a dream come true

So before Kerigan was born, I used to say that I was fine not having a girl, and doing all the girly princess things.  It didn't appeal to me at the time.  Andrew was my main focus, and I enjoyed the toys and characters that HE loved.  We often went out of our way for him to meet said characters, for example, making a trip back to the Mall of America on the way home when we had already been there the day before, just to see a Ninja Turtle.  Or seeking out the best and most efficient ways to meet Woody and Buzz at Disneyworld.  I always said the "boy" characters were the most fun (and please don't misunderstand, I am fully aware that girls can like Woody and Buzz too!)  I'm just sayin.  I didn't need the whole princess thing.

But I will be the first to admit.  I am eating those words now.

I am obsessed.

Perhaps it's because this little princess loves everything girly and princesses are... well... her most favorite things ever.

So we seek them out now.  There's this amazing little thing I never knew about called Little Princess Parties.  Simple idea.  They hire young girls to dress up like princesses.  They attend birthday parties, special events and fundraisers around town.  Genius!  Wish I had thought of it myself.

This is her face when it was her turn to meet Elsa.  She's completely enamored and I love how she's just soaking her in.

Cherry Berry (the whole Orange Leaf, Lemon Tree craze) had a fundraiser and Elsa was there.  We had to make the 35 minute drive.  Totally worth it.  My friend Angie and I took our girls and I think we had just as much fun!

Then we heard that Belle and Snow White were going to host a tea party at a "mansion" and tea room in a nearby town, and we had to get tickets!

Modeling her new Belle dress

Ashley and I took Kerigan and Lily and we had so much fun together too!  A tea party with princesses!?  Pretty hard to top that!  I kept saying it's the next best thing to Disney!

They only sold a certain amount of tickets to keep the group small, and it worked out perfectly because the girls really got a lot of attention.

Love this smile!

Cheers!

She was waiting for Belle and Snow White to come to our table...

Watching them and dreaming from across the room.  I can only imagine in her little mind, it's like a dream come true.

Belle told them all about Beast, and how he was back at the castle having lessons in manners!  Ha!

Mamas and daughters!

These two are just too precious for words.  And yes, Ashley and I purposely dressed them as opposite princesses.  We're smart like that.  Ha!  Oh, and don't you love how Lily is showing off her red fingernails??

Group photo!

Then they read the little girls a story.  It was such a special afternoon at the tea room!

Sometimes, dreams really do come true!

cousin celebration

A few weeks after we returned from our mini-spring break trip to Minneapolis, we headed back again for our nephew Jack's first communion.  My sister in law said we had a "pass" not to come since we had just been there, but honestly, like I told her- you certainly don't have to twist my arm to go to Minneapolis!  I get all giddy just driving into the city and seeing this sight!  Ha!  Plus we wanted to take part in the celebration.

Cousins!  It was hard to get a picture with them all looking and/or smiling.  Ha!  Jack was done with pictures and photo shoots!  This is a neat picture because it is 3 sets of brother/sister pairs, Craig and 2 of his brothers all had a boy and a girl.  

Our family with Jack, and apparently he couldn't keep his eyes open in any photos!  Ha!

Cousins Evelyn and Brooke- aren't they so sweet?

My little man and his sister

The boy cousins- there are only 3 of them out of 9 grandchildren!  And can you tell Andrew's favorite place to be is with his cousins?

Jack with his mom, dad and sister.  Love this sweet family!

We all went out to Broadway Pizza after the service.  Best.pizza.ever!  Plus the train that goes around the restaurant is a plus- the kids love it!

I was trying to take their picture when the train went by above them!

Craig photo-bombing our selfie!

Andrew thought it was the best thing in the world to have Evie and Jayden at the hotel with us too!  We all had a yummy breakfast the next morning and the kids all enjoyed making their own waffles!

The big kids all had gone swimming after we got back the night before, but it was too late for this little girl so she was thrilled to put on her suit in the morning and swim!

The kids had a blast in the pool together!

Hot tub time!

For some reason they were all obsessed with these brochures that were at the hotel.  They all wanted to pick them out and were reading the maps and playing with them!  So funny.

It was a rainy drive back.  Kerigan had remembered that she got muffins the last time we were here from Darlene and so this time when we went to their house on Sunday for lunch before we headed home, Kerigan whispered to me "Mom, Auntie Darlene has muffins!"  Ha!  So Darlene gave her a pack of them before we left and she thought it was the best thing in the world!  She crashed before she could finish them all!

Until next time... and we will be back because we LOVE Minneapolis!

more from Easter

On our way back from Grandpa and Grandma's we always stop at Ga Ga and Papa's for Easter dinner. The kids were so excited to see the bunny footprints!

Easter baskets from  Ga Ga!

She loved her snacks, shoes and play telephone!

Andrew could not have been more excited to get the Skylander he had been wanting more than anything!

Both kids got pajamas and they couldn't get them on fast enough!  I didn't even get a chance to take their pictures in their Easter outfits together because it was raining at Grandma's and they were in pajamas at Ga Ga's!  Ha!

I'm sure I'll be seeing this face many times in the future, along with her talking on the phone!

She was being so silly and funny and dancing!

The kids loved this old Easter set that my grandma made when I was a little girl.  The carrot holds all the bunnies and zips up.  It is one of those things I have memories of playing with and I love that my kids (especially Kerigan) loves it too!

Andrew acting like a purple minion!  Ha!

Ga Ga and Papa got a new homemade ice cream machine!  It is fast!  You just mix all the ingredients and it takes about a half hour before the ice cream is ready!  So fun!  The kids loved helping them make it.

Watching it mix up!  It was fun to keep checking on it every few minutes to see it freezing!

This girl has a new favorite thing- strawberries and ice cream!  She loves all fruit, but strawberries are her favorite.  She seriously eats them in bulk!  I think I refilled her dish 10 times.  She loves strawberry ice cream and shakes now too.  When we go through the drive thru we always have to get one.  Strawberry ice cream is Ga Ga's favorite too!

After Ga Ga and Papa's we made our way back home to see if the Easter bunny had come to our house.  The kids were so excited to see that he remembered to come even though we were at Grandma's that morning!

She loves her Ana and Elsa dolls!  And her Clover the bunny from Sofia the First.  He was the perfect "Easter" bunny for her basket!

More Skylanders!  Even a special "limited edition" springtime one the EB had made special (because you know, we never saw them in stores!)

Melt.my.heart.  A girl and her bunny.

Rockin her new Sofia shades and Pet Palace pj's! (3rd pj change of the day by the way).

Showing off his new Skylander loot!  The other day Kerigan was watching Toy Story on TV and I told him it used to be his favorite movie, he said "not anymore!" and informed us that he only likes Skylanders now.  Nice.  Our little man is growing up way.too.fast.

So I cheated and did a little "post" Easter photo shoot on a nicer day since the morning of Easter was rainy and by that afternoon the kids were already out of their outfits and into their new jammies!  So let's just pretend this was Easter morning, ok??

I cannot get this girl to look at the camera for anything.  She looks away like this on purpose, just to make me mad I think.  Ha!  She and I are going to butt heads someday I can just feel it!  She definitely has a mind of her own!

Feelin' the love!

Happy Easter!