splash

On Friday of last week we had lots of fun things that we had to bring repairmen in for. I was feeling bad that Meredith's first day of "summer" was going to be spent stuck at home until I realized that it was summer - so that means time to break out the kiddie pool! The girls couldn't have been more excited!

Turtle Class of 2011

After Jillian and I enjoyed some time together, we headed to Meredith's school to celebrate her last day as a Turtle. She has had such a great year - we have been blessed with two really great teachers, Mrs. Harper and Mrs. Lee. She has also gotten to spend the year with many of her friends from last year, but has made new friends, too. This year has been such a big learning year for Meredith, she has really taken to their reading preparation - she loves her sight words and has even started reading some - we are so proud of her! So, we had lots to celebrate at her end of the year party this year. We also got to say good-bye to her sweet friends, who are all going to different schools next year. It will be sad to not see all these same boys and girls every day, but I know she will make lots of great new friends next year.

The day was full of fun - in the morning before the parents got there, the kids and teachers had a water play day complete with snow cones and bounce houses. Then we got there in time for the official party!

All the kids kicked off the party playing a laughing game where they laid on each other's tummies. They thought it was pretty fun!
Jillian decided to give it a shot, too!
The kids each decorated a fun sand bucket with stickers and markers. Guess who picked green?
There was also the ever-popular cookie decorating!
And then more games that Jillian was ready to join right into, too. Meredith loves sharing her sister with her friends - oh, how I pray that continues! I sure love how these sisters love each other!

Six Flags

Neal has been anxious for a little time away from the office, so he took a few days off so we could have a little family fun - including a day out at Six Flags! Meredith has been asking when she could ride the roller coasters that we see off the highway forever, so now was her chance - and Neal is pretty excited to groom a coaster riding partner!

Our first ride - the trucks. As soon as we were off, Jillian looked at me and said "One more time!"

Next up, the swings! Neal commented on how big Jillian looks just sitting on that ride all by herself. It was pretty cute to watch her get excited to get on the ride, then look around like, what am I doing???

The planes were a little less successful - Meredith had a blast, but Jillian hurt herself getting on the ride, so she cried the whole time.
Posing next to her first big coaster! She said she was a little scared, but I think she had a blast! Daddy was super proud of her because she just hopped on without even questioning if it would be scary! Later in the day, I think she started to catch on that she should be more hesitant, but that is another story!
She and Neal did the mini mine train and the mine train after Meredith and I did the parachutes (that were actually scarier than I remembered them being) So this was really the last big ride we could convince Meredith to do - Neal said she just would take in all the surroundings and would be polite but not too talkative when he would ask her questions to try to keep her calm.
After all the trills, the carousel was right up everyone's ally!
Nothing scary about that!
Meredith was excited to meet Sylvester - Jillian opted to stay with Daddy.
Meredith was very excited to drive the Antique cars while Daddy rode the Texas Giant.
Beans and I were backseat passengers!
We promised Meredith Cotton Candy for snack after seeing some earlier in the day. It took quite awhile for Neal to get through the line for the Texas Giant, so the girls and I headed off to find snack. We seriously walked around for 30 minutes in the most humid heat with no luck finding cotton candy ANYWHERE. Finally, Neal got back and we found a place that had it - but it was enough for 12 people. At that point, I didn't care. We bought it. And if you are craving cotton candy any time soon, swing on by our house.

Can you tell we scooped an almost comatose Jillian out of the stroller for this family picture?
Our only family ride - the cave ride.

We ended the trip with a train ride - love Meredith holding Daddy's hand in this pic. Jillian had been waiting to ride this all day - every time we would see the train she would say "Choo Choo train, I'm comin!"

Last Mommy/Jillian Day

It was the middle of Wednesday last week when I realized that I needed to not only emotionally prepare for Meredith's last day of school, but also for my last day with just my sweet Beans. For the past two years, she and I have gotten to have lots of great quality time together while Meredith has been at school and I have been so thankful. I remember back to the days when I was at home with Meredith as a tiny baby wondering how I would ever be able to have the same kind of time with another child one day. God was very good to me by allowing me to not only stop working just after Jillian was born to give me more time with both girls, but to also allow us to send Meredith to school. I have treasured those two days with just Jillian. We did everything from just napping together on the couch when she was just a few months old to going to the park or zoo or just running errands and spending time just us two. Next year, we have already signed Jillian up for school, too, which I know will be an amazing experience for her, but I will certainly miss our days of just the two of us.


So, after dropping Meredith off on Thursday, we headed to go feed some ducks, which is always a hit with Jillian!

Looking for some ducks...

There were a lucky few ducks that spotted us and came over for quite a feast! A few more joined them later and then I spotted this really cool big goose that I took Jillian to see. As we got closer, the goose got angry. Then he charged us. As I have probably mentioned before, I have an aversion to birds, so I scooped up a pretty scared Jillian and ran and ran! Probably was hilarious to watch!

After our close call with the crazy goose, we headed to the mall to ride the carousel - much safer!

Jillian went back and forth - first insisting she ride the rabbit, then the cat, but she finally chose the "strich." Again, safest bird of the day!

A little grainy, but still cute!
An M&M cookie - the perfect end to our outing! Plus it was loaded with oranges just for Jillian!