April 2015

Since June is less than two hours away, I suppose I should buckle down and knock out an April blog pretty quickly!  

April is undoubtedly my favorite month!  BOTH of our babies came home in the month of April, and while I would love to slow time down, I am loving watching these sweet kids grow into their awesome personalities every day!

We started the month with some couch snuggles with the mutt.....who is walking on thin ice lately...

.....but when he is soooo good with both kids, and he respects their toys, and he truly thinks his job in life is to protect these mini-humans....

......we cant really stay mad at him too long....

I tried to get a jump on the annual chair pictures and had so much fun gathering the last three years of cuteness! 

I cant believe Grady is now the same age Whitney was in this picture!

So, *I* thought it was smart to get a head start on the chair pictures....but these cute children of mine decided that chair pics are for the birds....

I didnt get a GREAT pic at first, but I did get a bunch of super happy, this-is-totally-Whitney-and-Grady kinda pics...

She just wants to love him :) 

And he just wants to be JUST like his big sister!

The belly laughs were out of control.  The love was overflowing.  And these are way more exciting than if they both sat in those chairs and stared into the camera and said "cheeeeese".  

Grady started it, and Whitney thought it was hilarious....

Man, I love these silly, happy faces! 

And....that was a wrap on the first attempt lol

100 years ago, before kids came on the scene, and before we were even married, Eric and I used to frequent a place called Broadway Pizza.  We have never taken the kids there, so we made it a family movie night, and had Broadway Pizza and saw the movie, Home. 

April brought warmer temps and lots of sun! While the pool wasnt warn enough for adults, these neighbor friends had a blast welcoming pool season 2015! 

We had a few sleepover weekends in April! 

And these two are the cutest besties on the planet :) 

We prepared for Easter....and I had to.....

Keeping with tradition, we set the timer on the camera before church, and caught a few cute pics :) 

After church, we headed to my parents' house for an egg hunt and a delicious meal! 

My mom is the BEST! She hid eggs (pink for Whitney and blue for Grady), and put pennies and candy and "certificates" for hugs and cash prizes!)

A new favorite pic!!!! 

Whitney was so excited that Grady could try jelly beans :) 

We welcomed the return of porch days! 

And as their birthdays approach each year, I am reminded of those years I spent waiting (impatiently!) to become a mommy.  I know that I am a better mommy because I waited.....

Grady and I enjoyed a fantastic morning at the birthday party park! He is such a fun age, and he cracks me up every single day.

He has the best imagination and is soooo smart! I just love listening to him talk and pretend and tell stories and explore! 

Over a year ago, I caught Grady as he crawled into our washing machine.  As soon as he peeked through this window, he shouted, "Hi, Mommy! Im in here! In da washin' machine!!! You see me??"  Best. memory. ever. 

After a hot and fun morning at the park, we hit the porch for a popsicle :) 

When Whitney got home, we headed back outside for some sidewalk chalk fun :) 

And as Summer is now here, I will miss going through Whitney's backpack each day to discover little gems like this:

The teacher told each student to write a letter to a classmate.  Whitney got two letters from friends and was so happy.  She learned that one classmate didnt get any letters, and she sat down at the kitchen table and wrote that student a letter right away. :) Such a loving heart! 

This sweet friend, Natalee, has been a blessing to our girl this school year! She is a little bit rebel and a little bit genius......a great combination in a best friend for our rule-following, super smart girl :) They bring out the sillies in each other! 

Whitney started the school year in a size 9 or 10 shoe.  For reference, Grady is now in a size 9/10.  In the months since school started, Whitney's foot has  grown to a size 12.  So it was time to buy her some legit sneakers :) She was soooo excited to buy shoes that "make her run super fast!"

She begged us to let her run home lol So when we got in the neighborhood gates, we let her out of the car at the corner of our road and followed her in the car as she ran down the sidewalk.....

We were blown away by how FAST this little girl is!!! 

I cant even count the number of times I snapped pics like this in the past year.  They love each other soooo much! 

Dude.  The tiptoes?  The best. 

And TimeHop wins again. 

Porch lunch days are the BEST! 

We watched Big Hero 6, and while it didnt totally captivate the kids right away, they both ask to watch it from time to time, so maybe it wasnt such a dud afterall.  I know everyone else on the planet loved it..  I was just happy for couch cuddles with my family! 

The pool was allllmost warm enough for adults....and bearable on a float :) 

These kids are so awesome and such FUN ages for pool days! 

They were pretending to be headed to a deserted island :) 

....holding hands....heart melted.

Eric ran a 15k in our town one Sunday morning, so the kids and I rallied EARLY in the morning to go cheer for Daddy! 

