Lola's Preschool Graduation

 It has taken me 3 weeks to get the courage up to look at these photos.  It was a wonderful day, my baby graduating from preschool.  I think I was more emotional on her last day in the classroom; I wanted to get it out of the way before the celebration.  

 Lola & her buddy Hudson

 Lola & Ava Grace, they have been in the same class the last 2 years.

 Lola, Ava Grace, & Abbie

 The boys, I think this is the only photo I took where Brantley is smiling!

 Then, you try & get them to take a photo with their mother, embarrassed by me already!

 Lola on stage, she wants to be a princess when she grows up.

 What a proud moment, I could not be more pleased with her.  I find myself trying to be more like her everyday.  Lola is so good, she is so kind, she has so much joy.  She is a faithful friend, full of love.  She is so gentle & patient (Mommy could work on that one), pure to the fullest.

 Once she came back to our seat, she decided the graduation tassel could also be used as a fancy earring.

 The girls

 Lola & Miss Gloria

 Grams & Gramps, Brantley was sticking his tongue out in every photo.

Family shot

Our Garden

Now that we have a yard big enough, we wanted to plant a garden this year.  With a suggestion from Gramps, we decided to use the square foot gardening method.  It's actually pretty easy and the book has great ideas about gardening, watering, composting, etc. 

 Here are Daddy & Lola making some measurements for the raised beds.  We made a 2x2 bed for the kids, & a larger 4x4 bed for the family.  

 Brantley was a mess on this particular afternoon.  He did a little more playing rather than helping...

 Sweet Lola Bear

Helping Daddy put the beds together.

 Being a complete mess.

 Lola helped measure the slats, she loved using the pencil to make marks. She had the pencil & sharpener on stand-by for when Daddy was ready.

 Getting rid of the grass inside the bed.

 Installing the weed barrier

 Brantley playing...

 & playing...

 Lola helped Daddy mix the soil, nutrients, & compost together.

 Once Brantley noticed she was playing with dirt, he had to get in on the action.

 He loved playing in this before we planted everything.

 Squaring off the individual feet.

 Lola planting her carrot & sunflowers seeds.  She also chose to plant cucumber.  All Brantley wanted to plant was corn, so we did.  It will be interesting to see if we grow any ears.

 Brantley continues to play...

 Muddy hands.

 Smoothing out the big bed.

 Last chance to stick your hands in the mud...

 While Daddy was finishing the beds, Lola helped me plant flowers for the front porch.

 I am not sure if you can see it, but we wrote out in pencil on the wood what was planted in each square.

 Ready for planting.

 Lola planting Brantley's corn, while...

 Brantley played!

 Watering the plants...

Ta-da, the finished product!  We planted marigolds, sunflowers, 2 kinds of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, okra, cucumber, peppers, corn, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, etc.  It was a super fun project for the family.  I can't wait to see what our little squares will produce.

Disney World, Day 5

 Day 5, our last day at Disney World.  We started off with breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.  This was by far my favorite character breakfast.  The food on the buffet was amazing, and let's just be honest, I LOVE Mary Poppins!  When she arrived at our table the kids were eating rice krispie treats with M&M's on top.  She was hilarious and question their breakfast nutrition & discussed their polite manners.   

 Lola & Winnie The Pooh, Brantley accidentally made the photo.

 Love this shot of Lola & Tigger.

 Lola & Alice

 Lola & The Mad Hatter

 An attempt at a family photo in front of Cinderella's Castle.  It actually turned out really good considering the crowd of people that were gathered around us.  I can't believe there is only one person walking by in the background.

 Lola with Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, & Drizella.  They are Cinderella's evil stepmother & stepsisters.

Brantley & Daddy taking one final spin on the carousel.  Overall we had an amazing trip, great weather, & everyone was healthy.  The kids had a blast and are still asking to go back to Disney on a daily basis.  Lola is so proud of her autograph/picture book.   She even took it to school for snack time show-n-tell.  Andrew & I were exhausted, but enjoyed the trip as much as they did.  I think we are all excited about the possibility of future Disney trips!

Disney World, Day 4

There are several different things that you will notice about day 4.  1) We are bundled up in jackets and long pants 2) There are not as many photos.  Day 4 was a great day, but it was a lot cooler and very windy (hence the jackets & less photos).  We started the morning off with breakfast at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort.  The food was amazing.  I had some type of shredded pork with poached eggs, so good.  It was not a character breakfast, but I highly recommend it.

After breakfast, we headed over to Magic Kingdom.  It was great having Uncle Nate, Aunt Kristen, & baby Bryce with us for the day.  These photos were taken riding The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.  

Lola was obsessed with the Chip & Dale characters.  She begged to go up on stage and dance with them.  Well, we didn't get her on stage, but here she is (green pants) doing a dance. 

 Brantley and his light up Buzz Light Year.  He loves this toy!

 Daddy and Brantley on the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was a great ride, almost like you were in an actual arcade game.

 Lola shooting a few bad guys...

 Once we got off the Buzz ride and walked through the Buzz gift shop to exit, of course Buzz was standing there.  The line was about 45 minutes to meet him, so we waited.  Brantley was not into many of the characters, but he really wanted to meet Buzz and push his buttons.  At first he was a little unsure.  Buzz is actually playing with his light up Buzz toy in this photo.  It was pretty funny!

 Brantley pushing Buzz's buttons.

B was not going to take the photo without out his Daddy.  As much as he loves Buzz, he totally didn't trust him.  That night we had originally planned to go to the Luau at The Polynesian.  But with temps in the 40's, we canceled dinner.  It worked out for the best.  The kids were tired and it gave us a few extra hours at the park.