So Long Spring Break

Our {mostly cool and rainy} Spring Break has come to an end. After yucky weather both Thursday and Friday in which the girls and I only left the house Friday evening to grab some dinner with Daddy, Connor, Dylan, and Aunt Michelle, the sun came out and temperatures warmed up Saturday and Sunday just in time for us to get outside and enjoy some festival fun ~ rides for the girls Saturday and shopping for mommy Sunday! I think if you live in the 'ville, you either love the festival or hate it. I love it; Walter...does not.

Did you come home with a blow~up dolphin, too? How about two blow~up dolphins? I am guessing half the town ~ the half with kids ~ brought home at least one.

Mommy and girls on the "strawberry ride"... 

 

Daddy and girls on the merry~go~round... 

The biggest hit, though, was the motorcycle ride. Not sure why, but this was both Anna Claire and Mallory's favorite...they even rode it twice {thanks, Miss Pat, for the wristbands!!}.

 

We've officially started the countdown to SUMMER! Eight weeks and counting...











Ice Cream, Disney Princesses, and the Beach

We have definitely been keeping busy this spring break...

Monday Anna Claire and Mallory were rewarded with ice cream after an afternoon of shopping for counter tops, sinks, flooring, and kitchen appliances {my kind of shopping!}

Anyone in the middle of kitchen upgrades or thinking about it? I'd love to hear your tips!!!

Tuesday we went to The Princess of Tides for tea time and story telling with Cinderella and Snow White...so cute!

 Thanks for the tip, Cheryl. The girls loved seeing Whitney.

Today we went to the beach with the Lopez crew...five kids and two crazy mommas in one car. That's right, I said b-e-a-c-h. And it was COLD. Not sure what we were thinking! The kids played in the freezing cold water for an hour before they had had enough. Crazy.

Too cold to even look up at the camera:

Since we weren't at the beach very long, we headed over to the playground under the Ravenel Bridge. So nice; the kids loved it...even though it was still cold.

So spring break is half way over and we've got the Flowertown Festival still to come...but there's rain in the forecast for tomorrow and Friday...I hope it doesn't hang around too long!

More Playing in the Sprinkler

Anna Claire and Mallory wanted to play in the sprinkler again today, so I let them go for it, particularly since tomorrow's high will be in the low sixties!

Mallory thinks she's officially in charge of the faucet. You'd be right if you think this causes some problems!


 We added a new game to our sprinkler fun ~

There'e a huge mud puddle now where the fort/slide above used to be, so the girls put on their rain boots and stomped right through it.

I can't believe there are only three days of spring break left.

Happy Birthday!

Anna Claire and Mallory got a very early birthday present recently ~ a new swing set!

The finishing touches were finally completed this past Sunday, and they have certainly been enjoying it this week. It took forever to get it put together {don't believe what the instructions say}, and though I didn't really help much, "we" couldn't have done it without the help of Papa, Uncle Bubba, Uncle Bobby, and Mr. Lindsey.

I've been trying to get some good pictures of the girls, but they've been so involved in their play they can't stop long enough to look at the camera.

Today was a little on  the warm side, so I pulled out the sprinkler and let the girls play in the water. It took some coaxing, but I eventually convinced them to run through the sprinkler...

And, we made out strawberry cake today! It was so hard  finding a recipe that didn't require an extra trip to Publix, but this one called for fresh strawberries in both the batter and the frosting which is exactly what I was looking for.

I cannot frost a cake to save my life, so this isn't the prettiest, but the frosting was definitely the best part. I'm not sure what went wrong except the recipe was actually for cupackes, so I adjusted the cooking time and temp a tad. Walter said it tasted more like a frosted muffin than a cake. That didn't stop him from eating a huge hunk, the girls loved it, too, and I just had my second piece {must not taste too bad}. I doubt there will be a crumb left!

Not that I'm recommending, but just in case, here's the recipe ~~~

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes

16 oz. strawberries, destemmed

4 eggs

1 3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 c. flour

Place first four ingredients in a blender. Blend until fully pureed. Pour into a large bowl and mix with remaining ingredients. Spoon into cupcake wrappers. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool. Frost with recipe below.

Strawberry Butter Cream Frosting

3/4 c. fresh strawberries, destemmed

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 lb. powdered sugar

Over a large bowl, crush the strawberries in your hands. Allow juice & pulp to fall into bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat well with an electric mixer. Frost cooled cupcakes. 

Spring Break Has Started!

...and we could not be happier about that!

Just one week's growth {and I trimmed the tops off}...

Some are growing faster than others because I haven't been doing such a good job of rotating them. You can see all the "slow~starters" are on top now.

This little fella joined Anna Claire and Mallory while they played in the water table this afternoon. In true fashion, Mallory and I totally freaked out and Anna Claire calmly continued playing. She chatted with the froggie and splashed water on him until he hopped out.

Mallory insisted on wearing my flip flops because we left her crocs at Granny and Papa's.

And the big news is that Mallory is on day 2 of wearing big~girl panties. At this point I will say she is doing okay. She's only making it to the potty about half the time, but I think we're both going to hang in there and get this done! {Did you know three~year~olds have to wear big~girl panties to Disney World?}

Spring Break '10

The weather this week has been gorgeous, and we've spent every possible moment outside enjoying the sunshine!
Sadly, tomorrow I'm going back to work, but the nice weather isn't going anywhere, so the girls will be able to play outside all week. I'm already looking forward to the weekend!

Beautiful Day

It was so nice today and we had nothing at all we had to do, so we spent almost all day outside. We were excited to use our new Mega Mat for the first time. We love it. It's huge and waterproof and soft and pretty. The only problem was that Anna Claire wouldn't stay on the mat; she's all about crawling in the grass even though she doesn't like how it feels. Can you see the expression on her face?It was a bit breezy when we first got outside, so the girls were all bundled up at first in their bunny rabbit hoodies. It began to warm up quickly, so we had to shed those jackets. Good thing Mallory remembered the sunscreen!And here's Anna Claire leaving the blanket behind to crawl in the grass - again.It continued to warm up, so the pants came off!Poor Anna Claire had problems with her hat slipping down over her eyes all day. I didn't actually get many pictures of her face today. Either her hat was covering her face or she was crawling away!
We had such a good time outside today on our new picnic blanket. We also went on a stroller ride, went for swings, and met our new neighbor, Nancy. When we finally came in for the day to have dinner, Anna Claire projectile vomited. Poor baby got so upset she gagged herself again and puked through her nose. I think I had more pasta and bananas on me than she did.

Beautiful day.