Pirate or Princess?

Tonight, one of our local Chick Fil-As was having a "Pirate and Princess" night. Seeing as how both girls love princesses, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Kate and Lauren both opted for the "princess" face painting (rather than the pirate). As always, they each selected their favorite color as the main focus in the design.

The girls also came home adorned with tattoos and glitter stars on their hands and cheeks. Plus, we have keepsake photos, courtesy of Chick Fil-A, with both the princess and the pirate cow. (Even Dad got in on the action!)

Easter Activities

This past weekend was consumed with various Easter activities! The first event was Saturday at our church's annual Easter Eggstravaganza. The girls enjoyed singing songs, making a craft, playing games and searching for eggs. As you can see from the pictures, our girls displayed a little egg discrimnation...Kate searched for purple eggs and Lauren pink.

After the festivities we headed to Trader Joe's for a few needed items, only to spot the Easter bunny outside the Hallmark store in the plaza. The girls posed for a picture and graciously received "bunny corn" from the furry friend.

Easter morning we attended a beautiful service at church in which the girls wore their Easter dresses, compliments of Grampy and Grammy. We tried desperately to get a family shot after church, but as you can see, one of the family members didn't cooperate as well. I guess smiles aren't everything.

The day ended with a delicious dinner at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's as well as an Easter Egg Hunt orchestrated by Grandma Kathy (Patrick's mom). The kids ran around the house in search of hidden eggs and gifts. Both girls were exhausted by the end of the day and fell asleep in the car on the way home. However, they continue to play with their bunny ears, baskets, and plastic eggs...until mom puts everything away for the season.

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

A couple of weeks ago, Kate's preschool had a hoedown for the 4-year-old classes. The days prior to the event, the kids created belt buckles, vests, bandannas, and horses to wear and ride at the hoedown. They sang songs by the "campfire," ate trail mix and played games. Kate had a blast and talked about it for days. We even have her horse, Emily, at our house. Luckily the horse doesn't eat too much hay.

Enjoy the picture of Kate with two of her friends!

Family Fun

Mark has been tracked out for the past couple of weeks and returns to work on Thursday. We decided to take advantage of our family time and headed out last week for a fun-filled day. Our first stop was the Hurricanes practice. We arrived at 11am to find out the practice had been pushed to 11:30. Luckily our girls found ways to amuse themselves for a 1/2 hour. It's amazing how much fun steps can be!

We finally got inside the arena and enjoyed watching the players skate around the rink, practice drills, and take shots at the goal. Kate and Lauren had fun sampling various seats. Kate typically chose seat #4 on each row since that's her age.

After the practice, we grabbed some lunch and headed to Pullen Park for a family picnic. Once full, the girls and I took a ride on the Carousel. Both girls selected ostriches as their animal of choice. We went around SEVERAL times due to the slow season. Next stop...the playground.

We tried out both the yellow and blue slides. Kate's method was usually facing forward. Lauren prefers going feet first on her belly. Whatever makes it fun!

The day ended with a walk through the park picking flowers and making bouquets to take home. We had a wonderful time as a family and look forward to our next outing! Enjoy!

Chopsticks aren't just for Chinese food anymore!

A couple of weeks ago, Mark and I got take out from P.F. Chang's. They included 2 sets of chopsticks which we chose not to use. The girls, however, found them very useful for eating their penne pasta...their own special way. Chopsticks fit perfectly through the noodles!

The Next Mia Hamm?

Kate had her first soccer game this past weekend. This is her first season playing soccer and she seems to enjoy the game so far. We just have one minor problem...she doesn't see the importance of kicking the ball during the game. (She does kick her ball during practice.) She is more than happy to run with the pack, but is very polite and lets anyone around her kick the ball first! So, looks like we have a few things to learn about the game in the upcoming weeks.

She may not be the next Mia Hamm, but she sure looks cute in her soccer attire! (Photos courtesy of Ryan Gilmore Photography)

Tiny Dancer

Lauren completed her first round of dance classes a couple of weeks ago. She absolutely loved every minute of them! She ran down the long hallway to the room, patiently waited for me to slip on her ballet slippers and than ran to the circle to find her place of choice. Although she didn't always do exactly what the teacher was doing, she did create some of her own moves, trying to be as graceful as possible.

We start another round of classes in March. Perhaps a star is born!