Our little runner girl was excited to run in her first Fun Run!

After the race, we grabbed some lunch and headed to a bowling birthday party for one of Whitney's favorite PreK friends!

We learned that Grady LOVES bowling!

Grady's school hosted a "Transportation Day" in April, and my mom joined us for the festivities.  Fire trucks, ambulances, limousines, monster trucks, a bread truck, police cars.....and this was the highlight. A water skiing squirrel.

I wish I was kidding. 

Hilarious. 

And this is how birthday present shopping is done in 2015.  Facetime from the Walmart two towns away, on the hunt for the perfect tricycle for the Dude. 

As is birthday tradition in April, we rented a place at our favorite local resort on Disney property, and let the birthday celebrations swing into full effect!  My parents came down for the day and took us to another Disney dinner to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries! 

I hope and pray I am able to celebrate with my grandkids and treat my kids to awesome experiences the way my parents spoil us! 

We are used to focusing on the pirate pool at the resort, but we changed it up this time, and had a BLAST!  

This was the first time the four of us have gone on a "just us" vacation, and it was so much fun! 

Hula hoop contests and warm water and sunny skies and a lazy river and lots of memories! 

After hours in the pool and some poolside snacks, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner and open birthday presents! 

Seriously.  How great is my mom?? These kids laughed and played in that tub forever.  Mac was on her knees, on the tile, playing with foam pirate ships and palm trees with two of the happiest kids on the planet.  She's the best! 

A girl after my own heart :) She is excited for tennis camp this Summer! 

She was SOOO excited to get the Zerena costume! 

We went to dinner at Citricos in the Grand Floridian! 

And mom's fun birthday hats were a huge hit everywhere we went :) 

And after dinner, as we headed to the monorail to try to catch the Magic Kingdom fireworks, the band in the Grand sang "Happy Birthday" to my kids!! Isnt Disney the BEST!? 

That night wasnt over, as we caught the MK fireworks and thought we would outsmart the crowds and walk back to the Grand from the MK.  Yeah...no.  More than a mile walk down a sidewalk lead us to......the water's edge.  And about 50 yards of "lagoon" between us and the Grand and our car.  So, much laughter ensued, and we happily made the walk retracing our steps the mile+ back to the boats and monorail.  Sigh.  So maybe I dont know EVERYTHING about Disney. :) 

The next days were filled with fastpasses and splash pad and lazy rivers and water slides and balloons and Grady's third birthday! 

Bounce houses, and face painting and arts and crafts....

....and we put the "lazy" in "Lazy river!"

Whitney was a huge fan of the face painting! 

And they tried out the game room :) 

We went to Hollywood Studios and had dinner at one of our favorite Italian restaurants.  Grady wondered at the Christmas shop and Christmas train :) 

and the faux snow man :) 

We climbed the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" playground...TWICE! and had the BEST time! 

These kids were SO well behaved the ENTIRE trip.  Not one meltdown or tantrum.  Not one threat of having to leave.  Not one issue.  They were just so good. :) 

We SO appreciate Disney's efforts to provide gluten free and dairy free dining options for guests.  Grady LOVES their GF, dairy free rolls! He devours them, and the restaurants routinely give us several extra rolls to take home :) 

And the rule is, if they ask for dessert when we stay at Disney, they get dessert.  And that makes this girl VERY happy! 

And once again, this stroller is amazing! 

Two sleeping kids as we make our way back to the condo? A sure sign of an awesome night! 

Two pool noodles under the bed sheets made for a perfect crib alternative for Grady, and he slept like a log every night! 

This guy blew up a bazillion balloons to welcome Grady on his birthday morning :) 

Needless to say, his day got better and better and he enjoyed an awesome third birthday! 

Thanks for the GREAT bathing suits, Mac! 

They were both SUPER into the Pirate Fairy movie, so they were pretending to be Captain Hook and Zerena! 

Such a great vacation spot.  I know I blew up my Facebook feed with countless pictures during our stay.  And I know some people will say its silly to vacation the same place over and over.  But we love this.  Its less than an hour away.  Its very reasonably priced.  Its clean.  Its fun.  And its what we love.  And I also happen to love that we can drive less than an hour and hit the beach.  So this will be our vacation destination for the foreseeable future :) And we coudnt be happier! 

The Dude was so excited to press the button the elevator...but instantly hit the '3' for his 3rd birthday :) 

We hit all four parks in our stay, and couldnt think of anything we didnt get to do.  Grady still loves the parking lot tram at each park :) lol

And we've been here 198300 times, but these kids get soooo pumped about meeting characters and seeing the fire truck and running wild :) 

We had never been to the Mexican restaurant in Mexico at EPCOT, so we checked that off our Disney Bucket List :) 

And these two partied like rock stars  in the World Showcase!

