Kate's Birthday/Anniversary/Father's Day

On Kate's actual birthday, June 1, we started off the day with donuts. My girls love them some donuts, so it is always a birthday treat to go get them. We were on our way to Legoland in Grapevine. We had the privilege to get to go with the Tate family to ride the new ride at Legoland. We had never been, so we were all excited! It was a blessing that it fell on Kate's birthday, too.

Isabelle and Kate waiting to go on the ride.

I wasn't sure how Kate would do on the car ride since they had to steer and push the pedal all by themselves. It took her a couple of minutes to get the hang of it, but she did it! She drove all by herself. I was so impressed!

We then walked around and looked at all the lego displays.

Kate and Carly in the Princess Lego area.

The girls enjoyed playing and building with the legos, too.

Kate loves Laci!

This was Kate's first 4D movie to go to. It was a short fifteen minute film inside of Legoland. It was so funny and cute to see her in her 3D glasses. I really was surprised she kept them on. I think having Laci beside her helped. She did not like it when they sprayed us with water. She would also block her hands in fear at some of the parts because she truly thought she was about to get hit. I loved it!

That evening we ordered pizza as a family, opened presents, watched some of the Sound of Music, and ate blondie brownies. Kate did a great job blowing out her candles.

This picture is hilarious, so I had to post it. Kate did this all by herself. This has been her favorite baby since she was one. It is a little beat up, but that does not bother Kate. Anyway, it cracked me up that she had it strapped in and had it's hands on the steering wheel. Love it!

We gave Kate these magna-tiles, Sound of Music DVD, and living caterpillars with a net so that she could watch them change into butterflies. That night as I was putting her to bed she said to me "Thank you for my birthday, Mommy." It was so sweet.

On June 8 Zack and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. Can you believe it? It has been a wonderful 10 years! My parents were very generous to keep our kids for the night, so that we could have an evening the two of us. Zack booked us a room at the Omni Hotel in Las Colinas, and reserved us a time to eat a nice dinner at Manuel's Creative Cuisine in Dallas. I highly recommend both places! Manuel's Creative Cuisine is very yummy! The decor is beautiful and the food is amazing. Manuel puts together the most amazing creations that are so delightful.

Our hotel provided these very yummy chocolate strawberries!We really enjoyed just having an evening together in a hotel. We slept in till about 10:00 am! Wow, it was awesome! The Omni Hotel has an awesome pool that we swam in twice while we were there. We really appreciated my parents giving us that special gift. We thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here is a look at the restaurant.

A look back at our wedding day 10 years ago. Zack, I love you even more than I did 10 years ago. Happy Anniversary!

On Saturday, June 16 Kamara and I did a joint birthday party for Kate and Aubrey. It was right in the middle of both girl's birthdays, so it worked out perfectly! We had to work really hard to reserve a pool three months in advance. We were so thankful that we were able to reserve a spot at Tom Mulenbeck Rec. Center. We reserved the whole pool, so it was just our party friends and family that were there. It was so nice! In order to reserve the pool it had to be after public swimming hours, so the party was from 6:30-8:30 pm. We told everybody to bring their own dinner and we provided water bottles, pretzels, candy, cake and popcicles.

Kate and Aubrey stayed together almost the whole time in their matching swim suits.

Carly showing you her swimsuit.

Carly taking a break with Mom Mom and eating some dinner.

Kate's friend Bethany from preschool and church.

They had a toddler pool and big pool with large slides. Here is the toddler pool. Kate's friend, Kopelynn, is on the left. Kate would talk about Kopelynn all year long in preschool. I was so glad she could make the party.

Carly loved getting to run back and forth at the toddler pool. We had just finished swimming lessons with Kate for two weeks and Carly would just sit with me and watch. She was so happy to have her swim time. All day she would go up to different family members and ask "You swim?" "I swim?" It was sometimes difficult keeping an eye on both girls while swimming, which is why we were not able to get more pictures. However, it was a lot of fun and everybody seemed to have a good time. I was so glad it all worked out!

Rod's parents and my parents.

Kate, Kinsley and Kyla. Two of Kate's friends from church and preschool.

Their birthday cake

Kate's friend Jolene from our small group and preschool

Passing out the birthday cake.

Sweet Justine

We did not get home till late since we had to clean up after the party ended at 8:30 pm.  Kamara and I  decided to wait to let the girl's open their presents so that we didn't limit everybody's swimming. So when we got home we let Kate open up a couple of presents before bed. She opened up a trunk of dress up clothes that my parents gave her. As you can see both girls enjoyed it! Carly has her earrings, shoes and purse ready to go.

