Spring Break - Texas Style

We have decided that it is way more fun to skip school and travel when it is quiet than during Spring Break and with a trip booked in April we thought it best we stay close to home this year. Fortunately, the Texas Gulf Coast is only 80 miles away and Ben is a sucker for vacations, so we booked three nights at the San Luis Resort on Galveston Island and made the quick drive down to the beach for some sun and fun.

The girls honestly don't have a lot of beach memories since we typically choose more fast pace city type trips, so they were excited to get in the sand and play. We lucked out with the weather being cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons, which is a rare treat in the Loan Star State. We all had fun building sand castles, gathering shells, playing in the water and just enjoying being outside.



The highlight of our trip was our hotel, The San Luis Resort. There are few things kids love more than staying in a hotel and this place did not disappoint. Three-fourths of our time was spent in the resort pool. It was heated to a nice 89 degrees and had a fun water slide. Since it was Spring Break the resort was smart and had several kids activities every day. The girls went on a treasure hunt with a pirate, touched real dolphin bones and won dolphin necklaces, enjoyed s'mores when the sun went down poolside, ate lots and lots of popsicles that a giant monkey carried around and passed out, and so on. Isabelle met lots of friends at the pool and was in heaven being free to play and roam as she wished.

One afternoon my mom drove down to surprise the girls. We had a fun time with grammie and rented a surrey to drive around the beach. We also ate a yummy lunch at The Rainforest Cafe where they sang to Isabelle and delivered her a HUGE volcano dessert since we were just a few days from her 7th birthday. Olivia particularly loved Cha Cha from the cafe and spent half of the day looking for, dancing and playing with the giant frog.

It was a super fun Spring Break week and we felt lucky to share so much free time together as a family. The girls were sad to leave the hotel and said that their favorite part was all four of us sleeping in one room together. Ben and I try to savor these moments because we know someday they may prefer to sleep in their own rooms. Hooray for family vacations!

Doo Wop

Isabelle and Ben were invited to their first official Daddy-Daughter Date with the Girl Scout Troops of The Woodlands. It was a Sock Hop and Isabelle was beyond excited. She convinced Grammie to make her an aqua-blue poodle skirt for the special night and of course Grammie made one for Olivia as well. (She even had enough felt left over and sewed one for Bella and Dizzy too!) Isabelle is doing a Grease medley for her dance recital this year so she had been practicing some 50-style dance moves in class so she felt prepared to show her friends just how to dance.

Ben borrowed a leather jacket from Grandpa to help him get in character and the two were off for the evening. They ate a yummy burger and hot dog dinner complete with root beer floats for dessert.  Ben said that Isabelle NEVER stopped dancing and barely let him eat his food. She participated in a hula hoop contest and even won a raffle prize of ribbon hair bows. They danced until the very last song was played and then tiredly headed home from a fun and busy night. Isabelle loved sharing some alone time with Ben and feeling so grown up. The next morning when she crawled into bed with me she sweetly said Well, I guess I've been to my first dance now. Well done, Ben!

a LOVEly month

February is always one of my most favorite months! It is the month of LOVE and it is my baby girl's birth month. This year we stayed busy like usual and I occasionally remembered to pull out my phone and snap a few pictures along the way.

Olivia is used to spending time at Belle's school just like I am, and often packs her on "pack-pack" with books and snacks to keep herself entertained. We love having Leo close and I think the girls are going to get quite used to having him around. Most mornings when we get in the car to head anywhere, Olivia excitedly asks Are we going to pick up Leo? Thankfully, Leo is also excited to ride in Amy's car, so we get to have him around a fair amount.

We enjoyed Valentines as usual with treats and notes from all of our loved ones and we enjoyed Dr. Seuss day at school too. Isabelle has such a good little group of friends and they are always so sweet to include Olivia. She thinks she is one of the big girls most of the time.

