ABCs of Summer...J Day

J is for jump! Prestyn got a trampoline from Santa, and she's always wanting friends to come over and jump with her. 

Well this day her sweet friend Saylor got to come jump with her! Saylor's mommy and I have been friends for 21 years!!! Crazy, huh?! We don't even have to force this friendship on them. They naturally love each other! 

So after some jump time Saylor was ready to make Jellyfish. Crafts with 2 year olds doesn't always go as planned. Haha. Maybe that part was more for the moms. About 5 minutes into it they were done, and ready to watch a movie...and eat Cheetos! Lol. These 2 are so cute!! 

So even though the jelly fish crafts didn't get find they still had a lot of fun together. 

After they were over the movie they played for a while in Prestyn's kitchen. Then we pretty much had to force them to eat lunch. Jelly and peanut butter sandwiches of course! With a side of jello! 

It's taken me 2 days to write this post because I didn't feel so joyful about this day. At this point Prestyn had pooped in her diaper. Then threw a big ol' fit because she didn't want get diaper changed. In the fight of changing her diaper she got in her bed to tee tee. And joyfully shared this with me! 

It was a tough afternoon but after a nap she was much better! 

ABCs of Summer...Date Night Edition...G-I

This is fun. It really makes you think out of the box and get creative with your dates! We discussed many things we could've done for the letter G, but this is what we decided on: 

Appetizers and beverages at Gloria's at the Harbor then to see Jurassic Park. I thought afterwards we could get Ice cream at Coldstone at the Harbor or make Ice cream at home! Today is Prestyn's J day so we went ahead and included that in our date plan...until...

The neighbor came over, and asked us if we wanted to go on their boat! Um yeah!! If you know my husband well you know how happy the lake and being on a boat makes him! I made sure our babysitter could sit during the day instead of night then we were in!! 

So G...after being on the boat a couple hours we docked at the Harbor, walked up to Gloria's, and had dinner! 

H is easy...we were at the Harbor! 

I...well...I thought I could still stand for making Ice Cream when we got home, or we could share all the quarky things I love about you...instead I stands for iPhone...lost...in the lake. 😢 we had a great date day and night! It stinks that ended on such a bad note with me dropping my phone in the lake. 

Accidents happen! Hopefully the next date day/night will be happy from beginning to end! 

ABCs of Summer 2...I Day

Because not every day has to be going somewhere we had fun Indoors today! 

A little side note:: I'm about 10 lbs away from pre-pregnancy weight. 20 lbs away from where I was when I lost weight after Prestyn. And 30 lbs away from a goal weight! Soooo our morning was spent at the gym. I get my workout in indoors! But Prestyn wanted to play outdoors. Ha. 

We had some good relaxing time at home after the gym. I had some letter I crafts planned as well as making homemade ice cream. Prestyn had so much fun with this first craft that we didn't get to anything else! 

So I'm calling this Ice Cream Paint. Except next time I'll do it a little different. So here's what we did: 

On a paper plate I sprayed some shaving cream. Then squeezed glue on it. Prestyn used a Popsicle stick to mix it up. She said she wanted her "ice cream" to be pink so then I added pink acrylic paint and stirred that in. 

On a large sheet of paper I drew an ice cream cone. I then told her to paint the scoops of ice cream on the cone. She went a little crazy, but who am I to micromanage?! I let her have fun with it! This is definitely something we'll do again. I got this off Pinterest but I think next time...

I'll just spray whipped cream on a plate and add food coloring then let her paint with that. Until she's old enough to understand not to eat the ice cream paint. 😜 we'll also do it outside next time. It made quite the mess but it wSnt too bad cleaning up! 😊

ABCs of Summer 2...H Day

Whodathunk it that our H day last year was exactly 1 year ago today. Thanks to Time Hop I was able to compare pictures of Prestyn at the same place!

