Just Another Week in Paradise :)

Mama has been crazy busy in my down time, and busy during the daytime with my little loves, so I'm just now getting caught up on the fun that we had the last week of June! :)

Little brother wants to eat so badly. (More on that later.) He looks at us with these big, sad eyes, and then he tries to reach for any food or drink that he can get! So, we decided to give him mum mums! They were a huge hit! :)

Once he sees them, he cannot contain himself. He goes bananas until he gets in in his hands, and then he goes straight to eating it! :)

Of course, I quickly learned that just a diaper is our best route with the mum mums! :)

This came up on my phone this other day as this day four years ago! I can't believe how little she was! I love this stage, but there are many things about her little self that I miss! This was her first plane ride! We were headed to Vancouver to board a boat for our Smith Family Cruise to Alaska! We had been up since 3:30 AM, and she was still going strong! :)

That Monday, I was feeling brave, and I took my three to meet up with some friends at the local splash pad! We had some cloud cover, so it wasn't super hot yet, and my three were excellent! I was so proud of them (and me)! :)  Little brother lounged in the shade of the double stroller for awhile and just played with his toy!

Avaree immediately started playing!

She's so brave! 

Felicity sat with me for about 30 minutes, and then she just warmed up all of a sudden, and she started playing in the water like she had been doing it her whole life!

Brave girl!

She was SO cute running through the water!

:)

Both girls also wanted to just sit/stand in the little circle that spouted water! 

Do you spy them both? They had big smiles on their faces when the water stopped!

See? :)

Look at this face!!! :)

We had a great time at the little splash park! I love living in a place that has so many fun and free activities for kiddos! :) These are my favorite shots from the day! I was so proud of the kiddos! 

I love this one too! She's slowly coming out of her shell (once she feels safe), and it is so much fun to watch!

The next day, we invited Mrs. Holly, Kendall and Wesley to go to the museum with us! We love our passes! We started out in the craft room! Ave and Kendall made paper flowers! :) 

The girls were enamored with the wind tunnel!! 

Felicity's favorite is always the ball!!!

Everyone loved it!

Avaree and Kendall had a ball! 

Holly and I gave in and each put in a dollar for our big girls to get in the hurricane force winds simulation! Avaree begs to do this EVERY time that we go, and she's never done it before. 

They had a BLAST. You could hear them squealing from the front door, i'm sure! :) 73 mph!!!

We made it though the museum, and after naps when we got home, Felicity built us a tower! She's really into building with her blocks and legos right now!

That night, I snuck away to Target by myself for 30 minutes. It was glorious. I sent this picture to Brandon! Check out all my gray hair! ;) 

This was my first time to get away by myself since Brandt was born! 

That next morning (Wednesday), we went to downtown Arlington and enjoyed the free children's concert at Levitt Pavillion! 

We take a blanket and sit in the shade with friends! We even got there by 9am to make sure we got a great spot for our blanket and could sit by friends! :)

We got to sit by this little cutie!

 And these two enjoyed some time together! :) Brandt has some beautiful girls to grow up with! :)

This picture shows my outgoing girl and my shy girl perfectly! Of course, if Felicity is warmed up and with her people, she's not shy either, but it does take her awhile! Avaree had a blast with her friend, and I promise Felicity was soon smiling, too! :)

After the concert, we drove to church, and we sat in the parking lot, so that I could feed brother! After he was finished, Avaree wanted to take a selfie before we went in for lunch with Daddy!

Thursday we had an at home recovery and laundry day! :) It was wonderful! The next day we were starting our great room transition, so I had a few things to do to get ready for that! :)

Just the Five of Us…and Some Friends! ;)

A couple of Fridays ago, we had the best family day! We spent the morning at the Forth Worth Museum of History and Science! Mom Mom and Pop Pop gave us passes there for Avaree's birthday last year, and it is one of our favorite places to go! Avaree and I started out in the craft room where we made tissue paper flowers, and then she put her bouqet inside the wind tunnel! She was amazed!

Pretty girl showing off her flowers! :)

Felicity loves the dark room! She had a blast with all of the different colors on the giant light brite!

I love that face! 

Showing Mama!

Daddy and Brandt were twinsies in their outfits! :) Daddy is so good to spend his Fridays doing something with us. I'm sure he'd rather be on the golf course or sleeping, but he always tries to do something fun with us on Fridays! :) Super thankful for him!

Brother was checking out my water glass (thanks for wearing him, Daddy!!) while the girls and I were checking out the dinosaurs! 

Avaree loves to dress up in the children's area! This day she decided to be a construction worker! :)

We also enjoyed learning about electricity and how we can help "power the city!" :)

Sister was already over it and ready to move on! ;)

Daddy and Avaree talked about the 7 continents!

Then, we went to have lunch together. We had hamburgers at a neat place in Fort Worth that had been on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. We had been eating "pantry meals" for two weeks, so everyone was excited for a yummy burger. It turns out that this wasn't quite the place for our crew, but the burger was still super yummy. 

Daddy and the girls went on in, and Mommy stayed in the car to feed brother. I was in a parked car in a parking garage when I took this picture! ;) I spy a little hand that isn't mine!

After lunch we went across the street for a popsicle! We had been wanting to come to Steel City Pops for a long time, but this was our first time! Everyone was so excited, but right after this picture, Felicity dropped hers on the ground. So, I gave her mine! I already want to go back, so that I can have one! ;) We all got a popsicle for five bucks, and you can watch them make them inside! We live in such a neat place!

One more shot! It was a super hot and sunny day! 

That day, Mr. Brandt rolled over for us again! He's such a big boy now!

That night, we had dinner with some awesome new friends! God is so good! The mama of this family was in my BSF small group, and her oldest and Avaree were in Pre-K together! Now, Avaree and Ava will be going to Kinder together next year, and this sweet family has started visiting our church! We just love them! They have three kiddos (2 girls and a boy) just like us! After dinner, the girls all enjoyed swimming in the backyard!

On Saturday, yet again, we were blessed to get to have dinner with another precious family that we adore. They invited us over for some yummy grilled chicken and potatoes! They also have three kiddos (2 girls and a boy), and we just love them! God is so good to provide for us in so many ways, and we are so very thankful for our sweet friends! Brandt and TJ enjoyed watching Thomas the Train while we cleaned up! :)

While we were visiting, a crazy storm came up, and as we were leaving, we saw a beautiful rainbow that spanned the sky as far as we could see! I loved that it was complete. God's promises are never empty or incomplete, and he always finishes--everything. 

That was just a Friday and Saturday, but they were two absolutely wonderful days! :) 
Thankful!