Horse Races

Dear Abigail, 

Guess where we went? To see horses race!! We went to visit Mommy's friend from college. Miss Jenny, in Lexington, KY and while we were in horse country, we decided we'd pay a little visit to the races.  Mommy and Daddy have not been since you were born and we were super excited about going back, for more than just the race.  Besides Miss Jenny (and Mr. Roy), you got to play with Tripp,  or as you refer to him "What's that's boy name again?".  You have asked me at least 200 times what his name is. I am SO not kidding.  It's been a week and 1/2 since we've been to visit and just tonight out of no where you said "What's that boy's name again?" and I knew exactly who you were referring to.  Who knows why you can't remember the actual name, but you remember everything else, including that we saw his horses race!  

So we get there on Friday afternoon and Tripp welcomes you to his house full of boy toys!  It was so funny because his playroom was the exact opposite of yours!  Lots of toys, like LOTS, but nothing pink at all!!  You had no problem finding something to play with though.  You loved playing with his bugs, which freaked Mommy out a bit.  And his sword. That you would 'cut people with'.  There are going to be moments in life when I will be troubled with having a girl, but this was not one of those.  I am so glad we don't have swords in our house!!  But you loved it and walked around all weekend with it.  

After visiting a bit, we headed to get Mexican!  Our kind of people!!  Another funny moment was you had to go potty and I was feeding Kate, so Miss Jenny said she'd take you.  Well, then Tripp wanted to go.  I guess it doesn't matter whether it's Ellie or not at Mexican, you always have a partner to go potty with!  

After Mexican, you were super excited because you were going to sleep in Tripp's bedroom, but instead, the two of you decided that you'd just play in Kate's bed in his room! 

Oh!!  So on our way up to their house, we stopped at this truck stop to go potty.  Well, low and behold you found the biggest Minnie and Mickey we'd ever seen and carried them around the store.  We told you that we couldn't buy them and after a tear or two, you got back in our car and headed that way.  Well... within minutes of walking in their house, guess what you found...

That's right!  He had both of them!!! But he's also been to Disney World 3 times.  Yes, he's just 4 years old.  Mommy's jealous, no doubt.  And I got some good tips from Mr. Roy, the Disney World planner in the fam!
Saturday was race day, and with race day came a lot of rain.  Boo.  It made things a little more complicated, but at the end of the day, we made it to the races.  You were super excited, and a bit scared at first, at seeing the horses, but after that first race, you became a natural cheerer!  Here you are watching the horses walk out, and yes, you had your blanket wrapped around you.  It was a little chilly, but I think you were being more silly than cold...

There's your buddy and his silly Daddy!

Here's you cheering on the horses!!! (See Miss Jenny there in the corner, they were about to win!!)

We watched lots of races and even walked around to look at them before the races.  Here you and Tripp deciding that the "yellow" horse was going to win.  It did not...

After a long day at the races, we headed home, where you took a quick nap, but Tripp decided to continue his nap once he got home.  You played a little on his playground and finally he woke up.  We let the 2 of you just play play play while we chilled chilled chilled, but eventually it was time for bed.  You had NO problem going to bed that night at all.  On Sunday morning, the two of you immediately started playing once both of you were awake and, well, we learned not to leave you two alone for too long.  I went to check on y'all and you both had climbed on his closet shelf and sprayed a whole can of sun screen on each other.  First off, the fumes were unbelievable in that closet.  Second, I have NO clue how you did not get that in your eyes, but nonetheless you didn't.  It did, however, get in your hair so we immediately threw you in the shower.  And opened his windows to let the room breathe!!! You crazy kiddos!  After a quick shower, we loaded up the car and headed home.  We had so much fun, but I think you and Tripp had a TON of fun.  He's right up your alley when it comes to having fun, which is a good thing, and clearly can lead to trouble, too!!!
Despite the rain, a fun race weekend.  We can't wait to go back in October (when the next set of races are!).
Love you!

This Week

Dear Abs,

We've been having so much fun lately. And we didn't even have to go out of town!

Your baby sister is growing up on us so fast and this past week she took her first big girl bath, and you got to take it with her!

You were SUPER excited and even let her wash your face :)

And since she was growing up, I thought I'd let you grow up a little and wash your own hair, which you did rather well if I may say so myself.
Yes, you were trying to spike it up!

