Hanging with Dad

Father's Day was not that different from almost everyday... hanging out and having fun with dad is something Kelly gets to do a lot!

Like....

Watching some cartoons and slowly waking up together in the morning...

Sharing a nice Father's day gift & card (signed & decorated by Kelly herself)...

Reading together with her new LeapFrog Tag reader....

And their favorite - playing at the beach!

Baby got BANGS!

Ok, so mommy finally got tired of battling Kelly every morning to not only brush her hair, but also do something to get hair out of her face - barettes usually fell out half-way thru the day and were lost. I could usually only manage to get one small band in to hold back just the top/front hair. Getting one big ponytail or two side ones required way too much brushing. Braids have for the most part been completely out. This was long overdue as I had never really cut her hair ever since she was born (other than clipping that last piece off when all her hair fell out at 6 months and some slight straightening of her natural bangs when she was 1-1/2.).

So although I had been thinking about doing this for a long time (and threatening her endlessly as she would run from me screaming when I took out the brush in the morning), the fact that her hair was so long and so pretty and had never been cut - ever - had been making this decision VERY hard for me!

I finally convinced myself (with lots of encouragement from Nana) that not only would bangs be practical, i.e. that it would make for less brushing & fussing, but that they would also look REALLY cute on her...

Well,...I think I was RIGHT! MUCH better!

But, wow, look at how long that piece was!

Scary! And yep, that's going in the "baby" book!

Celebrating "4" at the Happiest Place on Earth!

On Kelly's actual 4th birthday, Tuesday June 9th, we went to...DISNEYLAND! Mommy had been planning this adventure for some time. Daddy unfortunately was not able to take off work, so we invited my good friend Traci, her three kids, JP, Delanie and Hannah, and her friend Dee-dee also came along. We headed up early, and we were parked and heading through the main gates just a few minutes past when they opened at 10am, ready for a fun-filled day!

The lady at the entrance gave Kelly a big button to wear that had her name on it and said, "It's my Birthday!". She wore it proudly and all day long people were saying "Happy Birthday Kelly!"
As soon as we were in and making our way down Main St., we spotted Mickey & Minnie strolling around. Kelly was soooo excited to see them and got to visit and get a picture with Minnie, which was definitely one of the best highlights of her day!

We ran into one of the many gift stores and bought her a Disneyland autograph book/photo album and Minnie Mouse pen so that we could get autographs from other characters we might meet along the way and put their picture next to it. While in the store, Kelly oohed and aahed all the toys and gifts, especially a baby Minnie Mouse doll. I promised her that at the end of the day, on our way out, she could pick out a souvenir that I would buy for her birthday as a memory from the day. Thankfully she seemed satisfied with my promise, and off we went!

We explored FantasyLand first, and tried out many of the rides. This was pretty much Kelly's first time with rides, so I wasn't sure how she'd handle it. Other than the total darkness in some parts of rides like Alice & Wonderland, she did not seem at all afraid and was all pumped up along with the other kids when they got off. Traci's kids were "old pros" at Disneyland and all the rides as they visit all the time, including Hannah, who is a few months younger than Kelly. So I just went with the flow and figured Kelly would like whatever they wanted to go on. So when we headed into FrontierLand, although I was a little hesitant, I went ahead and took her on Thunder Railroad, her first REAL roller coaster ride. Even mommy is not a big roller coaster fan, but I didn't want to spoil her fun, so I put on a brave excited face :-)' Well, I think she was probably pretty scared since she was screaming and clinging to me the whole time (or was that me? I dunno, those rides are such a blur!), so when the ride stopped and I saw her face, which was in that state of deer-in-headlights shock, but about to change in reactioin to what she had just experienced, I acted quickly and immediately high-fived her and shouted, "OH wasn't that GREAT!!! How FUN Kelly, wasn't that FUN!!!" She saw the other kids were whooping with glee, and although she continued to give me that half-look of surprise for a while... she starting smiling and whooping it up with everyone else. WHEW! So, we continued with the roller-coasters and soon after went on Splash Mountain. Traci is the absolute most organized parent to go anywhere with - she thinks of EVERYTHING! So of course we all had rain ponchos to minimize the soaking that we got!

