Monster High

Sydney wanted a Monster High themed family party this year.  We had so much fun and as always, many thanks to our families for making her day so special.

Some pictures from our day.  The day was cloudy so I had to use the flash in the house.  Pictures are a little "flashy" as I don't use flash too often and am out of practice, apparently!


The amazing cake!  I sent the baker an inspiration picture that Sydney and I found on Pinterest that we both loved.  I'd say the baker nailed it!  Not only do her cakes look amazing, they taste amazing!

Some decorations.

This fun game of pin the shoes on the Monster High turned out so cute.  Sydney went to a birthday party a few months ago and they played the carrot on Olaf.  She talked non stop about the game and how much fun it was.  I decided to make her a "Pin the Shoes on the Monster High Doll" game.  I took a photo of one of her monster high dolls and had it enlarged to a 12x18.  I also took a photo of the shoes and printed those in wallet sizes.  Cardboard backing is wrapped in wrapping paper and washi tape boarder around the photograph.  The girls had so much fun playing the game.  Even the family played along.  This might be a regular for our girls' bday parties.  I had fun creating it for her!

 

After we filled up on food, cake and the game, we headed outside for a little while.  The sun finally made an appearance!

Sydney 7th Birthday Pictures

We are celebrating Sydney's 7th birthday tomorrow with our families before we head to NY for the summer!  Can't believe my girl will be 7 years old in a few short weeks!!!  Lots more pictures to follow after her party tomorrow!

I took her to the creek the other night for a few pictures.  My most uncooperative photo subject!

Papa's Flowers

Papa has the greenest thumb and that makes for some pretty flowers!

Beach visit

We went to see Papa this weekend at the beach.  It was both a fun time and sad time.  We all really felt the absense of Grandma.

We worked hard to have fun and spend lots of quality time with Papa.  We got there Friday night after a horrible traffic jam in Philly!  Ugh.  Not fun.  We had dinner out with Papa and his friends at a yummy seafood restaurant right on one of the creeks.  The breeze from the water was amazing and of course the lighting was beautiful.  I didn't bring my camera and was really ticked at myself!

We spent Saturday morning gardening with Papa.  The girls ate most of his stawberries!  He surprised the girls with new beach chairs and boogy boards.  He gave them a quick lesson on how to catch the waves! I got some cute photos of the girls helping him garden, helping him pack his ice cream cart for the beach and playing surfer girls on their new boogy boards.  Too bad they were wearing their pajamas!  Oh well!

While Papa was selling ice cream on his beach, we met up with one of Jim's employees on another beach.  It so happens that Matt's wife's parents have a condo on a beach not far from Papa.  The girls had an awesome time meeting new kids to play with.

I spent a ton of time in the water with the girls and taught them how to catch the waves on their boogy boards.  I am so proud of my girls and how brave and adventurous they can be!  The loved catching the waves and riding them to the shore.  Daddy finally got up enough nerve to brave the cold water with us and we swam with the girls past the wave breaks.  I am such a beach/ocean water girl.  All those years of family vacations at the beach riding the waves on our tubes.  I'm glad the girls share my love of the water!

Saturday night was spent at the same restaurant (it was really that good).  We all loved the yummy seafood so we had to go again! This time I remembered the camera and we had the same great table in the same beautiful light!

Here are lots of pictures from our time at Papa's.  We will forever miss having Grandma there to share these memories with.  The girls were so precious to their Papa.

This guy and I are celebrating 14 years of marriage today! 19 years together.  Can't imagine doing life without him.  Glad he is ours!

Sydney's summer bday school celebration

During the last few weeks of school, the summer birthday kids were given the chance to celebrate their birthdays in the classroom.  Sydney asked me to make cookies.  I enjoyed going into her classroom and passing out the treats to she and her friends.  I also surprised her by going in a little earlier and having lunch with her.

School birthday celebration.  yep, forgot my camera.  At least I grabbed a few pix on the phone.

Bike Riders

Our girls have always enjoyed scootering over bike riding.  They have gotten so good with two wheeled scooters over that last few years that we rarely get their bikes out.  We just decided that it was time to learn how to ride without training wheels.  We went to a great local park with lots of riding paths, spent less than 10 minutes holding onto their seats, and an extra few minutes running beside them so they wouldn't fall.  Then they were off!  Racing around as though they had been doing this for weeks!  It was such a site to see!  So proud of them!  Now each afternoon they drag me to the park for more bike riding (hahaha, I enjoy it)!  I guess I know where we will be spending the next few weeks before we move to camp!

Last Day of School

Sydney finished her last day on Wednesday.  As soon as she got off the bus I knew she was upset about something.  She told me she didn't want school to end and that she missed her teachers and friends.  Broke my heart.  She has such a big heart.  We got home, baked cookies and went bike riding all in an effort to make her smile again.  Poor thing.

Kindergarten Graduation

My Sydney girl graduated Kindergarten!  I'm so proud of her.  She had such a fun year and loved her teachers and friends so much.  She did great.  We were so happy that we waited a year to put her in as a young 6 year old instead of a young 5 year old.  She needed that extra time from an academic standpoint.  So proud of this sweet, kind hearted, smart little girl.  Daddy was in Germany so he couldn't see graduation day but Nana was able to go with us! We celebrated Sydney's graduation ceremony and Sawyer's last day of preschool!

Our Kindergarten graduate!

 Thanks to Nana for taking our picture!

 Morning smiles before her graduation.

 Morning smiles before her last day of preschool!

 Celebrating graduation at Sweet Frog!