It's My Birthday, and I'm Three!

I felt sorry for Connor in August when I realized that her actual birthday was on Labor day this year.  I figured we would probably have some sort of crazy plans that weekend and an actual birthday party for friends would be hard to have because of the long weekend.

Well, little did I know that by having a birthday over the holiday means that you get to have your birthday EVERY day until the last party is over.

This started on August 31, when we had scheduled to take cupcakes to Connor's old class at preschool.  She would be moving to her new class after Labor Day, so this would be the only time to really celebrate with her old friends, the Butterflies.  We took Aunt Barb's cookie-pops (a daycare favorite, btw). Connor marched into her class that day and announced..."I AM THREE AND I'M GOING TO BE A HONEYBEE!"

On Monday Connor woke up and came to my side to wake me, and whispered (as well as a three-year-old does) "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND I'M THREE!"   How could I not smile at that?!  Cute little bug.  We celebrated with my side of extended family at my parent's house with swimming and eating Connor's favorite foods.  Did I mention Connor's favorite foods are Salad and Shrimp?  So we had make-your-own shish kabobs and a salad bar.


How Many?



Tuesday was her first day in the Honeybee class at school....and Connor woke up and came to my side, whispering (again like a three-year-old) "I AM A HONEYBEE TODAY!"  Ahh, so excited.  Too bad it was 4:45 am.

Wednesday was low key, we must have been tired from the previous day.

Thursday evening, Andy's family came over for dinner and to celebrate Connor's birthday again.  When I picked her up from school I reminded her of what was happening that evening, and she proudly exclaimed "BECAUSE IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND I'M THREE!"  Yes, Connor bug. Yes you are.



Sunday we had one. more. party.  Just a kid/friend party at a place downtown that has a climbing structure and jumping pillow, play room etc. TONS of fun for the kids.  Crazy time for us.

The three Amigos.

We got to play with a PARACHUTE!

Does this look crazy to you?

Oh, does this?! 

OK...how about when I handed out the cupcakes only to take them back because Connor hadn't blown out her candles yet.  Oops.

All's well that ends in sweets...

Yes, the party was Dora themed.  The gift bags were 'backpack'!

Aargh!

Let's Do This

Shoot. I failed on the August goal.  And here it is already September 21, and I haven't posted a darn thing.  I've got LOTS to post.  Just also have a lot going on.  But I'll try....let's start with....PENNY

Did I mention we got a cat?!  I work with a guy who lives on a 'farm' with his wife and 9 and counting kids.  That's right, 9.5 kids right now.  Can you imagine? Anywho, they had kittens and he was trying to pawn them off on people. OF course I gave in. OF course Andy objected at first.  OF course we all love our new kitten!

She hung out in my office for a day (the transfer day).

Taylor picked the name Penny based on the girl from Inspector Gadget.

Very first day. 

We've worked on not touching the tail area quite so much. When they watched her go to the bathroom once, that helped.

Day 1 for Connor was rough. She was not a fan.

She got a little closer - and was ok as long as one hand was on somebody.

Day 2.  All that tentativeness was out the window.

Awww..Penny!

There's the tail touch again.

Penny decided to chase Connor.  Connor was not a big fan of that.

Everybody smile. Stop trying to choke her.  

Extra love.

Even more love.

Penny probably wishes Connor would go back to her day one opinion.

Did not expect that she would climb under the window seal outside. Little creepy.

Yeah, that reeeeally looks like a happy cat.

Penny really likes Taylor. She's a little less 'loving'.

Vacation!

We spent a few days at a family friends' cabin in Pitkin, Colorado.  When it was 107 in Kansas, we arrived at the Lucky Dog Lodge to highs of 78.  Andy was in heaven.  In fact, he's ready to start looking for jobs in Colorado Springs ;)

The girls had their first experience on four-wheelers, and I have to admit - those things were fun.  Four-wheeling up to the Alpine Tunnel and to Cumberland Pass  were great adventures.

 The view from the deck at the Lucky Dog Lodge.  (Seriously, this cabin is nicer than our house. It's nice to have family friends like this!)

Ready to go! She would ride behind Andy on this big one, strapped in with a bungee cord.  And she fell asleep on each trip back down the mountain.  Incredible...she won't sleep through the flipping night, but she can sleep through a washed-out & rocky road, loud and bumpy four-wheeler ride.

Taylor rode with my Dad on the other big 4-wheeler.  They were good partners.  He said she would talk most of the trip.

Yep, we were up that high. The air is cold that high!

Ready to go on our longest day trip to Pitkin.  

Les Cousins

Heidi and Jeremy went to Europe for some cool stuff that Jeremy's music was involved in.  I'll leave the details to Heidi because I know she'll be blogging about it soon (Ha!  YES...Snarky jab at the sister-in-law....FTW!)  Anywho, that meant that Kaleb and Anya got to stay with GG and Papa Tom for a while.  We met them in KC for a free dinosaur exhibit and we also went to Union Station and saw a whole bunch of model trains.  Good times.

Sisters, sisters..

Nice goggles you two...

She definitely looks at the world a different way (please also note her beads which were a must-have accessory for the day)

Kaleb & Taylor really do enjoy hanging out with each other, we should do that more often.

Anya & Kaleb in some sort of tunnel thing, where the lights were strange and Kaleb is looking oddly 'Zuul'-like.

If you are counting, that's 2 for July.  

Oops!

I did it again.  (Yes, homage to the Britney of 2001)  I completely missed my goal of 2 posts a month for June.  And I'm about to do it again in July.  Good thing I have lots of things to say!

This post: St. John's Mexican Fiesta - 2012

We love going to our church's annual fiesta fundraiser.  It's usually 1000 degrees and that just makes the homemade Mexican food, live mariachi bands, and cold beer better.  They also have a little carnival, but the girls aren't really ever interested in waiting in the lines.  This year, they spotted cotton candy and we thought - eh, what the heck?  Personally, I cannot stand the stuff - but my sweets queen, you know she loved it.

Can't you just feel the sugar rush setting in (and the looming crash)?

It's as big as I am!

So on this outing, we learned:

1) Taylor loves Cotton Candy (wow - shocking)

2) Connor can do without Cotton Candy, but she loves salsa (again...shocked)

and 

3) These girls should not wear dresses without shorts underneath them to parks