fun on skates!

Last Saturday we had such a fun time at a friend's roller skating birthday party! Sweet Anna was turning ONE and her family invited us along with other family and friends to enjoy a morning of roller skating and some 70's-themed fun! How awesome for the kids since this was their first time on roller skates! I decided that I wasn't going to brave the rink (hey, I'm the photographer...what can I say?), but daddy sure stepped up (he even brought his own roller blades!) and was a trooper with the kids. The next day his back was pretty sore from bending over to lead them around the rink. I actually didn't realize how good he really was at roller blading so I was pretty impressed! *wink*

The birthday girl being chauffered around in her stroller - so cute!

I wasn't so sure if I should let Austin out there on the rink with skates on, so I kept him busy just hanging out with me...

{eating some snacks}
And then I just couldn't hold him off any longer...

Luckily they had some Cars "snap on" rollerskates that worked perfectly for him!
{Mikayla & her friend Allie}
{The birthday girl!}

{Don't worry, be happy!}

What a fun day!!

Easter 2011

{My Easter cuties before church}

We kind of had a rushed morning on Easter (a little too much sleeping in...oops!), so before heading to the in-laws for an Easter lunch and after church, we stopped back by the house to "get something" and that's when the Easter bunny had dropped off the baskets for the kids. I rushed back out to the car and told the kids there was something on the front door for them. Those kids got out of the car in a flash to check it out! I love the look on their faces.

Can you just see Mikayla saying, "How did that get there?"Mikayla had a lot of questions this year on who the Easter bunny is and I was this close to just spilling the beans, but the more we talked about it, the more I could tell she was hoping it was, in fact, the Easter bunny...and no one else. Maybe next year I can spoil the fun! *wink*

We had a bit of a drive to the in-laws, so on the way we let the kids watch the new movie they got in their Easter basket...Veggie Tales: Easter Carol. So, now I understand why the Easter bunny didn't want to wait until later to give the kids their Easter baskets. Nice thinking, Easter bunny!

{Easter at Grandma Ruth & Grandpa Charlie's}

How awesome are these first two pictures?
That's my boy!
Oh, the things a momma makes you do!
We prepared the kids for the possibility that there may not be an Easter egg hunt because they had already done one with grandma and grandpa a few weeks prior. So, they were really surprised to hear that yes, there would be an egg hunt...inside, of course! Hello, we desperately need a little Spring sunshine!!
Getting ready to see what's inside all of their eggs!
These next few pictures I will CHERISH! I love Austin's sweet and fun-loving personality! He was so funny opening each egg, getting all excited about what was inside, and then dumping them all in his lap.
Then there's the other side of Austin's personality (which I still love) that does things like gives you "angry eyebrows" in what could have been a great family photo! We took four pictures and he had some sort of "face" in each one of them. But, you know what...I will look at this picture and laugh every time. That's my boy!
We had a really fun Easter and I'm sure that just like this last year has flown by, Easter 2012 will be here in a blink of an eye!

a {birthday} trip to the zoo!

Mikayla's "actual" birthday was last Friday and the weather was GORGEOUS!! We had originally planned to go the beach, but I was kind of dreading the hour and a half drive (there and then back) and getting there to possibly have to endure cold, windy weather. So, one mention of the word ZOO...and she was sold! We are lucky to live just a short 45-minute (and sometimes less) drive to the Oregon Zoo.

The morning started out with the traditional birthday doughnut.

Then we told her she could open one present in the morning, and she was so excited to get a camera! She asks quite often to take pictures using our camera, which I always hesitate because all I can visualize is her dropping it or banging it into something. We have had this bright pink digital camera since before Christmas and decided to save it for her birthday. Ryan (being the "slick dealer" that he is) found it 75% off on clearance, so it ended up being like a $10 camera! It was the perfect gift to give her first as she was able to use it ALL. DAY. LONG. at the zoo.

{OUR TRIP TO THE ZOO}
**be prepared for picture overload**

On the way home from the zoo, we stopped and got Dilly Bars at Dairy Queen. This was Mikayla's {second} birthday treat for the day. The place was so jam-packed (the first "hot" day in months!!) that we ended up taking the Dilly Bars on the road. Gotta love chocolatey-icecream messes in the car! {Or not so much.}

We opted not to do the traditional Red Robin dinner, which I must say I kind of miss not having those pictures, but after a long day we decided just to stay in for the rest of the evening. Mikayla was A-OK with that decision. We ended the evening with some Wii action and a few more presents...

Happy 5th Birthday, my sweet girl!