Happy Birthday, Verdell Girls!

We were invited to help Bailey and Brooklyn Verdell celebrate their 4th and 2nd birthdays. The party was held at River City Gymnastics in Little Rock on Saturday, July 12th from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.  This was definitely our kind of place--big, open, and kids were encouraged to be crazy!! An added bonus for you was that your BFF, Drew, was also in attendance. You loved this place so much, we're going to have your birthday party there this year, too!!

There are three "sections" for play during the party--a pirate ship with a trampoline, pit of soft blocks, slides and climbing stuff; an "obstacle" course with gym stuff for you to climb on, over, etc. with a bouncy house; and a 40-foot in-ground trampoline that ends at a giant pit full of soft foam blocks!!

Here are a couple pics that I was able to capture--it was really hard to get any good ones because all of you were definitely on the move!!

Puzzle time

A couple of nights ago, I asked you to go pick up your room before bath & bed. I was busy getting Aiden to bed and when I walked down the hall, I found you and Dad putting puzzles together. It melted my heart, to say the least, because it's not often that Dad will do this sort of thing......

Happy Birthday, Paxton!!

On May 29th, we helped your friend Paxton celebrate his 3rd birthday at the Little Rock Zoo. We met everyone at the picnic tables at 10:15 that morning for some games and of course cupcakes & ice cream. An hour and a half later, we all entered the zoo and enjoyed a train ride (this was our first train ride there) and walked around looking at some of the animals. Thankfully, Mr. Brian (Drew's dad) was also there with Mrs. Martha & the boys and was a terrific set of extra hands to keep up with you since Dad wasn't able to make it to this party. We all decided to leave close to 1 but before we did, we enjoyed a ride on the carousel (thanks to Mrs. Carey, Max's mommy, for purchasing the tokens). Some of your friends that came were Drew, Whitman, Max, and of course, Paxton! I think one of your favorite highlights was getting to love on and hold Davis!!

Pizza Party

On May 15th, your class had a pizza party at Larry's Pizza on JFK. The purpose of this party was to reward you all for having sold the second most candy bars during the daycare's fundraiser earlier in the year. Not all of your classmates were able to make it, but those that were there included: James, Catie, Ryan, and Whitman. You guys got some game tokens from Mrs. Ellie and had a blast playing the games!! She even let you and Aiden bring home a couple of giant balloons she had bought for decorations--you got a butterfly and Aiden got a fish!  You had so much fun and getting to play with your friends on a non-school day was the icing on the cupcake (which you really enjoyed eating, too!).

Playdate with Taylor

On May 13th, we had a playdate with Taylor and her mommy Mrs. Lori at Hinson Park after school. We were having so much fun, we didn't leave until almost 3 hours later!! You three had such a great time playing on the slides & swings and for the most part, everyone behaved really well! We were hot & sweaty, tired, and hungry when we left but we had a really great time!!

Blastball

We decided to enroll you in a six week program at YMCA called Blastball, it's an intro to softball/baseball for ages 3-5 for boys & girls. You started on May 12th ( you were supposed to start on May 10th but it had rained too much and the field was too wet). You honestly wasn't too sure about it--there's a lot of waiting turns while the other kids hit the ball and/or catch the ball in the outfield. Your last practice is on Monday, June 14th and at this point in time, you've decided it's boring and you don't want to play again next year. For the most part, when you're in the outfield, you prefer to just sit in the dirt and play...when you're waiting your turn to bat, you would rather lay down.  When it is your turn to bat, you don't always connect with the ball--you've gotten a lot better, though!  You are a really great runner and like to run the bases and you can throw the ball decently. Here are some pics from the first practice.

Triangle

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed you were being really quiet and had your door closed so Aiden wouldn't bother you. I went in to check on you and I immediately started laughing when I opened the door to see what you were doing. You had taken a ton of your board books and had propped them open on the floor to make triangles....you said, "See, Mommy, triangles, just like Mrs. Ellie taught us!". I love watching how your brain works sometimes!! You sure make me a proud Mommy!!