My big almost-six-year-old! 

And just like that......our favorite family vacation was done and it was time to swing by Animal Kingdom and head home.  But not before saying bye to the ducks! 

We knew it was a sign that our vacation was gonna be awesome when we were assigned room 421.....for Whitney's 4/21 birthdate :) 

And like the magician he is, Eric managed to get everything into our car....including the birthday gifts Mac and Gramps brought on the first day there! 

With our car loaded, we headed to Animal Kingdom before heading home to pick up Bingo.

We did the Kali River Rapids, which Grady loved!  It was his first time and we all got soaked, but had backup clothes and ponchos to try to minimize the drench.  We had sooo much fun! And it was SOOO hot that we dried in 10 minutes lol 

And as the trip concluded and we got home (with clean laundry, because im good like that!), we were all excited to celebrate Whitney's big day!!! 

As soon as her best friend, Faith, has a birthday in January, Whitney starts asking how many days/weeks until its her turn to grow a year older.  She is always SOOOO excited about her birthday, and its so much fun to get sucked into that enthusiasm! 

And as we ushered the birthday girl off to school, the staycation back-to-reality struggle was real for everyone on Team Bass!  Bingo enjoyed his first stay at the kennel, but was happy to be upside down on the couch with his favorite little boy :) 

TimeHop.  Yes. 

And then, our big six year old had her BIG day. PARTY day!!

She requested a roller skating party after receiving rollerskates from Eric's mom and stepdad for Christmas. We are conveniently in the years where I can text her friends' moms and coordinate a good date for everyone to meet at the rink for pizza and cake in honor of our little girl.  No fancy invites like the first years of her life.  Just a text "Hey Mamas, when can yall make it!?" and it was a done deal.  And this girl could NOT have been happier! 

My friend Mandy, the mom of Whitney's friend Avery, and a kickball captain champion, made Whitney's AMAZING roller skate shirt that we both LOOOVE!  It was so perfect! 

And really? What could go wrong when little brother wants to hang with the big kids?!

The Pirate Fairy theme lived on and we had the best balloon ever lol 

When we first arrived at the rink, we were the ONLY ones there.  So this birthday girl got to skare solo and she LOVED it! 

Mandy made the shirt and the bow and got the shorts to match....soooo perfect! 

And these besties relived their high school rink days lol 

Whitney has known most of these girls since they were 18 months or younger.  My Gym classes are the best thing ever when you make life long besties (and her mommy ROCKS, too!) 

Whitney was SO happy to have her "childhood" bestie, Faith and her "school" bestie, Natalee in the same place! All the girls got along SO perfectly, and it was a true testament to Whitney's character judgment as she chooses such fun and happy and smart little girls with awesome mommies :) 

We have some of the best dad friends on the planet!  

This little girl made me a mommy and I am SOOOO blessed to be her mom! She amazes us EVERY day and I thank God for choosing me to raise this sweet, smart, sassy, silly girl! 

Best. Mommy friends. Ever. :) 

The amazing balloon made it home in one piece and was a huge hit! 

Hugs for Tink :) 

Kisses for Tink. :) 

And one last TimeHop from the month. :) 

School besties....the cutest. 

And some of my very favorite days this year were spent at Whitney's school, getting to know her classmates (and making sure the teachers and staff know ME, too!)  I have been SO blessed to be able to "stay home" with these babies of ours.  Everytime I think I want to go back to teaching/work, I am reminded that these kids are only this age for so long, and before we know it, they will be running off to college.  

And when this kid says, "Mommy, you wanna cuddle me on da couch??"  I drop everything and cuddle that kid on the couch.  

Further evidence that Grady is the epitome of a "Threenager":

Today's car episode with the threenager: shouting "TURN GWEEEEEN!!!!" at every red light we sit at for more than 71 seconds. Can't imagine who's patience he inherited.

And we rounded out the birthday month with TWO trips to Toys R Us to spend the gift cards from grandparents and my brother. :) 

And we rounded out the month with a bestie sleepover :) 

So with seven minutes to spare, I am officially calling a wrap on April 2015 BEFORE June 2015 arrives :)  Perhaps this is the month I get caught up and actually get back into the blogging routine :) I was sad to see April come to an end, but so excited for a fun summer of memory-making and a bunch of family time and tennis and happiness before the summers of ball games and practices and busy life catch up to us in the years ahead! 

Edited to add more pics that were trapped in my broken phone :)