color!
The Winnie the Pooh ride

Posing on the Dumbo outside the Dumbo ride.

Both girls loved It's a Small World
With such a quick trip, there was no time for naps - so we each took a girl while waiting in lines and let them both crash for a bit - you can tell how close Meredith is getting here...

Waiting for Mickey's Philharmagic show - Jillian was fast asleep until the music started and then she popped right up and wanted to watch the whole thing! Both girls loved it - Meredith was on the edge of her seat clapping and laughing and couldn't stop retelling how it went.
Daddy and Meredith on Goofy's Barnstormer
Jillian rests while Daddy takes Meredith on the race cars.
We ended the night with the parade and fireworks.

Sleepy, sleepy girls as we left the park. Neither woke up at all even when we had to take them out of the stroller to ride the tram - making it a little more difficult for us to get us all on there safely but we all made it with pretty much everything in tact!

As we got to the car, though, I realized that we had lost a shoe (we still had it,but lost it off her foot) which I thought was all too appropriate for our little Cinderella - luckily the stroller didn't turn into a pumpkin.

Sea World

Last weekend, Neal had to go to Orlando for a work event that was taking place at Sea World. We decided that all of us should tag along since we could fly for free, had a hotel set up and paid for and because the meeting would be fun for us. The weekend was great and gave us a chance to get away as a family!

Most of the day it was just the girls since Neal had to be at the pilot event starting around 11. We first headed to a Pets show as a family - Meredith loved watching all the dog and cat tricks and just thought it was all hilarious! After that, I took Meredith and Jillian around to see the other exhibits and shows before having lunch with Neal. After lunch, the rain started, but we were lucky enough to be in a show that was nicely covered. Then finally, we got to meet up with Neal again so that he could take Meredith on some rides and then we all went to go see Shamu together! Even though we had just been to Sea World in San Antonio a few months ago, Meredith really seemed to enjoy this trip! The park, is of course a bit different so it gave her new things to do and see plus, I know she just loved getting to do stuff with Daddy too! Jillian enjoyed this trip a lot more too - going from a sleepy 2 month old, wanting to chill in her stroller the whole time, to a very curious almost 6 month old who wanted to be up looking at everything and everyone!

The Sea World pros ready to go!

Meredith loved feeding the dolphins little fish and trying to pet them.

After feeding them, we headed below to see the dolphins under water.

So these pictures are pretty bad, but this was Jillian's favorite part of the day - she loved watching the dolphins swim by - anytime one would pass us, her little feet would kick like crazy and squeal! Too cute.

Again, not a good picture, but I had to include it - Meredith couldn't wait for Daddy to join us so they could ride the rides - they were roller coaster buddies all weekend!
Riding Baby Shamu
She really got into the Shamu show - she was so excited with every jump and splash and loved doing the little dance they taught us.