Happy Birthday Bree!

She turned the BIG 10 this year!  And we partied all day long!

She made her own breakfast of big egg pancakes and bacon (with Dad's help:).  One thing you must know about Bree is she loves to cook. And at 10 there's pretty much nothing she's not ready to tackle. 

Then we opened presents from fam.  She is one loved little girl!

 Then her friends arrived for the big party. 

 After playing "I Never" we went to Plaster World where the girls got to paint to their heart's content.  I over-heard a few of them saying that they wished they could do stuff like this at school and that they wished art class was more like this where they weren't being rushed!  Very deep insights from these girls.

 A few of the masterpieces.  I love how each girl picked something totally different from everyone else. 

They all did such a good job!

 Then back to the house for lunch...

 brownies and birthday wishes...

 and some of the sweetest, most generous, thoughtful gifts I've ever seen!

Then we finished the party by heading over to the pool for swimming and snowcones:). 

And Bree and Jake topped off the day by going to see Harry Potter with Dad then coming back home to play games with me and Luke. 

This was a non-stop, fun-filled birthday and it was perfect because it's just how Breanna loves to live life.  She's our peacemaking, positive thinking, problem solving, confident, smart, talented, beautiful girl!

Can't believe you're 10!!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Bree's Room Make-Over

 Breanna has had this room decor going on since she was about  18 months old (at which time she could easily climb in and out of her crib by herself, hence the big girl bed at such a young age). She has been wanting a change for a while now and seeing how we are on the eve of double digits for her, I finally recognized that yes it was time to say good-bye to this little girl and her little girl room. So we changed up just a few things...

 We enlisted some helpers.  Boy they were coming out of the woodwork for this project!

 Showcasing his 'L'writing abilities...nicely done Luke!

Showcasing his Stick-Man painting expertise.

 A future in hieroglyphics for sure!

 And finally the moment everyone was waiting for... the rolling.  Bree did nearly the whole room by herself. 

(She had a little help from me and her bros too.)

 And three shades of blue later (and yes, a minor breakdown or two from me)...Voila!

The much older, cooler, blue room she's been dreaming of.

Bree I wish I could be a mind-maker-upper like you! You know what you want and you have the best attitude and LOVE everything without even giving it a second thought. 

You are as bright and beautiful as the new blue on your walls and I'm so glad you're mine!!

One last girls night for Nik

 Because in a few short days, she's moving to MD.  And it looks like we aren't the only ones who are gonna miss her....

 Her good Yoga buddies will be missing her too.

 Jamie and Brooke...could you pull it together for us?

(but my those hands look lovely)

Now here's what the picture was supposed to look like (and those hands are still going strong).  As sad as it was to think this will be our last girls night with Nikki, it was terribly fun!  We learned a new signal for drink refills, then Bobbi coined her own refill signal, we toasted Nikki, tried to play top 3 but me and Sarah held strong, discovered that Lisa loves my driving, found out all about Nikki's other life, made a hole the size of a china in the back of Jamie's shirt, left her curbside, listed Dubs presents from Jamie, and sang I Love You Baltimore all the way home. 

And Nikki, we know you will!

The Big City

 We spent two nights downtown with Grandma and Grandpa and the kids did not want to leave.

 We spent a day in Old Town.

 Panning for gold...

 and churning butter.

 Riding the trolly was a treat.

 Then we met up with Troy and his biggest fans to celebrate his 17th bday.  The Padre game was packed.  I've never seen so many Giants fans in all my life! 

 So we had our work cut out for us trying to get on that Jumbotron....we were dancing and waving our pompoms and even chasing down the camera guy.  And it all paid off. These ladies made it on not once, but TWICE! (I was taking someone potty and missed the first moment of glory but made it on the 2nd time).  And Cooper, you were on there too.  Those camera men are just too fast.

 Grandma and Grandpa had Penelope mezmerized the entire game.

 Happy 17th Troy!!

 Then back at the condo, Breanna entertained us all.

 While Grandma and Jake duked it out.

 Then we topped the day off with a walk down the boardwalk.

 A visit to the WWII memorial and standing on Palau.

And shrimp (or chicken nugget) boats at Anthony's.

Grandma and Grandpa, thank you so much for one heck of a vacation. Thanks for showing us the town and making it so fun! Thanks grandma for putting up with our music, my driving, and a healthy dose of daily whining.  Thanks grandpa for putting up with fingerprints on those gorgeous windows (and let's be honest everywhere else too), binocular fights, and my kid busting in to your neighobor's place. 

You spoiled us big time and you were so patient with us and our many quirks! 

We can't say thanks enough!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Spinder Day

 We got to spend the day with Spinder in her stompin grounds and let me tell you, she's got it made!

 Poolside

 Back at home.

 The sandbox Jeff built for Sawyer how cool is that?

Spinder your house rocks!  And even though I'm still not quite sure if we want all of the diamonds or no diamonds I loved every minute of the day with your cute little family!

Jackie Day

 We met up with Jackie, Mike and their CUTE babies Maggie and Bailey and also Robyn at the beach.

 It is such a treat to see them but it always goes way too fast.

 Spinder, her kiddos, and grandma came too!

This day was pretty memorable in so many ways.  Breanna might have taken a long lost stroll down the pier, the kids ended up with striped sunburns, Jake & Cooper re-inacted Troy's seagull trap, we had lots of good teenage parenting talk and Mike left us with his special 'sound bites' (which had Jake and Bree rolling on the floors for hours).

There was nothing like holding those adorable little babies and seeing Jackie in her element. 

It was a sweet sweet day! 

We LOVE you guys!