And, going along with the big girl theme, we headed back to the zoo and you rode the carousel all by yourself!!!! Wow is right. Mommy was feeding Kate, so I couldn't ride with you and you said "Hey, Mom, I can ride by myself." So... I let you. And that included standing in line by your self and handing your tokens to the man, by yourself...

You did a great job, but did have a little trouble getting on your lion, but the man was nice enough to give you a boost.

You didn't need his help after the ride. You just jumped. You are half monkey, remember.

And we did NOT see the dinosaurs yet again, but, again, you played on the pretend one.
We played on the playground, including swings, which might I add, you totally can swing by yourself. You've been trying, but you totally have it now. Legs in. Legs out. Legs in. Legs out. Ugh, my baby girl. Where are you??!!!!

You even tried teaching your sister how to swing.

And the two of you swung together!

We also rode the new 'train' at the zoo. Now, let me just get this out there. The Nashville Zoo is so disappointing when compared to the Memphis Zoo (Mimi's zoo), so when I heard there was a new train at our zoo, I got excited. Well.... Memphis still rocks it out, no doubt. At least zoo wise. And trampoline park wise :) But, nonetheless, here you are on the 'train'.

And for a total of 2.5 seconds, the view was pretty neat.

Oh well, we have fun there. That's for sure. And for the first time, I let you pet at the petting zoo!

If you can't tell, you L-O-V-E-D it!!!! You begged to stay and brush the goats but I promised you that Aunt Ash-ash would let you brush theirs.

We, that is, you and I, went for a bike ride this week! You loved that, too, because it meant you could get off the driveway and ride on the road!
We've since rode our bikes a couple times, but unfortunately, you had a bad crash on Sunday and we ended up walking our bikes up a hill to get back home. Let's just say we need to work on using your brakes rather than your feet...

Friday was super fun for you because you went to Ellie's house and got to spend the night!!! Papa and Nona were in town and you had a blast with them. Saturday was beautiful so we took full advantage and went to Ryan's house for some outside fun. You two did lots of playing on the playground...

While others had a nice relaxed picnic...
And others loved playing with all the balls!!!
You were especially excited that we got to eat dinner outside.

Once the sun set, you kiddos went inside and we (Miss Leigh and Mommy) made an executive decision that each night at the beach we would provide a movie and popcorn for the kiddos while the parents relaxed on the back patio. Now, if you can just stop from tattling on each other!!!

Sunday was another beautiful day and Daddy grilled his yummy burgers for us and we got to eat again outside. Your fave!

Then, yesterday, Daddy brought you home from school and we had a surprise for you, well, it wasn't exactly a surprise, but you hadn't seen it, so it was sort of. Anyway!! You finally got the playground you've been asking for!!!!

Hooray!!!!!! What a great week! See, we didn't even leave town! That's not saying we won't ever leave town again, because we're headed that way real soon!!! Love you baby girl, I mean growing up girl!!!

Easter 2012

Dear Abigail,

What a great Easter week/weekend we had this year! As I mentioned in an earlier post, we started the Easter week off with a trip to visit the bunny himself, and, as mentioned, you had nothing to do with that visit other than standing as far back as possible and asking to leave ASAP. On Wednesday, the Ryan and Ellie came over to help us dye some Easter eggs! We set it all up while you all ate pizza and then yanked your shirts off and got down to business...

While the eggs were soaking in the dye, the three of you would sing songs to pass the time. Songs included "ABC's", "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (a Ellie special), and "Twinkle, Twinkle".
The singing paid off because look at those beautiful eggs.
And Ryan had to have a pink egg. It's his favorite color, too.

Singing while the eggs were soaking got a little boring after awhile, so Mommy cranked up the music and we had a dance party!!! You and Ellie did your signature 'booty' moves and taught Ryan how to really dance. There was some belly banging and lots of running around in circles, but time was passed and energy was burned! Oh, and eggs were dyed!!

