Lucky Day at the Zoo

Besides five rounds on Mollies fav, the carousel, we had an all-star day at the Madison Zoo because every single animal decided to perform for us!



While mama grizzly looked on, baby went for a swim. Mollie was fascinated.
Even polar came out of his cave to greet us.
Then Mollie got us laughing imitating the big guy.

The highlight was the lion family that included a new baby cub. It was so much fun to watch him roll and prance around and tease his parents.

Grandma and Grandpa, thanks for another amazing trip full of wonderful memories and costumes! We miss you!

The Wolf

The hunt for the dress led us to even better treasures. Before we even found the dress, Mollie reached into a basket and pulled out a wolf that she had to have. While I was busy thinking "what would we ever do with that", I saw her put it on and knew she was right, we had to have it!It became staple #2 of the trip and has been worn every day since we returned. Seeing her prance around flashing her claws and hearing the "roar" are the best.

Day #1, wolf + beautiful dress = uniform

"Roar anne"

Day #2, uniform while playing the piano

Day #3, uniform at the capitol square

Day #4 uniform at Grandma and Grandpa's, showing off her acting skills for everyone who stopped by.

This is the best purchase we've ever made!

Madison - the hunt for the beautiful dress

Thanks to Auntie Babs, we found the beautiful dress first thing on Friday morning at a wonderful neighborhood garage sale (and lots of other loot). As you can tell by these pictures, it didn't come off for the rest of the trip! Luckily, we were able to convince her to take it off for naps (so we could wash it), but otherwise it was a staple of the trip.

In addition to a Cinco de Mayo party and dinner date with Grandpa, and a petting zoo with Grandma and Grandpa, here are some other places she sported her dress (which drew lots of attention!)

Farmer's Market - big decision...

good choice!

The balloon man made her a sword (yes, such a girlie choice) then showed off his juggling

In the tulips at the capitol.

And of course on a very special Mother's Day where we celebrated by dancing to Mollie's favorite... live Irish music!

What a wonderful blessing it is to be your mother. I love you Mollie Laine. You light up my life!

When we left Madison, Mollie gave her dress a big hug and kiss goodbye. She will surely be counting down the days until she walks back through your door and can jump back in the beautiful dress.

Welcome to Madison

Mollie is here!

We arrived in Madison and Mollie took off right where we left off. She was pounding on the piano, rocking in her baby's cradle, running down the hall and playing on the elevator, but most importantly, she wanted her "beautiful dress" (which was previously introduced in Madison, but had made it's way back to Dallas). She did not forget a single detail of Grandma and Grandpa's house... what that meant, is we had to find her a beautiful dress!

Daddy's Away

Mollie sure has had a wonderful weekend while Daddy is out of town with the boys.

She spent Friday night at a slumber party at Nana and Papa's. They enjoyed kids night out and came home with huge smiles and tattoos to show for it! Thanks Nana and Papa!
Then on Saturday, she had some girl time with Mommy doing arts and crafts at the toy store, shopping and going out to lunch. For Mommy, the highlight was her wonderfully crafted bumble bee, for Mollie it was the cookie with sprinkles from lunch.

Then we had some princess time with her girlfriends that started out quietly, but quickly turned into a rock band! It was awesome to watch!

There actually was a point when all three girls were playing and singing together (hilarious), but we weren't lucky enough to capture it on film. Here is the best we have...

Miss you Daddy. We survived without you but are excited for you to come home!

Double Digits!

Only 99 days until...

1. We find out if we have a Patrick or Kendall.

2. Mollie finally fills her role as a helper and big sister.

3. We get to meet and snuggle the next addition to our family.

4. Charlie will have someone to guard in the crib that he has been sleeping next to every night.

Time can't go quickly enough. Cannot wait!

Easter Sunday

A great family day full of cousins, candy and charades (!?)

Mollie started the day with a big find from the Easter Bunny.

Then after church had our big hunt, some egg dying, a dance party, some QT with Aunt Meghan and Uncle Tyler, and last but not least, some animal charades. Alleluia! We are so very blessed.