Missouri

This post is a little overdue!  We went to see Mark's parents, July 6-9th.  We had a great time catching up with them and the rest of the family in Missouri.  I really wish that we could spend more time with them.  I'm all about the girls getting some grandparent love!!  They did get a ton of it while we were there.  :-)  Mark and I also got some love...we were able to run together twice while we were there and we had a date night too!  Woohoo!

Grandma and Grandpa were full of lots of hugs,



and made sure to do lots of silly playing!  Grandpa is such a hoot and is always willing to goof around with the grandkids!

Caroline also had her pick of readers...Grandma















and cousin Roman too.

Grandpa took us to Smallin cave where he gives tours on a weekly basis.  It was very different from any other cave I had been in because it had such a large opening and was wide open inside where we toured.  We were able to walk in with Libby in a stroller.  It was really neat to hear the history and stories from the cave!

Caroline fed some chickens outside of the cave.  She kept her distance just to make sure they didn't eat her legs.  :-)

After feeding chickens, we went to eat some chicken. 

Caroline with her curly head doll, practicing her newest silly face.















Libby was a climbing monster and made herself at home in a rocking chair that Grandma had when she was a little girl!

Aunt Anita is a baby lover!  I wish we lived closer.  She loves to snuggle the girls and play with them.

Uncle Phillip also joined in on the girl action.  He was super with Caroline and I was glad to see that Caroline was thrilled to play with him too.

Libby on a rocking horse that Grandpa made.  For some reason her little expression in this picture reminds me of Mark and the Taylor family!

Mark and Phillip had a friendly arm wrestling match.  It was fun to see them being together.

We also got to visit Grams (Mark's maternal grandmother). She had a "little" family gathering at her home one night where the girls got lots of attention.





























Grandpa, Grandma and the girls...we hope to have another picture again soon.  Come to Georgia!!

Happy face!

Libby's new happy face is a little reminiscent of Caroline's from a few years earlier!  We love it!!

Beach Party

Apparently it was a record setting day in Atlanta...106 degrees outside!  No better day for a beach party for these two munchkins!

We sent out this invitation a few weeks ago and did some preparation in the meantime for a fun day!

We created our own little beach world complete with sandbox, water, beach balls and all.

The kiddos even did a little crab art work with their hands...thanks to Miss Sharry and Miss Becca.

Mark was a servant as always and helped get everything set up for the part.  He even played dress up for a minute.  I think the pink suits him just fine.  :-)

Of course the best part was having lots of friends here to celebrate...both young...

and old!  I love how the old folks are sitting at the kiddie table.  :-)

We also had lots of beach themed foods...starfish sandwiches, a beach ball fruit tray, octopus hotdogs...

a watermelon shark, sand pudding and goldfish. 

The two crowning jewels of the food spread were the watermelon shark that Mark made and...

the birthday cake that Lindsay made!!  She really has a gift (patience) for making all of that happen!  I loved it and so did the girls!

 After all of the guests left we opened a few presents.

Caroline loves her new princesses and enjoyed pretending with Gigi.

I think there may be a tie for my favorite picture of the day.  Caroline looks so grown up in the picture below.  She just sat in her chair and ate lunch with the plate on her lap like all the adults!  Sometimes it's really hard for me to believe that she is really only 3.

I think this picture wins though!  I love the giggles of my sweet girl.

Happy early 3rd birthday to my favorite Caroline!

Fathers Day

We've been working on what it means to "celebrate" at our house so we tried to come up with lots of little celebrations throughout the day for Mark.  He certainly deserves to be celebrated.  As tough as it can be with him traveling, he is fully present with his family when he is home.  I could never have imagined that my girls would have such an attentive father.  He is wonderful to them!!

Mark ran 8 miles before breakfast Sunday morning so I thought we should feed him well.  I made a cornbread quiche which he enjoyed with a banana and we hung a little banner that said, "best dad!"

He also opened a bunch of little notes that told him things we appreciate about him.

Mark and his girls after church. 

After lunch we gave him one of his presents...a new swimsuit for his one day triathlon.  He's still been swimming like crazy.  I'm really proud of him!

For an afternoon snack he got a pack of Mike and Ikes, along with a really good looking shirt! :-)

Caroline has been obsessed with taking pictures lately!  I love how Mark is trying to show her how in the picture above!

After we talked with all the grandpas, we ate a yummy grilled dinner and then went to the pool to swim for a bit before bed time.  It was a great day to be together and celebrate Mark! 

June...

Ahhh...can it be that I haven't posted anything in almost a month!  It's so hard to catch up but here goes...


We've been doing a lot of swimming.  The girls both seem to love it.  It took Caroline a few times to get used to it but now she is in heaven and swims all over the pool in our floaties.  We have "special time" every time we go so that we can practice blowing bubbles and going under water.  We're making progress!

We spent a few days in Augusta.  Caroline enjoyed hanging out with Daddy while on a walk

and Libby made a mess at the grandparents house!  :-)

Both girls have been being silly.  Caroline wore a tutu under her dress everywhere we went one day.  I thought she looked like a little southern belle. 

She also loves to put on the lipstick.  This time it got a little out of hand.  She was asking so often that the new rule is that she can only put it on when I put it on.

Libby's little personality continues to be happy and easy going.  The past couple of days she has just been giggling for no reason at all.  It's adorable!

Her smiles now include 4 new teeth!

The best part is that they continue to be the best of buddies.  Caroline thinks it's awesome to "wrestle" with Libby.  She tries to hold her and snuggle her all the time.  I also have to really keep an eye on her because she loves to help feed her and then I find this...Caroline sharing a lollipop with Libby that Libby was glad to accept!

Oh, I love them!