Juliette's Party - Part 1

Almost as soon as the play set was finished, it was party time to celebrate Juliette turning 2! The weather was great so we were able to fully enjoy a nice backyard party. Juliette loved playing in the cars with her good friend Jillian (they are so cute together)!

She's almost big enough to push the pedals on a tricycle...next summer for sure!

We had the pool set up...

Although Juliette normally prefers her water table (a birthday present last year)...

Then it was time to eat some of Daddy's homemade hummus...

The kids loved playing on the new play set...

Abbey is contemplating the slide...

Pool fun...

And even our old baby play set still got some action...

I think he decided the big slide was a bit more fun!

Play Set

Well, since we have spent all summer improving our house, we decided we might as well keep going and update our backyard with a play set! We have wanted to get one for quite a while but the number of choices is overwhelming and since it is expensive, we wanted to make sure we got one that fit our needs. We finally decided on one and it was delivered on Friday afternoon. Paul thought it would be great to have set up for Juliette's party, so he got right to work as soon as he could (on Saturday afternoon once the rain stopped). The instructions said it would take 8 hours to install, but reading reviews online said it would take closer to 15-18 hours (and that was when done by a professional)! So we were unsure how long it would take. Luckily, he had a lot of helpers...

Abbey helping...

They worked together...

Good job guys...keep it up!

Ta Da! We got some last minute help from the Acuff's on Sunday who came early for the party and it was finished with tools put away before any guests arrived!

The kids really enjoyed it!

Great job Paul! He really worked hard on it. On Saturday he worked from 1-10pm with few breaks (although that did include 2 trips to Home Depot to buy some tools and a big light so he could continue to work on it at night). On Sunday, he got up at 7 to start working on it again and worked most of the day on it. He said Ben was actually very helpful and could work the drill pretty well too. Ben was very proud of it and kept saying to Abbey, "Hey, we built that!" There are still a few minor things to be done (a picnic table goes on the bottom, a steering wheel and telescope on top, and we have an additional glider swing to assemble), but the kids love it and we will do those few minor things this coming weekend. I can't believe it got finished before the party - someone deserves the awesome Dad award!!

Charge for CHARGE!

Saturday morning was the third annual Joshua Kurby Charge for CHARGE 5k put on by our friends the Kurby's in honor of their son Josh, who had CHARGE syndrome and died at just over 8 months old. It was a great event, as always! Here is Sandy on the bike leading the crew of runners through the course (this is right at the start).

This was my first year running it. The first year I was very pregnant with Juliette and last year I did some negligent scheduling and we could not attend, so this was my first time running it!

Here I am finishing...I convined Ben at the end to come run with me through the shoot! My finishing time was 24:05, which was an average 7:46 pace. I was pretty happy with that!

Then the kids found some ducks to feed. Juliette loves ducks and we sometimes call her our baby duck. When we are in parking lots or crossing the street we tell the kids to line up and hold hands and we call them our little duckies (to which they respond with quack quack!).

Ben was upset at first that I didn't get a medal (because I usually come home with medals from races). Luckily, I won my age group so I did get a special medal! Ben was eager to come help me receive the medal and quickly put it on!

It was a really great event and everything seemed to run smoothly and finished right before the rain started. Sandy, congratulations on another great race...I know Josh is smiling down!

Birthday Night!

After some much needed naps and a yummy spaghetti dinner (with plenty of fresh bread for Juliette to enjoy), it was time for cupcakes and singing to Juliette!

She blew out her candles! Well, sort of...after several attempts with not much success, I blew at the same time she did (without her realizing it) so when they went out she was very proud of herself!

Then it was time to open up some presents and cards!

All the kids enjoying a new Dora book she got...

And now she has her very own Happy Birthday singing bear!! Thanks Nana and GrandPatch!

She also got a Dora beauty bag filled with earrings and hair barretts...cute!

Happy Birthday Juju!! I will post later about her most recent developments as she turned 2.

Lake Arlington

Juliette turned 2 on August 19th and to celebrate, I tried to think of something fun to do for the day. She really loves playing in sand (her and Abbey both love any type of sand box or beach), so we went to Lake Arlington, where they have a little beach you can play on. Aunt Domi, Caroline and Hunter came up to spend the day with us too. We got there a little before we did, so I thought it would be a good chance to snap some photos of the kids.

As usual, I can never get a picture of all of them looking at the camera and smiling, but we get close!

Then the cousins arrived and Caroline is always up for posing for pictures!

Then it was on to the beach to have some fun!

Caroline, Hunter, Ben, Abbey and Juliette...

Birthday girl!

There is also a fun pirate ship play ground to play on right on the beach!

Ben loved it all too - he equally loves the beach, but doesn't get quite into sand boxes the way the girls do.

Ben and Caroline worked hard on building a dam (they must have been thinking of their visits to TN with Mama Kay and Papa)!

Juju...

At one point, the kids started pouring sand on each other's heads, which was not good. So I told the kids to go in the lake and get their hair wet so at least some of it would come off and it wouldn't be shaking off all over the place once we got back in the car. Ben eagerly went in and went underwater (no problem for him). Abbey went in and put her head back in the water to get her hair wet without going under water. Juliette decided to just bend over and get her hair wet! It was hilarious because she seemed to enjoy it so she would come out, put sand on her own head, and then go back and put her head in the water!

All the kids working together to make an island.

The kids posing nicely for a picture.

Then it was time for a picnic lunch!

Domi took some great pictures with her telephoto lens (and seeing her pictures makes me really want to get one this year). My handsome son...

My beautiful daughter...

My adorable baby (not so much of a baby anymore though)...

Great team work kids!

I just think this picture is cute...

Love this one too - Aunt Domi told Ben when to jump and he did great getting this fun action shot!

Juju playing on the pirate ship...


Finally, we rented a paddle boat for the kids to go on. Juliette informed me the minute she saw them that she did not want to go on one. She said she wanted to "play in the ocean" so I stayed back with her while everyone else went. I think they had fun, but it was pretty hot out there so they came back pretty quickly. But at least they got to go once this summer!


I think Juliette really enjoyed the whole day, and the other kids did too! Thanks Aunt Domi for coming up and spending the day with us!