happy birthday America!

hiya!
living in boston...any and all time i get with my family is super-de-duper special.  so the 4th of july this year was pretty amazing as i got to see soooo many wonderful people that i am lucky enough to call my family.
my grandparents all completely spoiled me!  plus, i got to see some of my great-grandparents, and play with lots of cousins & aunts/uncles...pretty perfect if you ask me!
i also got to go down a slip-n-slide for the first time...and if you are wondering if i liked it i will just say that every single time i went down it i yelled 'this is so fun!' at the end.  the only thing i didn't like was getting grass (even a single blade) on myself or my raft...so i kept uncle jojo very busy cleaning me off in between every run.  c'mon though...when you are a precision slip-n-slider like myself even a few blades of grass can throw off your run and make you lose precious seconds!  i just couldn't chance it.
i also got to fly in my very own plane seat for the first time.  everyone kept talking about how exciting it would be to have my own seat...but they were wrong.  the exciting part was having my own seat BELT!  for some reason nobody was grasping that this is what would be my favorite part (no idea why?!?).
thanks to everyone for such a super great weekend, and i can't wait to see you all again!
lots of love.

all set in my OWN seat with my very OWN seat belt!

slip-n-slide professional!
(do not attempt at home)

uh oh, i see a blade of grass on the bottom...
jojo!  help a girl out.

wheeeeeeeeeeee!

look at Maddie cheering us on...

rocking our patriotic attire!

whoa!  that's a big truck!

great-grandma Betty came to visit!

so special to get to see these two!

papa tickling me!

grandma pam, grandpa dave, and uncle brett came too!
what a lucky girl i am!

getting a lil' rest while watching mickey...

the fam!

papa Bill came too + i get to see him again in a couple weeks!

grandma & papa with 3 of their 5 grandkids!

watching the cows!

moooooooo cows, where are you?!?

me and maddie giving mama lots of love!

learning to 'play catch!'
if i could only figure out how this thing goes on!

cousin love!  aren't we sweet!

whoa...where have i been?!?

hiya!

so sorry for going missing for so long!  i have been a busy girl...
i took my first gymnastics class, celebrated fathers day with the best dada ever, and then got to spoil him again for his birthday a few days later (see video of me singing below...warning it is uber cute!)
me and buddy ben took gymnastics together, and lets just say we were the class misfits!  we enjoyed chasing eachother around the gym more than actually listening and doing gymnastics...but i will say i am pretty good at my somersaults and walking on the balance beam now...so all was not lost mama and dada!  i also proved yet again that i have no fear by hanging on the highest bar and dropping into the  foam pit, and running full speed off the trampoline time and time again.  BUT the best part was we got to get cookies after class...i mean tell this lil lady there is food involved and i am all in.
we just had a super duper fun trip to ohio where we got to see lots of family...so ill be back with that post in a few days and then i promise to be better about updates over the rest of the summer!
lots of love.

dada, on fathers day you don't even have to feed yourself...
see what a good daughter i am?!?

we raced down the slides...
just between us, i let him win

perfect slide form!
practice makes perfect.

looking for boats in the harbor!
happy dada's day to my most favorite guy in the world.

helping dada open some birthday presents!

i read all the cards first just to make sure he would enjoy them...
again could i be a better daughter?!?

the beautiful cake i decorated for him!
not a sprinkle left in our house.

me singing happy birthday!

learning how to do a somersault!

waiting for stamps after class...so hard to be patient!

celebrating making it through another week with cookies!

hippity hop...Easter has come and gone!

hiya!
this Easter was SO much fun!  i got to go to my first Easter Egg hunt (well not really a hunt, but more like 4,000 eggs laid out on a football field with hundreds of kids lined up waiting to run and get as many as possible)...and i loved it!  i had so much fun running with the other kids and i even got 11 eggs!  ummmm and did you know that they fill them with chocolate?!?  pure heaven...that is what that is.  i am officially a choco-holic, and now wake up telling mama and dada that 'i need chocolate' (not want but need).  they don't seem to believe me, but i will keep trying.
i also got to color easter eggs for the first time, and they turned out so pretty....until mama dropped them all!  i am gonna keep that one in my back pocket for the next time i break something...
then the Easter bunny came!  he brought me such amazing stuff and even hid 6 eggs with different shapes in the condo JUST LIKE ON MICKEY.  it is like he knows me personally...so even though i may not want to get within 20 feet of him in person i am really a fan of him now.
hope you all had a super fun Easter too!
lots of love!

arriving to my FIRST easter egg hunt!

scoping out my competition!

mama and i strategizing for the best approach!

ok, thanks mama...i got it!
on your mark...get set...GO REESEY GO!

checking out my loot!

woo hoo!  not too bad....ELEVEN eggs!

yea, this is definitely as close as i would even think about getting to him!
like him from afar but after Santa i think i will sit this one out.

Easter Bunny....i am keeping my eye on you!
no sneaking up on me!

and that's a wrap for my first easter egg hunt!
can't wait to do it again next year!

TRYINGGG to be very patient while mama and dada prep the Easter eggs!
(not my strong suit)

uhhh, dada i am pretty sure i can take this from here!
thanks for the lesson, but i am pretty quick learner...
what i got out of your tutorial is squeeze as much color as i can onto a single egg!  correct?

i wanted to RUB RUB RUB really hard to make sure the color soaked into the egg...
apparently that is NOT the right approach with eggs!  who knew?!?

ok, i think i am getting this now!

feeling confident in my craftiness!

finished product!
(BEFORE mama dropped them all...wonder where i get my clumsiness?!)

look what the Easter Bunny brought!

oh boy!!!
maybe that bunny is ok after all!

my note from my new friend!
see it doesn't take much (just chocolate) to get on my good side.

thanks grandma pam for my super great minnie basket!
you know what this girl loves.