Her 4th Birthday

This little girl has no idea how spoiled she is!  She KNEW this was her birthday and milked it for all it was worth.  Almost every request began with "since it is my birthday can I ______?"

The day began early with a pancake breakfast by our neighbors, including candle and song!

We then hit the pool for a little while, until Marissa decided we needed to dress fancy and go out to eat lunch.  So we got dressed up and headed to the aquarium in Kemah.

She was extra excited to receive a Happy Birthday Cupcake (then let her brother eat it all) with another candle!

That evening we had family over for a taco dinner/birthday party. 

She and grandma decorated her brownie...just the way Marissa wanted it with pink glittery sprinkles.

She opened gifts (she was overly excited about this part of the party) and was spoiled rotten by all family members!  Getting almost everything her 4 year old heart desired.

Earlier that week she told Mommy that she wanted a step-mother for her birthday....that DID not happen!  After much prodding it was determined she wanted a figurine of the step-mother from Cinderella (whew, she still loves me)!

I did not get pictures of NeeNee and Gram Aunt and Uncle Mose but she did have a good time with everyone!

(the batman/girl PJs were part of the gift from her brother, that she requested!)

It was a great day for us all!

Cousins Week

IT IS COUSIN WEEK....the week we have been most looking forward to since summer began!

My parents drove the cousins and my grandmother's piano down.  I am so excited to have this in my home. Knowing the hours I put into resentfully practicing when I was a kid.  Hoping to pass that torture onto my own now with this heirloom.  Of course, as an adult having remorse for not practicing harder and forgetting most of what I had learned.  Ahhh.....the circle continues!

Sunday we went to church and to a birthday party at Jump N' Jungle for our fun friend, Keaton.  The kids had a blast!

 That evening, randomly, Nate told us all he wanted to pray to have Jesus in his heart...so we all prayed with him.  He then, in turn asked all of us if we also wanted to pray to have Jesus in our hearts....little evangelist!

Monday we headed to Kemah.  We love the board walk area and also went to the exhibit at the Aquarium!  Our friend Rodney joined us and everyone had a good time feeding the sting rays (except Marissa who said they were stinky!).

  Later that day we headed to our neighborhood pool!

 Tuesday, we went to the Cinemark dollar movie, Walking with the dinosaurs. Then we headed home and ate our own dinosaurs (chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs) and dragons (dragon mac and cheese), the kids thought that was pretty great.

Next we headed to a program at our library where the kids learned about Africa and engaged in African dance and games.  At the end they even had the chance to hit the Jimbe.  The boys were not too excited about going to a dance party initially but in the end they did not want to leave.

Thursday was backwards day.  Nate had been planning this for a long time - everything we did was mixed up.  We woke up and ate ravioli in the bathtub for breakfast, we immediately went swimming (the highlight was Dawson saving a frog).  We had lunch at chick-fil-a (eating ice cream first), then we went to a safety program at the library...and finished the day eating cereal in bed.  

All good things must come to an end.  Friday was "Go Home Day" (AKA The day we embraced childhood obesity) but we crammed in a few more totally awesome memories.  We got started bright and early and headed to the Blue Bell Creamery with some friends.  Nothing beats Blue Bell Ice Cream!

We had a McDonalds stop for lunch....

and finally made it to Round Rock where we found and consumed the largest donut in Texas!

It was delicious!!!!  Yes, we ate the WHOLE thing.

But have no fear we did put in about 4 hours of exercise at a community pool in Round Rock.  

It was an awesome day and week!  

Can't wait for Cousin Camp next year already!