After that, whenever we got in line for a ride she started asking me, "mommy, is this a fast ride?" and then, firmly, "I don't want to go on anymore fast ones." I decided I'd better not push it and traumatize her on her first visit, so we stuck to the "slow" rides after that. Matterhorn & Space Mountain would have to wait.

She got to meet and visit with a lot of the Disney characters and get their autographs in her special book. First, she visited with Chip & Dale in their little wood cottage and colored together.

Then she had a nice little chat with Pooh bear.

And was just thrilled to cuddle with Eeyore and Tigger!

It was later in the afternoon by the time we got over the area where the Princesses hung out, and by that time there was a 2+ hour wait in line to visit them. Although we had been hyping up the fact that she would get to see them, I decided to skip it so we could continue exploring the park vs. wasting that much time in line. I was worried that Kelly would be upset, but fortunately, I think she truly was just enjoying everything else that we were doing that she didn't seem to give it a second thought. Again, WHEW! Next time, we'll go do that FIRST before the line gets too long!

We finally made our way over to one of my favorite rides, "It's a Small World", and the look on her face just said it all - she was absolutely mesmerized. By the end of it, she was clapping along as we were all singing that familiar song.

Next we spent quite a bit of time in Toon Town, which is perfect for her age - everything is just their size, including Goofy, Minnie & Mickey's houses.

Traci headed over early to get us a great spot for the parade. While we waited, we munched on snacks and drinks that we brought along with us - we managed not to by a single food item or drink the entire day!

I think we were all starting to get a little punchy and silly by this time, but all things considered, the kids were all pretty well-behaved, got along great and had such a good time playing together.

When the parade music started, Kelly couldn't sit still, she had to DANCE!

WOW! Look how close we were to it all - Kelly thought she was the star and ran over to jump up on the float a couple times. Luckily one of the dancing gals was able to grab her in time!

After the parade, we explored TomorrowLand and about 10pm headed toward Main Street and the exit. As we passed the stores, Kelly reminded me of my promise to buy her a souvenir (she has a very keen memory!)

We entered the same store we had gone in to get her autograph book and she walked in and went straight over to that baby Minnie. She had decided on that at the beginning of the day and that is what she still wanted, so baby Minnie was hers. I also had to "christen" her with "ears" - the pink ones that say "Princess", and have a tiara and veil attached, topped with her name embroidered on the back. Oh yeah!

We had a truly wonderful, magical, unforgettable day!

She was so wound up that we were more than half-way home before she finally tuckered out, ears on and clinging to her baby Minnie the whole way.

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY my little Princess!

B'day Party for Nana & Kelly

Since Nana & Kelly's birthdays are just 3 days apart, we've started somewhat of a tradition by having them share one big family birthday celebration together. Kelly turned 4 years old and Nana turned 39 again! :-) This year we gathered at Nana & Papa's with Uncle Johnny, Great-Gma Babcock (GGB), Great-Gma Verna (GGV), Cousin Gina and Aunt Maurine, Auntie Vivian, and Grandad Don. Kelly got so many nice presents - books, games, dresses, DVD - she is sooo blessed!

This year, we went with a princess theme. We've introduced her to almost all of the Disney princesses through books or movies, but her favorite at the moment has been sleeping beauty/Aurora. So Nana surprised Kelly with an special Aurora cake-ette!

Nana and Kelly made their wishes and blew out the candles on the cake together.

Here she is trying on one of her new birthday sundresses and dancing around with her little princess balloon (and on some serious sugar!). It was a fun-filled day and we look forward to many more birthday parties for Nana & Kelly!

Oh, a little p.s./side note...My dad was sitting out on the patio and Kelly was playing in the yard later that afternoon. He told me that she went out to the edge of the yard where they have some little fairy garden statues and quietly sang happy birthday to one of them. Guess it was their birthday too! Anyway, he said it was just one of those precious moments that he got to witness that touched him. He & Kelly share a special affection for those fairy statues, and he swears they are good luck or at least provide some sort of positive aura for the house... maybe there's something to that. Perhaps Kelly knows that too.