Ava's Celebration Weekend!

My oldest baby girl turned 5! Ava Grace wanted to have a build-a-bear party at home, so what better than a Noah's Ark Workshop.  We also set up the bounce house, bubble machine, chalk, and let the girls go wild in the backyard.

Ava passed out the stuffed animal sets, which she hand-picked for each of her friends. They all seemed to love stuffing their animals - it was cute watching the girls!

Then, the girls got to design their own t-shirts for their animals.

A little more playing outside...

Then, the birthday girl got to make her wish :-)

That evening, we let Ava pick out where she wanted to go to eat - and of course she picked Frankie's! She is in looove with guacamole! Frankie surprised her with a special cheesecake while she wore the sombrero. Well, it wasn't too much of a surprise to her, since she informed everyone it was her birthday and asked if she would be getting cake - that crazy girl!

The night before (on her actual birthday), Nana and Pop-Pop treated her to trip to the American Girl store.

Ava has been (un)patiently waiting to get matching outfits for her and her dolly. Last year she was too small, but since she has grown so much this past year, not only was able to get an outfit - she got a size 6!

They also took her to Red Robin where she ate dinner and got a sugary treat presented by half a dozen singing employees.

She had a fantastic birthday weekend - it couldn't have been better! To sum up the weekend in Ava's words, it was a dream come true.

Dallas Blooms

It was such a beautiful weekend last week, that we decided to pack up and head down to the Arboretum for a picnic! The kids also brought a football and Frisbee to play with in the lawn. Another little girl brought a bubble machine so all of the kids were chasing them all over the lawn.

We arrived!

Football time...

Picnic from Central Market - yum!

Dylan and Ava met some friends, and we walked around the arboretum with them, looking at all of the gorgeous flowers, water features, and the Adventures of Great Explorers exhibit.

My gorgeous crew...

Ava's new "Best Friend" :-)

The pioneer days...

"Oh look my money!"

Airplaning it..

Stairstepping...

This isn't a staged pose at all!

Marco Polo exhibit from Great Adventures.

Triple threat...

 Springtime has certainly bloomed! We can't wait for the children's adventure garden to open in the Fall!

Easter

The kids were very excited for the Easter Bunny to visit this year. Thanks to the movie Hop, they are convinced that the Easter Bunny...uh-hum...poops out the candy and eggs they find! Harper was especially excited since Hop is one of her favorite movies.  Since it was raining, E.B. decided to have the hunt indoors. Ava Grace and Harper woke up at the same time, and whispered in Dylan's ear that E.B. paid them a visit, and he immediately shot out of his bed ready to go on the egg hunt!

E.B. was fairly practical this year with his basket o' goodies, giving each kiddo a beach blanket, some candy, and a toy. Ava got a princess puzzle since she is really into floor puzzles, Dylan got a new Skylander Giant, and Harper got a Team Umizoomi DVD-her favorite show.

Before the Hunt

Going through their baskets left by E.B.



Harper addiction - Umizoomi!

After going through their baskets, they were off to find all of the eggs in the house.

Lining up for the "race"

Comparing baskets mid-race

After the egg hunt, we had a quick breakfast, and then the kids spent time going through their eggs before church.



Easter breakfast



Harper trying to sneak robin eggs...but I think the blue gives it away!

After church, we went to Meghan's house for another fun egg hunt and Easter dinner with our extended family - the Highs, Boudreauxs and Clawsons. (We also spent Good Friday with them at our annual fish fry!)

Mackenzie, Avery and Ava Grace 

 All of the kids - minus Reid :-(

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Disneyland!

For Christmas, the kids received a special gift from Aunt Diane – a trip to Disneyland!! They were so excited, and Dylan could not wait to meet Mater and the gang from Radiator Springs. So, during Dylan’s Spring Break, we hopped on a plane to California. It was Dylan and Ava’s first plane ride and they did so well, even during plane changes. They each carried their own backpack with books, DSs, coloring sets and their favorite stuffed animal.

When we arrived in Orange County, Aunt Diane met us at the gate. The kids could not wait to go to Disney – and Ava was very interested in her “bed room” in the hotel. She was very impressed that they turned down your bed every night and left a chocolate on every pillow –those seemed to disappear quickly when we got home every evening J We stated at the Grand Californian hotel which is so beautiful, and it’s unbelievable that you can walk out of your hotel and be in the Disney parks!

We're here!

The chocolate bandit

  

We went to the parks for three and a half days, and it’s amazing how much stuff there is to see and do. We met so many different Disney characters. One morning we ate breakfast with Chip and Dale, and we also ate dinner at Ariel's Grotto, where there were so many princesses to see!

 

 

Getting Dale's autograph

 

 

 

Meeting Ariel at Ariel's Grotto

 

 

 Sully!

 

The one thing that really surprised me about the whole trip was how much Dylan and Ava love rollercoasters! Their favorite ride was Space Mountain (which is mommy's too), and they even went on the Tower of Terror!  Needless to say, the long days really tired them out :-)

Tower of Terror 

 

 

 

Space Mountain

 

 

 

Dylan's school project - "What I did on Spring Break"

 

 

Quick Nap Before Color of Wonder :-)

 

Thank you so, so much Aunt Diane - there were so many wonderful memories made!