It was such a treat to have Zack's parents and Lauren and her kids at our house for the weekend. It was a treasure to not only get to celebrate Kate's birthday but to celebrate Father's Day together. On Sunday, we let Kate open up the rest of her presents.

Carly's face when she says "cheese"

Kate loved opening her presents!

We gave Zack this special book as one of his Father's Day presents. It is called "When Dad's Don't Grow Up." It is the perfect book for Zack. It is a picture book showing how special Dads are that aren't afraid to act like a child with their kids. You are a wonderful Daddy, Zack. There is Carly's face again saying "Cheese."

Dad Dad got to open his presents, too. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful example as a Father and Grandfather. Happy Father's Day Dad Dad.

The butterflies were ready to fly away. It was perfect to have some cousins there to share in it with us.

Kate enjoyed trying to catch the butterflies after we released them.

Aunt Lauren and Uncle Jason gave Kate some birthday cash. I let her go to Target and pick out a couple of things with it. My girls always love the dollar section, so this was the perfect place to spend five dollars.

Kate wanted her very own basket.

Kate even got to pay for it all by herself.

Here were the five things that she chose: a bracelet, a cupcake cup, a fan, some lip gloss and I believe some cards or stickers. I loved seeing what she picked out. What a great variety! Kate, we love you oh so much. Every year I am amazed at how much you have grown. You have such a big heart! Your big smile has been the same since you first started to smile as a baby. It gravitates people towards you and brings them joy. You love your friends and family so much. We are so proud of you. You have taught us so much as parents in the past four years. Love you!

 

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day Weekend we went to my parents ranch in Ozona, Texas. We had not all been down there as a family in a really long time. It had been before kids for us, so this was our kids first time to experience "The Ranch" as we call it. My Dad has put a lot of time and effort to build this place up. As a late birthday present to him the whole Tate Clan drove there. It is not big enough for all of us to stay there(most places aren't), so we stayed in a hotel. The nephews and some of the brother in laws stayed at the ranch while the rest of us stayed at the hotel. Kate and Laci playing together.

Carly loved the bubbles!

Carly enjoyed four wheeling, too.

We got to eat lots of yummy food like nachos and hot dogs. It is too bad those foods aren't good for you. As you can see Carly sure did enjoy it!

Growing up my sister Lori always braided and french braided our hair. I never quite mastered this gift. Kate and Aubrey were thrilled for Aunt Lori to braid their hair. Kate was so proud of it afterwards. It made her seem so old to me. I guess I need to learn from my sister since I am going to  have three girls!

I love it!

Don't worry they were just playing on the four wheeler, not riding on it.

The girls enjoyed just playing and digging in the sand outside the ranch.

While we were there it just did not get very hot, but it still did not stop the children from wanting to swim. Zack and I went swimming the first night there and it was FREEZING! It seriously took my breath away. I tried to swim some laps to warm up and it just did not happen. Carly enjoyed splashing on the side.

It felt oh so nice just to sit out and sun bathe.

Close to our hotel there was a very fun playground. There were some features at this playground that you just don't see anymore, like a see saw. I don't think  it would have passed all safety features, but the kids loved it!

Papa, Isabelle and Breanne enjoying some time on the couch after breakfast.

 One of the biggest perks for the kids while we were there was the four wheeling. Zack took the liberty of taking a lot of the kids around, which he loved! Kate and Carly, but especially Kate loved four wheeling as you can see.

Another playground picture!

We had a great time just hanging out at the ranch. It was just fun to have all the Tate cousins together. They even entertained themselves just running around the ranch doing laps.

On our last night there we ate some yummy chicken fried steak at a restaurant by the hotel. Our family is so big they had to call in some back up workers!

The girls relaxing with their Daddy at the hotel. We still have not mastered sleeping in a hotel with our girls. We got the suite so that there would be some separation between our two areas, but it did not seem to help much. The girls would get so silly together. They did not fall asleep till after 10:00 pm both nights that we were there. They are going to have to get used to this since they will be sharing a room very soon!

It was fun to just splash in the pool instead of freezing inside it!

Carly giving Ryleigh a kiss.

Mom, Dad and all the Tate cousins.

My new favorite picture of Kate and Aubrey. I am so glad Kamara was able to capture it!

If you know Carly you are familiar with this face. That is her shy face and I just want to stay with Mommy.

Kate, Isabelle and Aubrey. These girls are growing up!

This table brings back so many memories. My parents would take this table every time we went camping growing up, which was often. It was neat to now see the next generation sitting and eating lunch on it.

Inside the ranch hanging out.

The Dining Area

The front of the Ranch with Dad.

Carly and Aubrey hanging out by the pool.

Mom and Dad eating some dessert at the restaurant.

Kamara, me and Keari

Michael, Rod and Zack