lily and the zoo

kevin had monday off work for a spring holiday (alas, i had to go to work) and took lily to the zoo.  they had a blast, and my phone was blowing up with photos of all the fun they had.  lily has the zoo mapped out, knows what she wants to see and do, where she usually has a snack, that we take a photo in front of the giraffes for aunt kerry.  

traditional giraffe photo for aunt kerry. this time she posed herself.
also, it should be noted that she chose her clothes and dressed herself while kevin was in the shower.
she has sort of a cindy lauper look happening.  i guess the '80s are back. maybe they never left? who knows.

brushing the goats

playing on the insect playground

aren't my people adorable?!

lots to see from the train

the fire truck is always a favorite

learning to fly. like a boss.

saturday is a busy day...

our backyard was a jungle, so saturday was dedicated
to weeding, mowing, and tidying up.

lily helped with all the yard work

and then played in the sprinklers when we were all done.
she's a big fan anytime she gets to put her swimsuit on and
"go swimming."

kevin & i celebrated six years of marriage with a fancy dinner out.
and because we had a babysitter, went shopping without distractions.
i know...we're boring. 

and this cute munchkin steals our hearts over and over. every day.

happy easter!

we had a very quiet easter weekend.  we introduced lily to the art of dying easter eggs, and on sunday the easter bunny stopped by with an easter basket for lily and hid the eggs we had dyed and a few candy-filled plastic ones.  lily had a blast running around the backyard and finding all the eggs.  

it was nice to have a quiet weekend, to reflect upon the gift of Christ's atonement and resurrection.  i know that because He rose on the third day, and lives again, that i can also live again; that i have the opportunity to have my family for eternity.  i am incredibly grateful for that gift, and am grateful for the easter weekend that allows me to more fully reflect upon it.

i have so much fun with my little tribe

only the best in egg-hunting fashion for miss lily bean

easter dress and a goofy grin.  

jokes by lily

lily has been developing and discovering her own little brand of humor lately.  it is usually pretty random and funny only to her (kevin and i are in the amused bafflement category), but she has come up with a couple gems that made me LOL for real.  read on for the ticklement of your funny bone.

1) backstory: we have two cats; sirius and jasmine

mama (to lily about something she had said or done): are you serious?
lily: no, i'm jasmine!

2)
lily: why did the chicken cross the road?
mama: why?
lily: to get to the other side!  why did the cat cross the road?
mama: why?
lily: to get to the other side! why did the mouse cross the road?
mama: why?
lily: to get away from the cat and the chicken!

tulips!

lily & i met up with vanessa, ren, & soren this afternoon at dutch hollow tulip farm for a little picnic, wandering amongst the tulips & picking some, and viewing the animals at the farm.  the tulips are gorgeous; there are so many colors and varieties.  i wanted to take one of each (at least!) home.  buuuut, i don't have the budget for that many flowers, nor do i have enough vases or surface space.  i did come home from the tulip farm with a few bunches.  it was a wonderful afternoon and i cannot wait to go back.

sweet dreams

she climbed up on the chair with me, put her head on my shoulder, and fell asleep.  sweetest thing ever.  i really love this little girl.

grandma tour {2016}

we took our annual round-trip to visit my grandma (lily's gg) in chico and kevin's grandma helen (lily's great-granny) in nevada city.  we explored historic nevada city for a bit while we were there, and lily was an angel the whole trip.  she saw her gg, great-granny, and spent the night in a hotel.  it was a great couple days for her.

so many rides with gg on her scooter.
up the ramp. down the ramp. over and over and over.

enthralled with a bucket of peanuts.

falling asleep watching bambi in the hotel.

playdate!

robb & vanessa dropped our favorite boys off for an afternoon of fun while they went to the oakland temple.  lily was loving life and had so much fun with ren.  he's her boy bff and they play so well together.  soren is getting so big and wants to play with the big kids so badly.  maybe next year he'll be old enough/big enough to keep up with lily & ren, and they will let him play with them. 

chalk art in the driveway

"let's snuggle on the big chair!"

lily loves soren

goal!!!

we signed lily up for soccer this year and she has been doing really well.  each practice, the coach divides the kids into two teams to have them play a little game.  things seemed to click for lily this week, and she was pretty ruthless about getting the ball and running down to her teams goal.  her team had five goals, and four of them were lily's.  she's the only girl and one of the youngest, so i was pretty proud of her.  watching lily grow and develop as a little human and obtaining new skills is just so fun.  i love it.

princess ballet

the byu traveling ballet company put on a show entitled "fairy tales & fantasy."  it was snippets from a variety of fairy tale ballets and so amazing.  during intermission, the kids were invited up on stage to dance with the troupe.  lily was so enraptured the entire time.  it made my heart sing to see her loving something i love so much.  we went with some friends and just had the best time. 

i'll be honest, this evening was everything i could have hoped for and more.  i can't wait to do this again.

dance party before the show starts

silly fun at dinner before the show

enraptured by what is happening on the stage.
she was so good the whole time.  

dancing on stage during intermission

meet and greet with the ballerinas