Although...in last year's picture she was picking blackberries. In this year's picture she is eating ice cream. Beeeecaaause...we didn't get to pick blueberries this year. :( again, I was so sad, and began to think this day would be another flop! 

We made the best of it though! Ryan and I both checked their website, and it said we'd be able to pick until end of June. Apparently they've been so busy that everybody picked all the blackberries so there weren't any left. 

So we picked up our bag of peaches, and got our ice cream. I had to get the peach ice cream. Prestyn said she wanted pink so we got her strawberry! Aaaand she wanted hers in a cup to eat it with a spoon. I prefer a cone but to each is own. And what my baby wants my baby gets. 

When we drove up to Ham's Orchard we saw signs got a petting zoo. Since we couldn't pick blackberries we thought we'd check the petting zoo out. And boy am I glad we did! 

The oldest daughter of the Ham family started the petting zoo this summer. It's only $4 to get in (2 and under are free), and I think it's the best petting zoo I've been to! 

There were no barriers! We got right in there with the animals! There were chickens, ducks, bunnies, baby pigs, goats, sheep, and a llama. Prestyn said the bunnies were her favorite. Probably because she got to hold one. The baby pigs were my favorite. Probably because I got to hold one. 😜 

The pictures speak for themselves. I'm so glad we went! 

H is also for Hot and Humid! Last minute I decided to look for a sitter for Pierce. Ryan's cousin, Alex, was being a creeper, and saw I needed a sitter. I'm glad she was creepin though because she came, and kept Pierce while we went! 

And since it was so hot it was the perfect day for Dadda to blow up our little pool in the backyard! The afternoon ended great with Prestyn and I in the pool. Then her friend Bo came over with his mommy. Prestyn has been asking about him since our letter B day! Glad they finally got to play! 

ABCs of Summer 2...G Day

G is for Good Effort? G day didn't quite go as I planned...I had it circled on the calendar since I still needed to plan something. Then Kiki snap chatted a picture of a Gloria's meal that looked delish so then I had a plan!

G is for Gloria's. A treat for Mommy, Dadda, and the 2 sweet Ps! Dadda got his margarita. Mommy got her enchiladas (which I always order when we go out since Ryan doesn't like them so I never get to cook them), Pierce got to go on our adventure, and Prestyn got to play at the Harbor Splash Pad...or so I thought. 

So after we ate I changed P into herbs thing suit, lathered on the sunscreen then went out to the splash pad. We waited, and we waited, and we waited. Ryan read that it comes on twice an hour every day. So we waited for 30 minutes, and it never came on. :( I was so sad for Prestyn! We did walk around the Harbor which was nice, and took P to see the lighthouse. Pierce just slept the whole time. He was tired from all the smiling he did at Gloria's. :) 

Once we got home I was hoping we could go play with Prestyn's friend Grey, but Dadda took a nap so Prestyn and I did G day activities at home! 

I put hair gel in a gallon sized Baggie then taped it to her placemat with her name on a piece of cardstock underneath. She liked feeling the gel through the Baggie as she traces the letters of her name. 

Then our plan was to make a goat out of her handprint. We started by glueing Popsicle sticks on the cardstock to make a fence. Next was to paint Prestyn's hand to make the goat, but Pierce had another plan. He was DONE napping and ready to take a bath! And because Prestyn missed her nap she went ahead and had her dinner and bath too so she could get to bed early! 

Even though the day didn't turn out the way we planned it was still a good day. I'm certainly enjoying these summer days with my family. 

ABCs of Summer 2...F Day

F is for Fort Worth Stockyards! Ryan was pretty excited when he saw I put this on the calendar. He considers that part of his old stomping grounds so he was excited to take his girls there. Thankfully it's not too far from Gammies house so first we dropped Pierce off since being outside there would be too hot.

Really the only thing I thought we would do was watch the Cattle Drive then eat lunch. The Cattle Drive started at 11:30 so we got there about 11. Once we got out there we saw how much there was to do for Prestyn! Again...seeing a part of the city through her eyes was priceless! 

