Kacy Turns 4!!!

Kacy was lucky, and her actual birthday was on a Sunday, so we could have a super fun-filled day! We had been trying to get to the Butterfly Museum for a couple weeks, and we decided that today would be the day! I thought everyone would like it, but when we got in there Adilyn completely freaked out. She was really terrified of the butterflies flying all around her. Kacy, on the other hand, was fascinated! She loved trying to find the different types of butterflies, she wanted them to land on her, and she wanted to watch them eat. Brooke liked them a lot, too! She kept pointing and making her excited little noise. I convinced Adilyn to stay in for a while, but then I thought she would have an actual meltdown, so Cory and Kacy stayed while I took Adilyn out. Once we were out of the butterfly fly zone, Adilyn was fine. She loved looking at all the mounted butterflies and bugs. Kacy was done after a bit, and we stayed in the museum for a while looking at all the huge beetles and stuff. Then, the girls were allowed to pick out a souvenir using some of their birthday money. That was a big ordeal! It took them forever to pick just the right thing. Kacy decided on a butterfly umbrella and a ring, and she was a happy gal! We went home and relaxed while Brooke napped, and then we headed out to dinner with friends. Kacy (with my guidance) chose Fuddruckers, which is the very best place to eat with kids because they have a shaded back area with a sandbox to play in. We met the Griffins and one lone Hrobar (the boys and Dana were headed to Florida, so Shane came out with us). All the kids had a fantastic time together. They are such a sweet little group of cuties! We ate dinner and had cake. Such calm, relaxed fun :)

My little Kacy. My wild child. My middle. My cute talker. My silly giggler. My brave girl. My sweetheart. My goofy face maker. This girl is amazing. She is always ready for adventure. She loves making new friends and having fun. She is brave, and she wants to do everything that the big kids do! She works hard and is determined to accomplish things. She is a great listener and a fabulous snuggler. Her laugh is contagious and beautiful! She brings so much joy to our family, and I am so lucky to get to hang out with her everyday :)

Here are her interview answers:
What is your favorite color? Pink
Who is your favorite friends? Sara
Who would you marry, if you had to get married right now? Wyatt
What do you want to be when you grow up? A rock star princess
What is your favorite food? Cake
Where is your favorite place to go? Weddings
Favorite show? Dora
Favorite thing to do at home? Play in the playroom
What do you love about Adilyn? That she is my sister and she takes care of me
What do you love about Brooke? When she is super funny
What is your favorite animal? Deer
What is your favorite thing to do in the car? Watch movies
What are you good at? Writing my name
What do you want to learn now that you are 4? Cartwheels
What was your favorite thing about being 3? I liked doing funny 3 year old things.

Writing Drama

No, I am not writing a drama. I am experiencing drama while trying to get my beautiful, stubborn 6 year old to write each day. She loved writing during the year, but apparently that love ended on the last day of school! I have always been against being obsessed with making kids "learn" at home because they are going to learn enough throughout their lives, but I really don't want Adilyn to lose all the skills she learned this year. All I wanted her to do is write 4 sentences a day and read a book a day. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Not the case! I soon realized that it was going to be a battle, and it was everyday this week. She sat out of playing at the park, lost tv time, and had to go sit in Cory's office for a while. It was awful! I hate yelling, I hate getting super mean, but I was losing my temper with her daily! Friday, I decided I would do rewards vs. punishments. I made up tickets, and she would get a ticket if she wrote her 4 sentences in 20 minutes. That day she wrote her sentences in the first 10 minutes. Success. For one day at least.
Kacy on the other hand is doing amazing! She sits down and writes whatever I ask her to write, with a smile on her face. She can write all her capital letters pretty well, and she is doing great with her name! Amazing how different they can all be!

Summer Lovin'????

Oh my...everyday, I keep waiting for the girls to get in the groove of summer vacation and get along. It hasn't happened. I think that I may go crazy before it does!!! Seriously, they fight over everything...who is sitting in what chair, who is using the pink crayon, who is copying who, who is sitting too close to who...and on, and on. It is exhausting. I have tried everything - not yelling, separating them, rewarding them for being nice, yelling, etc. I know that it's just a phase, like everything in parenting, but wow! In the summer when we are all together all day, everyday, it's a lot to take. They went to a Princess Ballet Camp at the Y last week, and I thought that would be a breath of fresh air, but nope! The latest thing that I am doing is trying to calmly tell them not to fight and if that doesn't work, I separate them. It doesn't always work, but it does keep my blood pressure down. At least I can control that!

