Noelle and Ava having a fun little morning together!

This was the view from the Christians’ room at the Gaylord.  We had so much fun!

Malia came over to play one evening, and she fit right in the mix!

Payton had Anna Kate over to play and her sweet Momma sent me this pic, and here are the girls being silly one day at the Gaylord.

We’re finally getting new neighbors across the street!  This is the last lot on our block, so we’re excited about that!  Noelle’s bummed… for the past 3 years, she’s always said she’s going to build a house on that lot when she grows up so she can live across the street from us with her husband.  Now she’s switched gears and has started talking about which house she’s going to buy in our neighborhood.  She’s such a Mommy’s girl/home body!  We want her to go on adventures and see the world, but if she wants to stick close to home, that’s fine with us too!

Our last night with the Christians was bittersweet!  We had so much fun joining in their vacation and will miss them SO much!

Bailey found a heart shaped strawberry at dinner.  When Noelle and Sadie were walking to the ice cream shop together, I was a fly on the wall.  They got the important things out of the way first, like favorite colors… that sort of thing.  Then I heard Noelle ask, “So, what’s the meanest thing Bailey has ever done to you?”  Noelle’s a smart girl, getting the low-down from the sister.  She cracks me up!

Playing at the fountain… we didn’t want the night to be over and kept lingering…

All of Bailey and Sadie’s Texas friends came to eat dinner and say farewell.

Then we went to get dessert and play at the fountain.

Sadie and Anna Kate are quite the duo… love these firecrackers so much!

So long, Christian family!  We love you!

I took the big girls one afternoon last week for one last play date with their buddies before their trip to Texas came to an end.  We were in it to win it and played our hearts out all day long!

Here’s our happy stair girl… right where she wants to be!

Noelle took a turn helping Sadie swim for a good long while.  Sadie loved the special attention and was listening to everything Noelle was saying.

Amanda got this o so perfect picture of our princess actually getting dirty!  Now you can’t say Noelle has never been dirty!!!  You go girl!  Bailey and Anna Kate are big buds too!

Noelle was happy to pose for a picture but Bailey was like common sister, let’s jump!  Too funny!

Bailey (7), Noelle (6), Sadie (3) and Anna Kate (3)… heart friends!

Sunday night we had dinner with the Christians at the Gaylord… so much fun!

We spent the day with the Christians at the waterpark at their hotel… this was the first time we’ve been to the Gaylord since they added the new waterpark.  It was a blast!

We took Anna Kate and Sadie to get braids and beads in their hair… they really liked that!  These two haven’t gotten to spend as much time together as their siblings, but you wouldn’t know it… they are heart friends too!

Our lifeguard was on duty!  There were so many activities to do and action every way you turned… we were tag teaming it big time!

Anna Kate loves pool areas that have beach entrances!  In regular pools, she’s our stair girl!

This was Rose’s first day ever without an afternoon nap, and she was the last one out of the water.  She was having the time of her life too! 

After we found their room and got changed, the kids were so excited to go swimming!  As you can tell, they were having a blast already!

We had to ride a trolley to get to the waterpark, and this was just as much fun as the park itself for the kids.  They’ve asked all week when can we go back to the Gaylord and ride the trolley again, lol!

Noelle was so giddy!  How funny!

It’s been a year since the Christian family moved to Georgia, and we have missed them every single day!  This was our first time to see them since the move, and the kids were in heaven.  There’s no other way to put it!  They picked up right where they left off and all love each other more than words can say!

Noelle tried out for Disney in Dallas a couple of weeks ago.  We did it mainly for the experience and to see how she would like doing something like that in acting/modeling.  Turns out she loved every minute in the limelight and did so great!  She had 20 minutes to practice a script of a commercial and then perform it in front of judges.  When she was on the big screen for her turn (after the interview process), she hammed it up and blew us away!  We videoed her before dinner that evening (the clip above) because we wanted to remember how cute she was reading her first audition piece.  She did make it to the next round, but it would require us to spend a week in Florida to go through the next round of auditions.  We are just not ready to make a commitment like that but had fun checking it all out and giving Noelle some practice in the industry.  Ultimately, Noelle wants to be a fashion designer/make-up artist and model her creations!  She’s only 6, but she feels so strongly about this.  I’m happy for her to have found something she is passionate about and can work toward.  We just have to find outlets for her to express herself… so we are trying new things and having fun!

Ty, Emme and Tate had us over to swim on Saturday!  The kids all love each other so much, and we had a blast swimming and grilling out with them!

Rose cracks me up… she loves to be in the middle of it all!

Noelle and Tate had fun playing “Boo!” together.

While Rose was everywhere, Anna Kate stayed right here on this step the entire day!

Everyone loves Ty!!!  Thanks for the popsicles… they were a huge hit!

You can tell how hot it was by Rose’s rosy cheeks!  The pool was cold though, so it was perfect!  We definitely beat the heat today!

Someone’s getting sleepy!

I love this picture of all the kids eating lunch.  Rose was patting Tate on the head… too funny!  Love these happy kiddos!!!

This was the last picture of Noelle with all of her baby teeth!

Noelle is always dressing she and Anna Kate with matching outfits to play around the house.  Her ideas are always so cute and creative, and Anna Kate has a blast letting sissy dress her up!  I love this pic of Anna Kate just waiting on the rest of us to finish getting ready one day!

Noelle was having a hard time about something and Rose laid on top of her to cheer her up with a big hug…

Noelle LOVED it and I think Rose actually made whatever it was all better!

This little stinker pot has been standing up in things that she shouldn’t since she could stand.  Fortunately she has never fallen, partly because she has excellent balance.  We don’t take any chances, but every once and a while, she beats the system and finds a way to stand.

These two are always cuddling together.  Noelle really mothers Rose, and Rose often goes to Noelle when she needs help with something.  She knows that she has a listening ear and someone who will try to help her if she can.  It’s so sweet!

The girls looked so cute one day, I just had to take a quick pic before we headed off to library story time!

This little 17 month old is SO busy and getting into everything these days!  Destruction is her name and clean-up is my game!!!  In order to get anything done around here, Rose has to have Pack N Play time where she goes and spends some contained time playing with her toys while we work to pick up and clean the rest of the house.  She has a good time in there (and she’s safe), but we try to let her roam as much as possible… it’s just CRAZY right now in our house with an up and coming full-out toddler!!!  You know I always pre-buy my kids’ clothes for the next season, and right now I’m shopping for 2T things for next summer for Rose.  Where does the time go!?!

Here’s Noelle at Susana’s ceremony and me with some of my friends!