On Friday, your school had their Easter party and Kate, Daddy and I joined you for the fun. I snuck in with Kate and we surprised you while you were in circle time.
Earlier that week, Miss Jamie Jo told you (and the class) that the Easter bunny was going to stop by and drop off a bunch on eggs on the playground for everyone to hunt. Well... That was a mistake. Miss Jamie Jo did not remember your ever loving fear of Easter bunnies and such. Apparently on that day, you cried a little and told her you did not want to go outside and asked if you could just wait "5 more minutes" inside so the Easter bunny would leave. She said she calmed you down and finally convinced you to go outside, but that she was not going to mention that again to you! But, there were still eggs to hunt. So the day of the party, the day of the hunt, we made it VERY clear to you that the bunny would just drop the eggs off and leave and would be no where in site. And he wasn't (while you hunted eggs!)...

You were super excited to show me every single egg you found and very excited about that Cars egg. After finding all the eggs your class sat in a circle and begged to eat some candy, but we had to wait until we were inside.
Here's your EPS2 Class of 2012!

Once we were inside, Kate joined you at circle time! You were SUPER pumped about it and kept asking everyone to look at your sister!

You got lots of yummy food, including cookies and cupcakes, but a few minutes into the party and one of the directors of your school comes running into the class looking for me. She sees me and quickly whispers "The Easter bunny is on his way. Be prepared!!!" or something like that. She had NOT forgotten about your fear. That's why we love your school oh so much. Not only do they remember who's allergic to peanuts, but they know who's allergic to Easter bunny's!!! So, I holler at Daddy (b/c I'm feeding Kate) and in one swoop grabs you and heads straight out to the playground! And there you watched the Easter bunny entertain your class...

Soon after, we headed home and of course headed to Mexican.

On Saturday morning, you and I baked several goodies for Easter brunch and even cleaned the house a little. Then we got ready and met the e-n-t-i-r-e family for Papa's birthday party at the Park Inn.
Oh yeah, when I said entire, I meant the entire family! Uncle Jordan and Aunt Carly were even there, and Auntie Jill and Alexis, too!! We had a yummy meal and within seconds your cute little Easter outfit had tomatoes all down the front. Oh well...

After an early dinner, we headed over to the celebrity basketball game at Dickson High School. That's where Daddy went to school and you were super excited about that! See, Daddy's and Uncle Jaybee's friend from school has two little boys who are sick and so every year they put together a basketball game with celebrities to raise money to help them not be sick anymore. Last year you went with Daddy while Mommy was with your BFF traveling the world, or Austin, but this year Mommy got to go and what a fun time we had! You watched a little of the game, but you and Ellie were more involved in cheering for whoever made a basket! And then you got bored with that and decided running up and down the bleachers was the thing to do. And then Uncle Jaybee gave you a ring pop and that kept you seated for 8 minutes. And then it was back to the bleachers. Lots of bleacher playing = lots of Mommy being scared. But, it was all for a good cause and you had a ton of fun with your cousins! (and Papa, too!)
After the game, they let the kiddos play a little and you were first to get out there and try to score a goal!

We've got to work on your form, though...

It was a LATE night, but we made it home and we decided not to mention to you that the Easter bunny was probably going to make a pit stop at our house, and instead, you awoke surprised to find goodies waiting on you!

You even helped your sister get in the Easter spirit...

Soon after thanking the Easter bunny for the loot, we headed to the showers to get all spiffed up...
Sweet, sweet cousins...

We had a delicious Easter brunch with the family and enjoyed the beautiful weather by chilling on our back porch while the kiddos played and played. Finally, we hid some eggs and the girls went first on teh hunt.

Kate spotted an egg, too...

But a certain sister stole it right from up under her...

And a certain daddy was not happy about that...
And of course you dove into the candy inside those eggs. I tried to urge everyone to put non candy in it, and while a few had stickers and bubble, you found plenty with candy!

And then topped it off with the carrot cake cup cakes we made!

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon outside and even ordered PF Changs take out for dinner, because nothing says Easter like chinese food, right? You had SUCH a blast with Caroline and Ellie. When you came downstairs to get ready and take a shower that morning, I went to take your pants off and low and behold you had a diaper on. Yep, y'all were playing house. And at one point you and Ellie were not clothed and apparently about to take a bath. "Because Caroline's our mommy and she said we needed a bath". Uh-huh. No...

Late Sunday everyone headed home and we headed to bed. It was a great, great Easter with our family!!!