MOMS Club

Dana has been a member of the MOMS club of Lakewood for as long as I can remember. She would always talk about all the fun things they did, and it sounded like so much fun! Of course, since I worked, there was no chance that I could be a part of a group like that. Well, as life would have it, I moved into the area and I was staying home, so now was my chance! We talked about it a few times, but I got a little apprehensive about it. I have never had much luck with groups of women...she quite asking me to join, until the summer. She told me about all the fun things they had planned, so I decided to go ahead and give in and join :) We have had a lot of fun so far! We picked blackberries at an orchard, had a book club meeting and playtime, played at a park, and gone to a splashpad. We have made a couple friends, Adilyn found a couple girls that she likes, but unfortunately there are not many girls Kacy's age. Luckily, she can blend in with Adilyn and the bigger girls. I am glad I joined, and I look forward to being a little more social. I can break out of my little shell of laziness.

Princess Ballet Camp

The girls went to Princess Ballet camp at the Y last week, and they had a lot of fun! It was only a couple hours a day, and there were not very many girls there, but they seemed to all have fun. Everyday I went to pick them up, they were wearing different dress-up dresses. They had craft time everyday, and always had stories of the fun games they played. I love the dance program at the Y! It is so laid back and so relaxed, yet the girls really get to know how to move and understand dance. It was fantastic to have something for them to do everyday and look forward to.

The Birthday Luau

The girls' 4th and 6th birthday luau was so much fun! It was technically our first "pool party" at the house, and I was a little worried about having enough space in our backyard, but it was just fine. Everyone stayed for amost 3 hours, swimming and eating and chatting. Almost everyone that we invited was able to come, so that was wonderful! I love when people really make a big effort to be at an event! Anne, Daniel, Taylor, and Terilyn came down, and we were so happy to have them down here and be a part of the girls party. Dad and Kris also came for the weekend. The kids had a blast playing in the water with each other! I loved how the little teddy graham beach scene cakes came out and the food was all great. The girls got a bunch of fun presents, and it was a wonderful time with friends and family!

Alabama!!!

We have been planning our trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama for almost 6 months, and it finally got here! I was worried about the 8 or 9 hour drive with all the kids, but I prepared with many (way too many) activities for them to do on the way. I didn't care if they watched a couple movies, but I didn't want them to watch 8 hours worth! I knew Adilyn and Kacy would be okay, but I was worried about little Brookie! Well, we got started later than we wanted to because the night before I clogged up the kitchen sink drain with leftovers. Oops! Cory and I worked until about 2am to get it working, then he worked again until 10:00. Finally, we decided to give it up and just go. Unfortunately, that meant that we were going to have to stop for two meals and we wouldn't be getting in until way later. We started driving, and Brooke fell asleep pretty quick, but then someone had to go to the bathroom and we had to get gas. Of course, when we stopped, she woke up. Then, she was grumpy, really grumpy! When we stopped for lunch, we turned her car seat facing forward hoping that would help. It did, a little bit. Then we got stuck in two major traffics jams that put us another two hours behind. The girls did remarkably well! I had to do some entertaining along the way. Making their tiny baby dolls dance and play hide and seek, doing feet fights and crazy stretching, and singing some songs. But overall, things went really well! We stopped for dinner with only about an hour and a half left. Luckily, after dinner, we put a movie on and Brooke finally fell asleep! We got through a ridiculous rain storm, and we were there. Only 11 1/2 hours later...oh my! Of course, when we got there, everyone was super hyper, and we didn't go to bed until midnight. Our little rental house was just perfect for us! It was tiny, but had space in all the right places. There were two bedrooms on each side, one room had double size bunk beds and all the others were just one bed. The living room and kitchen were one big room, so it gave us lots of room to run around (which we needed)! Everyone woke up ridiculously early to a very rainy day. It was a wonderful view from the windows, but it really did rain all day long. At one point, it stopped for a bit and Cory took the girls to the beach for a few minutes until it started pouring again. We still had fun in the house, and we decided to go out to eat that night. We found a restaurant that looked great with a lot of vegetarian options on their menu, so we were pretty excited to check it out! We got there, and quickly realized that it was a completely different menu! There was nothing vegetarian, and all the cool things that were on there were not. It was mostly burgers and stuff. We survived, but it was kind of annoying! The next day was super windy and a little chilly, but at least it wasn't raining. We played outside at the beach and had a great time. Brooke was a little unsure about the sand at first, but once she realized how amazing it was, she was all in! The boys went fishing the next day, and mom, the girls, and I went into town to go the zoo. The zoo was interesting. There little tag line was "The Little Zoo That Could"...we should have known that it was going to be little and weird. There were a lot of tigers, one bear, and a lot of random animals all around. It was super hot outside, and nobody was really into it. The highlights were feeding the goats, and hearing all the animals go crazy when some tigers started fighting. And that was it. Everything else was amazing! We just played in the water and the sand, relaxed, and spent time together. We had a little birthday party for the girls one night, found a yummy Mexican restaurant, and just had a great time. Everyone had an fantastic time :) Memories to be cherished for a lifetime!