She wanted to ride the little carousel ride so we put the quarters in, and off she went! Her face in the pictures is priceless. Once she got going she was quite scared but she stayed on! Then she wanted to ride the rocking horse. Except when this one got going she wanted off! We convinced her to stay on if Daddy held her. :)

I was amazed at how many people were lined up along Exchange to watch the Cattle Drive. Prestyn liked seeing the Longhorns and horses so much that she kept saying she wanted to touch them. Haha. Well she couldn't touch those, but she could touch the animals in the Petting Zoo! 

That was our next stop. The lady warned us that her pet deer roamed freely so to make sure she didn't eat all our feed. Haha. That was the sweetest deer! Prestyn said the goats and sheep were her favorite. I personally liked the lama! Lol! All I can think of is Napolean Dynamite! 

There was a little train ride for kids, and Prestyn was not going to let us get past letting her ride it! She said she wanted Mommy to ride with her so we bought our tickets and off we went! It was a short ride but an enjoyable one. We went through a tunnel which Prestyn loved especially since she's always asking to go through a tunnel when we are driving! She even got a train whistle after the ride! Worth the 10 bucks! 

We were then ready to eat lunch. Before going into Riscky's BBQ there was a clown cowboy making balloon animals. Prestyn requested a dog. He even let her choose the colors! She was showing her balloon dog off to everybody in the restaurant. 

I was so proud of my sweet girl. When the waitress came to our table Prestyn said, "I would like a sprite please." Saweet girl!! We had a good meal of BBQ and Mac and cheeee! 

It really was a great day and we're so glad we made the trip! I can't wait until we can take both kids next time!

ABCs of Summer...Date Night Edition...A-F

So when people ask what we're doing this summer Ryan or I explain that we're doing the ABCs of summer. I proudly admit that it's the teacher in me that inspires this. I know he's equally proud, but I also know he thinks I'm a little dorky and OCD over the ABCs of Summer. So when he tells people he's like...she's a teacher...haha.

Well...guess who had the brilliant idea to do ABCs of Summer for date nights?! Not me! The teacher. Nope. It was the firefighter's idea! And I loved it!!! 

So with Prestyn we do the ABCs of Summer 3 days a week. Unfortunately we don't get date night 3 nights a week, but we are fortunate for the 1 night we get! So our one night we have to get a little creative and try to get through more than just 1 letter! It's just easier to keep track of if we're on the same letter of Prestyn. 

So we started with the letter A, duh! Which stands for...anniversary!!! This year we celebrated our 4 year anniversary. I'm not going to lie...we've had our ups and downs these past 4 years but we've stayed strong in our faith and foundation for our marriage. We continue to be thankful for God bringing us happily together under not so happy circumstances. We're thankful for the life we have together with our children and each other. 

So for Ryan's birthday he said all he wanted was socks. Really?! So I got him socks, but I also got him flip flops and a pedicure! I guess it was secretly a gift for me too because I was like hey we can go together on our anniversary! So momma got a mani and pedi too! 

Our next stop took care of the letter B! B is for beverages! So we went to Flying Saucer. Ryan's a member of the UFO club, and it had been 1 year since we were there so it was time to check some more off his list! It was a beautiful day for patio sitting! And since the lake is so high now it gave off a nice breeze. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and conversation! 

C is for Concerts! That evening we joined our friends David & Grace for Concerts on the Lake. Again the weather was in our favor today! We had dinner and drinks out there while we listened to a Stevie Ray Vaughn cover band. Not so much our kind of music, but it was still fun. Afterwards we popped over to Southern Comforts at the Harbor where we did get to hear our kind of a music! Great Country Bar that we can't wait to go back to! 

This was entire Date Day and Night that was a blast! So there's the letter D! That's one piece of advice I always give newlyweds...continue to date each other! We have to stop and remind ourselves of that too sometimes but it's so important. Now that we have kids another crucial part is the conversation...it's hard not to talk about the kids, but we tried to talk like we're dating again! 