We enjoyed Rodeo day at school welcoming the Houston Stock Show and Rodeo into town and we always love a visit from Aunt Tara. It was a fun, busy and happy month and once again I am left with a good taste for February in my mouth.

Yeehaw, Olivia is 3 years old!

I am still waiting to find time to write down her birth story in her baby book but somehow I blinked and little Livi is three years old. I have been in love with her since the moment we met and she has been the bright spot of my every day since. She is silly, creative, sweet, shy, brave, smart and kind. She loves dancing with her prince daddy, won't let her mom get out of her eyesight and wants to be just like Isabelle.

Olivia was thrilled to be the birthday girl this year. She loved opening presents one after another and couldn't wait for us to sing to her and light her candles. This was the first year that we hosted a birthday party for Livi with her friends. She has made a few good little buddies since moving to The Woodlands and she watches her big sister go to parties all the time, so a birthday party at the park was planned for President's Day morning.

Olivia requested a cowgirl party with pink donuts so that is just what she got. It was a windy morning but the little party guests didn't seem to mind. They ate donuts and fruit, drank chocolate milk, played at the park and broke open a giant horseshoe pinata. Olivia felt special all morning which was worth every ounce of energy the little party took.

The following weekend we had a family party at Grammie and Grandpa's house to keep the 3rd celebration rolling. Tara came into town and Leo was there to play with. We enjoyed an outdoor bbq, opened more gifts, got dirty in the backyard and just had a great time. Aunt Alee made the coolest ( and yummiest ) cake for Olivia and we made sure we put several candles so that she could thoroughly blow them out. Grammie made Olivia and Dizzy matching satin nightgowns and Livi could not wait to get in the bathtub and put on her fancy new jammies.

The morning of her actual birthday Olivia woke to a giant giftbag. Isabelle was more that willing to help her open her new bike and Livi hopped right on and took off...no surprise.

A few things about Miss Olivia at age three:
* Olivia LOVES to change her clothes 178497349879432x a day.
* "I did it all by myself!" said very proudly is what I hear the most often.
* Livi is a much more adventurous eater than Isabelle. She won't win any eating awards, but she is much more willing to try things.
* Olivia is not much of a performer. She likes for you to watch her dance and/or sing but once she really thinks about the fact that she has an audience she becomes very shy.
* Olivia goes to bed very nice every night. We read a book and then rock a few minutes. Then she says "Mom, I am ready to get into bed. Go get my dad to come lay by me." Then I lay her in her bed and she zonks out.
* Livi is a fashion star. She wears costumes and accessories everyday and will wear glasses, a hat, a scarve, etc, all day long.
* Olivia knows how to tease Belle. It is her only defense from Belle's constant bossing.
* Little Miss knows how to spell her name, recognizes all her letters, shapes, colors and numbers. She is a smartie.
* If you ask her what her last name is she will reply "Olivia Big Girl."

There are so many things that I wish I could bottle up in Olivia right now and keep forever. I think the "terrible twos" are making an exit and the threes are going to be better than ever. Isabelle, her dad and I cannot imagine life without our little Livi and thankfully we don't have to. Happy 3rd Birthday Olivia! You are so loved.

January???

We know a new year began because we counted down to midnight and watched fireworks on December 31st, but, we cannot remember January? It was not cold. It was not winter. We did not wear sweaters or drink hot cocoa. Instead, we played outside. We biked to school and we went straight from Christmas to Spring.





Thank goodness for smart phones because after a long download tonight I can look back and see just what we filled our January days with. We sold 169 boxes of Girl Scout cookies with both girls wearing an apron of sorts. We went on family date nights way after bedtime. We visited the dentist for checkups and had fun at birthday parties for friends. Mostly Ben worked and worked and worked and worked, Isabelle stayed busy at school, dance, piano and playdates and I followed Olivia around as she changed her clothes 1000x a day and dressed-up in ANYTHING she could get her hands on.




So I guess no news is good news for the month of January. We enjoyed a month of health, good weather, family and routine. We could get used to this.