4th of July Weekend in Austin

We had a great Independence Day! We started the day at the Woodlands 4th of July parade. We've never been, but Olivia loved it. Hopefully we can make it a yearly tradition. It was even better that the Born family came with us! Olivia loves them and asked all weekend to tell her the "Casey and Noah story" (i.e. tell her about what happened at the parade!)

After the parade we met Popo and Tutu for a quick lunch at Lupe and then we headed to Austin.  Matt and I hit the jackpot because Olivia slept the entire way up - made the drive very easy!

On Friday we introduced Olivia to the deliciousness of Rudy's breakfast tacos.  She's a fan!

Then we spent the morning at Zilker Park

After another awesome nap, we spent the afternoon at the hotel pool.  Olivia also got a butterfly painted on her hand which she was very proud of!

We continued the unhealthy eating on Saturday morning with a trip to Krispy Kreme

And we spent Saturday afternoon with some dear friends from college.  Our friends the Gleesons are always wonderful hosts and let us call them at the last minute and come hang out at their house.  Luckily our good friend Keith, as well as his girlfriend and daughters were able to join us too!  Their neighborhood has this amazing splashpad and baby pool.

Their 2 year old son William must have picked up on his parent's good habits, because he was such a gracious host sharing his toys and snacks with Olivia. 

After a swim, we went back to the Gleeson's house for more snacks (these 2 are very like-minded when it comes to snacks!) and William introduced Olivia to Mickey Mouse.

After dinner, it was time to leave but we were so grateful for the quick visit.  We visited these same dear friends last summer and it was so neat to see how much these babies have grown!  We can't wait for these 2 to grow up together and be good friends like their parents.

We had a great weekend!

Sweet Summertime

We packed lots of fun into the past few weeks and we can't believe Summer is already half-way over!

Olivia is typically a fierce “mama’s girl” but lately she has been all about daddy (much to BOTH our delight!).

I think this picture of them playing with the iPad is so cute, especially knowing the background -- a few weeks ago we were in her room reading books before bed and she put her arm around my neck and pulled me close to her. It was completely unprompted and completely adorable. Then Matt went to take a turn sitting by her, but of course the little stinker refused to put her arm around poor ol' dad.  Flash forward a month and I was in our room getting ready for work one morning when I heard Matt yelling "Mommy! Come in here and look at us!" I went in to see Olivia with her arm around Matt, playing with the iPad. I grabbed my phone and quickly snapped a picture --- I think its adorable, but Matt was disappointed that you can't tell her arm is around him. So...it is now documented for the memory books!

Pool time

She thinks it is a fun game to get in her crib and pretend to go "night night."  One morning she asked Matt to get in the crib too.  Before I could object, he hopped in and she LOVED it!  So...of course I had to take a turn too...

We've been trying to get to the park early mornings before the sun is unbearable.  We had a fun “Sno Cones in the Park Party” hosted by her friend, Emma

Now that I have Fridays off, we love having Friday afternoon playdates with Mimi and Grandpa.

Side Note: This playdate made me realize that I may need to alter my technique in disciplining Olivia. I think she may like both being a disciplinarian and being disciplined more than we would hope. Poor Grandpa got sent to the “corna” about 50 times during a 4 hour period and when Olivia stood on the coffee table after repeatedly being told to stop, she eagerly asked me “crib?” (which is where she goes for time-out) and then practically dragged me to her room! Clearly we need a change in routine around here!

We also tried out the new (and delicious) River Oaks Donuts.  If you haven’t been, we highly recommend it. Only downside is that there is no seating there. None. And because someone (and I’m not necessarily talking about Olivia…) just couldn't wait till we got home, we sat in the car to eat our donuts….

And we celebrated Owen’s birthday - we just love this little boy (and all his sweet brothers)!

This was the first time Olivia really had pizza and its safe to say she's a fan....she ate 2 whole pieces and asked for more!

And then it was time to cut the cake. Miss O loves her some cake, so she was very excited . . . .

 

 

Matt had the audacity to try and help Olivia cut her cake...

But he quickly remembered why she has earned the title of Miss Independent!

Can't wait for these 2 pretty girls to grow up and be friends, just like their mamas!

 

Bubbles

Like most kids, Olivia LOVES bubbles.  Between myself and the two grandmothers, I’m pretty sure we've tried every kind of bubble maker, blower, or related device that exists.  We never found one that we loved though.  Until now.  I’m happy to report we have found the best bubble blower ever.  Seriously.  It was $6 at Gymboree and if you've got a bubble lover, you should immediately purchase one. 

It blows lots of bubbles wih little effort.  But, the best thing about this bubble blower is that Olivia figured out how to blow them by herself without making a huge, sticky mess!