E is for Energy! We can't forget about the power nap Dadda and I got in between our day date and night. Pierce was asleep when we got home, and Prestyn was at the sitter so we both got naps in so we could have energy for the night! Because let's face it...we're 31 with 2 kids. We're Exhausted 80% of the time. Lol. So a nap is always an Effective way to Enjoy ourselves. 

I haven't mentioned our gifts yet. That's the letter F! The Four year traditional gift is Fruit and Flowers! This was a Fun gift to arrange and it was easy on our budget. And since I took 10 weeks off work this was good! :) So I made Ryan...Bacon Flowers! It was so easy and he loved it! His fruit gift was a watermelon wall flower for his room at the station and lemon scented body wash. 

Ryan came home with Flowers and chocolate covered strawberries for me! The Flowers were beautiful and in the cutest bird house vase! Attached to the Flowers was a balloon that Prestyn claimed as her own. It was so sweet.  When Ryan walked in with it she said, "oh thank you daddy!" I couldn't tell her it was really for me. She loves balloons! The chocolate strawberries were delicious, and after this celebration it's time to get back on our diets! 

Cheers to 4 years and at least 40 more!! 

obligatory anniversary pic with a picture from the year before...(#nomorecheesefries) :(

ABCs of Summer 2...D Day

Oooo weee I'm tired! I'm literally sitting on the couch with my feet propped up while Pierce is asleep in the swing, and Prestyn is sitting at the coffee table on the iPad. I hear the washer finishing up my load of laundry which means I'll soon have to get up to put the clothes in the dryer and fold the ones that are in there.

Until then I'll enjoy this time of rest to blog about our Dynamic Day! You know what starts with the letter D?! Dallas Zoo! Sure we could've waited until Z Day or $1 admission day but both times then it'd be way too hot! Today was the perfect day!! 

It was a little overcasted and a few rain clouds emptied over us, but after all the walking and humidity it felt nice. Still it wasn't too hot at all! 

Since Dallas is 1/2 way between us and Arlington we invited Ryan's mom to join us! So Gammies met us there! We tried to get a picture in the B and G at the entrance but Prestyn wasn't having it! I prayed that wasn't a preview of how the day would go. Thankfully her attitude perked up when we started seeing animals! 

She has been talking about seeing the Bingos (flamingos) so thankfully that was one of the 1st animals we saw! She wasn't AS interested in them as I thought she'd be. Then she just talked about seeing giraffes. 

We literally walked through the ENTIRE zoo! A few times too! It was great! I don't think I've ever done that. Seems every time I'm there it's for a field trip so I'm on teacher duty, and don't get to walk around all that much. So this was a real treat! 

I didn't take pictures of EVERY animal we saw but here's our day in pictures! They really speak for themselves! We had so much fun! Pierce will join us next year when he's older, and can handle the heat and being out all day. But thank you Kiki for keeping our little man happy while we spoiled our little girl with undivided attention! 

D is also for doctor. :( unfortunately momma started not feeling well again at the zoo. About a week and a half ago I went to the dr with fever, congestion, sore throat, etc. I tested negative for flu and strep. I started antibiotics and started feeling better the next day! I did lose my voice one day, and still had lots of congestion but I was feeling much better. 

Until today. I started feeling a pain in my back that I though was from moving wrong, but then I noticed it was worse when I tried to take a deep breath. So I went to the dr again today. Nothing serious. Pleurisy is all. Got a shot, antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory. Hoping to feel better soon! 

The purpose of sharing this was for this part: I told Ryan I'd take one of the kids with me so he didn't have both. Since Prestyn is the only one who voices her opinion, and she was well behaved all day...she got to go! 

She did so good too! Shout out to Taryn Hope and the nurse at the RISD Health Center. Preston got colors, Gummies, and a lollipop after Mommy is the one who got the shot. 😜