She's all girl

Stumbled upon these pictures... moments like this remind me she is most definitely all girl.

Princesses!

What a blast! We were treated to a breakfast with the princesses at EPCOT, and it was such an amazing time. It was so fun to watch Annika be excited about them all, and to talk to them like such a big girl!

Ariel

(she held Annika's hand during the princess processional- she felt pretty special)

Snow White

Cinderella
Aurora
my princess Alexa

We are loving Disney!

September/October Randoms

A rose reblooms in October- the bee is not aware it is fall... If only she was better at keeping piggies in... how cute is that hair?!
princesses...

talking to Daddy

Sometimes you just need to snuggle

naptime with Mr. Bear

And... done

Or done except for a few details, I should say.

I don't normally post house stuff, but I am SO PROUD of my husband for all the work he put into our beautiful deck.  :) 

And now that he's done on this project, I have a whole list of projects waiting for him to do inside....  :)

Dressing up

 When Annika saw this costume we borrowed, she gasped.

When she found out SHE would be able to wear it, she gasped again.

Princesses are a very cool thing right now.

 And this little chick was so yummy.

And Sunday she was taught "bawk, bawk." So she walked around kind of wiggling her arms saying "baw, baw."

We had a low-key Sunday- we just visited a couple neighbors and then went to visit some friends.

Our dear neighbors thought to take a picture of our family.

the "carnival"

Last month we went to a family day at Andy's work. There were some carnival rides there, so after this day, Daddy works "at the carnival."

Annika loved this ride. Daddy, not so much.

I can't even count how many times they rode the train.

Here with friend Aubrey...

Jumping

They had face painting, and Annika wanted purple hearts.

This girl LOVED the giant slide and was traumatized when I wouldn't climb up with a 25-pound weight anymore.

 Marshmallow time

Alexa devouring her marshmallow

And lastly, Annika was asked if she wanted another marshmallow or an apple.

Here's her choice.  :)

We finished the night with a hayrack ride and fun glowsticks and glow bracelets. What a blast!

Happy birthday, Daddy!

We went out for Andy's birthday last night.

These girls love salsa. She kept holding out her chip for more dipping.

"Hooray!" Stuffing her face...

Our sweet little monkey. I love this picture.

Don't you love the look on her face?!
Happy birthday today- we are so thankful for you!

Almost there...

You may remember awhile back I posted about never getting a decent picture of these girls...

well, I'm not there yet, but we're getting closer!

I just eating it, Mom

While I was making supper, I started to realize that Annika was playing mighty well downstairs by herself.

I opened the door to the basement and saw her with her pretend food at the bottom.

"I just eating it, Mom," she said when she saw me.

How nice she's playing! And so quietly.

And then I looked closer.

She discovered our (not-so-well-hidden; actually completely out in the open) chocolate stash.

And got down to business.

I was laughing so hard.

Laughing even harder when Andy looked at the picture later and pointed out the resemblance to a certain helmet-wearing hyper hypo we're familiar with.

Our 4th of July

Our anniversary was the end of June, and coming off of a ridiculous busy season at Andy's work where we didn't see each other much, and in the middle of his travel season (much of the summer was home one week, gone the next), I pretty much demanded (I NEEDED some quality time!) a getaway.

That he had to plan.

That was different from what we normally do.

(I don't ask for much) ;)
And so he did.

And here's a glimpse at our "that is SO not us" trip to St. Louis on the 4th:

City Museum: almost impossible to describe, but very fun.

The entertainment starts on the roof

Yeah, we climbed there
to here

(yes, that's a school bus on top of the building- told you it's hard to describe)

and it was oh-so-hot out

(insert "That is so not us")

slid down the 10-story slide to the caves down here
cooled off in here

After dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (okay, that is so us, sorry),

we set out to see what was going on under the Arch.

The B-52s were playing a free concert.

So we stayed and listened. With thousands and thousands of sweaty strangers.

And sweat along with them.

(See? That is SO not us.)

And then the fireworks.
We also went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens

(say it with me: "That is SO not you guys!")
I know, right?!

Possibly more than the flowers, I loved the glass sculptures.

LOVE it.
Another "That is so not us" moment: my tomato-hating husband ate some bruschetta that happened to have a yellow tomato relish on top. I didn't tell him that it actually WAS tomato until he tried it and said he liked it. Oh, I was giddy.

Anyway, the trip was much needed, and a wonderful time to reconnect.

And now I'm ready for another "that is so not us" adventure!