Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

Kaitlyn turned 2 on June 23rd! We had to celebrate a lot, so she ended up having 2 friend parties and 2 family parties. So yes, she had 4 parties !! For some reason we can never do simple birthdays.

Party #1- The Tea Party:

I was supposed to work at the rec. center on her actual birthday, but was able to find a sub, so we invited 2 of her friends over last minute for a tea party. April was kind enough to take Nate, and I had Mason, so we did a kid swap. It was better that way, b/c then I could totally focus on the girls. We went to the dollar store and got them jewelry, hats, and shoes and then set up a tea party in our dining room. They were quite adorable pouring each other apple juice tea. Kaitlyn just kept saying, "Masn" "Halee" and pointing to them. She was really excited they were there! We then played in the basement for awhile and decided that we needed to go swimming, so I put the girls suits on and we filled up the baby pools. Hallie wanted to play hide and seek so we did that too! It was fun having a girl's only party and I think KK loved it! When Nate got home, he was sad the party was over, but cheered up after I told him the treats were not gone yet.

Party #2- The Family Party to On the Border:
That night, we had to celebrate and go out as a family. I can't not celebrate on the actual day. We let Kaitlyn open her presents from us: a bike, a dollhouse, puzzles, books, crayons, and a bubble lawnmower. She kept singing "Happy Birthday to KK!" but of course wouldn't do it for the camera, and would instead say, "No Happy Birthday!" We took her for Mexican food and let her get a sundae. The kids were both fairly well behaved. I can't believe my baby is 2!

Party #3- BBQ at the lake:
We invited several friends to the lake for a bbq to celebrate! I always like an excuse to get friends together:) I made fish shaped cupcakes ( I got the idea from my sis-in-law Ali!- thanks Ali!), and we bbqed the usual. Kaitlyn didn't like all the attention, but enjoyed having her friends there and playing in the sand and water. Each of the kids got a large water shooter and a bucket and shovel. Thanks to everyone who came and made her day special:)

Party #4- With my parents:
We had another bbq with my parents, went to the lake, and they took Kaitlyn to the store to let her pick out a present or two. She loves her grandparents!

Talking to Grandma and Grandpa on her big day!

The tea party!

Hallie looks like such a lady here, I love it!

They were quite adorable playing together:)

 

Friends at the lake party!

Another bbq!

 And just for fun, I wanted to include a pic from each month this year. Kaitlyn, we love you and we are so lucky to be your parents! She is smart as a whip and talks a mile a minute. She is also very sassy, but helpful and the best cuddle bug. What a joy!

23 months

22 months

21 months

21 months

20 months

19 months

18 months

17 months

16 months

15 months

14 months

13 months

June- Jumping right into Summer!

We jumped right into summer by going to play groups and on family excursions. We went to the lake, pool, waterpark, mini golf course, temple, and on an ambitious overnight campout in Pennsylvania.

Pirate's Cove Waterpark w/ friends:)

Another fun day at the lake! They look exhausted:)

beach beauty! She always wears her sunglasses upside down!

Princess and Prince Tea Party with PWC's SAHM's

Bug Party @ the Cranes

Nate did pretty good for his first time mini golfing- he could hit the ball fairly straight!

Andrew and Kaitlyn at his Mormon Orchestra concert @ the Temple Visitor's Center

We went on an overnight trip to Pennsylvania and visited with the Amish. On the way, we found a beautiful relaxing park where we had a picnic. That was the most relaxing event we had the whole weekend. The first day, the kids took a buggy ride that was pulled by a small pony. We weren't going to let Kaitlyn do it, but she was pretty insistent and the 11 year old Amish boy who was driving said she would be fine. He was 11 going on 19, I had never seen a more mature 11 year old. He took care of the ponies all by himself. We stopped by an Amish bakery to try some shoe-fly pie, whoopie pies, and homemade rootbeer.

We then went to an Amish farm, saw some goats, chickens, geese, and cows. The farmer told Nate if he layed down and called for the goat Robert that he would come and jump on his back. Nate was very brave and called for Robert. Sure enough, he came and walked on Nate's back! He was very friendly and confident with the animals after that and didn't have a problem catching the chickens in the chicken coop. When we went to milk the cows, Nate thought he would visit the geese. I told him they would bite and to get away from them, but he didn't listen and sure enough one of the geese attacked him. He just got pinched but was pretty traumatized. Right after that incident a big cow came right up to him and licked him on the same leg! He burst out into tears and said he needed new shorts. There was cow drool all over him, so I don't blame him. He was a little more cautious with the animals after that. The farmer let us milk the cows, and let Nate and another boy his age give the new calf a bottle of his mother's milk. That calf was so hungry I had to help Nate hold the bottle or it would have been ripped out of his hands. Quite the experience! Another Mormon family went on the tour with us, so it was fun to meet and talk with them. We got to our campsite a little after 5 and it took us 2 hours to set up our new 10 man tent, put air in the queen and twin mattresses, put up the pack and play, and set up the fire for dinner. We had hotdogs and s'mores and tried to get the kids to sleep but they were overly tired and wired. Not a good combo!

I can't believe he actually held still while the goat was on his back:)

Kaitlyn was imitating Robert the goat!

The next morning we went to the "Day Out with Thomas" event and rode the Strasburg Railroad with the Thomas tank engine. The kids loved it! She kept saying "tains, tains." We took pics with Thomas and Sir Topham hat, rode the mini train, pump car, and let Nate play in the train tent- his dream come true! We were hot and hungry so we went to the Red Caboose for dinner. It was a restaurant inside a train car and we could actually feel when the train went by. It added to the whole experience of the day! The kids were so wiped out that they slept the whole way home. Our first family campout was a success, but Andrew and I were sure tired afterwards.

on the train

I love this pic! He looks so content:)

the push car that we waited in line forever to do!

Nate could have stayed here all day

the huge train inside the Red Caboose gift shop

Nate's "tough" face inside the Red Caboose Restaurant