lily lately

lounging on a sunny, spring day.
with milk and strawberries, of course.

lily, ren, and soren.
these three are such good buddies and i love it!

mismatched shoes are the latest in travel fashion.

pretty in purple and ready for the day.

i don't get kids, sometimes.

"mama, i'm ready."
what i heard while i was in another room.
what i found when i walked out to see what she was ready for.

the force is strong is this one.

she's wild, crazy, and all mine.
i'm grateful to be her mama.

my brother ben was discharged from the army on april 8th, so he flew home for a week, went down to my grandma's, then swooped over to see us before flying off to la before going down to san diego to start school this summer.  my parents brought ben out, so we had a fun little weekend with them.  my dad's birthday is this week, so we had an early birthday party (i mean really, any excuse for dessert. and lily loves to celebrate birthdays).

happy (early) birthday, dad!

kevin has a friend with a plane, so we went to the
livermore airport to check it out.

uncle benny and his favorite niece!

lily really had a good time with ben, and is going to miss him terribly.
come back and visit soon, benny!

all dressed up and ready for our walk to church.
she's a girl who loves her accessories!

spring wildflower festival

sunol regional park had a spring wildflower festival on saturday.  it was kind of a wet day, which made for a less crowded event.  you paid $5 to park, and everything else was free.  it was such a lovely day and so much fun.  i can't wait to do this every year. 

starting our nature walk; meandering in the meadow.

learning all about the wildflowers in the meadow.

one of the free activities: building a bee house

another activity: making a flower crown.
be still my heart! she was so cute with flowers in her hair.

lily had a sleepover with her little buddy ren this weekend.  we picked him up friday morning and had him with us until friday evening.  he and lily had such a good time with each other.  i really wish the thurmonds lived closer to us. 

practicing their prom pose

building butterfly houses at the home depot kid workshop

the finished butterfly houses.

bakers extraordinaire! 

sharing secrets in their fort

they had so much fun they fell asleep on our drive to drop ren off with vanessa.

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.