Texas in February

The girls and I took a weekend road trip to Dallas in February.


Bella on the bench in Gramma & Grampa's back yard


Uncle Brian teaching Gabi to dribble
My mom hosted a great bridal shower for Stephanie, which was the occasion for our trip. I bought Steph a bunch of kitchen gadgets (and some fun things, like a Texas Longhorns tumbler) so we could play a memory game at the shower. Everyone had a minute or so to look at all the items, and then I covered them up and everyone had a couple minutes to write down as much as they could remember.


Me and Stephanie


Attendees at Steph's bridal shower
My piano teacher and church choir director is the lady in red on the far right. And, of course, my [other] best friend, Sydney, was there as well.


Melissa, Sydney, and Stephanie
After the shower, the girls entertained my family.


Gabi and Bella singing and dancing


Gabi laughing with Stephen and Alicia


Stephen and Bella playing piano


This was Stephen's birthday.
Happy birthday, Uncle Stephen!


Gramma Jane and Grampa


Granddad was in town, too
Mom had taken Granddad to his Aggie Reunion the previous week, so he was visiting for a bit before she drove him back to the Texas panhandle. My cousin Mark and his wife Liz live in Dallas, too, so they came over for dinner. We were glad to get to see them. Congrats on expecting two baby girls!


Liz, Granddad, and Mark


Bella riding in Great-Granddad's wheelchair


Gabi opening a birthday present


Gabi coloring in her giant activity book


Aunt Alicia and Uncle Stephen with the girls

Princess Tea Party

And now to [finally] wrap up Gabi's birthday in pictures, here are the photos of her Princess Tea Party birthday celebration. For her 4th birthday, she had four friends (plus little sisters) over for her party.


Kate, Ava, Bella, Gabi, Julienne, Jaymie, and Samantha
All the girls wore princess dresses, and I fixed fancy tea party food. I cut each ham and cheese sandwich into four small squares (and trimmed the crust), and I used cookie cutters to make heart-, star-, and butterfly-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We also had strawberries and blueberries and little smokies, which Michael arranged artistically on serving dishes. For "tea," we served apple juice and iced sweet tea. I forgot to break out the scones, but Michael's coworkers appreciated them on Monday.


Princesses at the tea party


Bella eating blueberries with a spoon
The girls entertained themselves in the playroom and could have played much longer.


Dressing the dolls


Cooking dinner


Bella loved playing with the big girls!
The girls each decorated a tiara with stickers and then proudly wore it, feeling very pretty.


Decorating tiaras


Princesses Gabi and Julienne
Kate was so eager for Gabi to open her presents, she actually took Gabi by the hand and sat her down before any of the other guests arrived and proceeded to open her gift and show it to Gabi. Gabi was very interested, and they played with her new toy until the other girls arrived. Gabi's other new toys were equally popular once Gabi opened them all.


Kate showing Gabi her present


Julienne watching Gabi open presents


Kate and Julienne playing with Gabi's new dollhouse


Gabi dressed in fancy shoes with a princess wand


Bella checking out the dollhouse
I baked blueberry muffins and apple cinnamon muffins for Gabi's tea party dessert.


Gabi blowing out the candle


Bella eating her muffin


Hugging Samantha goodbye


Hugging Kate goodbye


Goodbye, Ava!


Bella hugging Daddy


Exhausted after playing hard

Snow!

On the last day of February, after Gabi's princess tea party birthday, it snowed here in Little Rock! We took the girls outside when the snow first started falling, just before dinner.


Gabi making tracks in the snow


Bella watching snow on the deck


"Bubbles!" Bella exclaimed


Bella loving the snow/bubbles


Catching snowflakes on her tongue


Daddy with his girls


Gabi wrote her name in the snow with her feet!


Mom and Bella


Flying baby
After dinner, I took the kids back outside to enjoy more snow before bed. Gabi was very excited, as more snow had accumulated and covered up our footprints. Bella, on the other hand, thought it was too dang cold.


No! It's too cold! Let me back inside!


Sisters talking through the window


Snow fun from our chosen side of the window


Gabi wanted a snowball


Playing in the snow


Gabi and I built a snowman


Gabi with our snowman

Snowboarding in Colorado
Last week, Michael and I took a vacation to Winter Park without the kids. Michael wanted to learn how to snowboard, so we took a morning lesson on the first day and then tore up the mountain practicing our new board skills. Michael loved to head almost straight down the mountain to gain speed. I preferred to traverse back and forth slowly across the slope. At lunch on day 2, I traded my boots in and discovered that snowboarding is significantly easier with boots that aren't a full size too big! Michael was still better than me on the board, though.


Michael ready to strap in


Riding the slopes


Success on the snowboard!
After two days on the slopes, we were both sore and decided to take a day off. Day two had been very icy, which made boarding more difficult and falling more painful. Our day off brought 10 inches of fresh powder, although apparently high winds on the mountain that day would have been almost as difficult to ski in as the previous day's ice. We definitely enjoyed a break, as snowboarding is a serious workout!


In the snow on our day off


Hanging out by the hotel lobby fire
Our hotel had free hot cocoa and hot tea and games in the lobby by the hotel restaurant. We also had games and books in our hotel room. With that plus an excursion into town, we had plenty to do without venturing onto the slopes. Our favorite way to relax was the hot tub, which we enjoyed on our day off in addition to using it every day after returning from the slopes.


In the hot tub in the snow


Opposite temperature extremes


Relaxed and warm from the hot tub


Brr! It's cold outside the hot tub!


Warming up by the fire in our hotel room
On our last day in Winter Park, we returned to the slopes. Our hotel had a short bridge to the slopes which merged with the last portion of the Corridor ski run. The fresh powder combined with our two days of experience on the boards made this the best day of the trip. We were finally able to ride down the greens without falling. Michael liked trying out some new slopes, although I preferred the familiar runs.


Michael on the bridge from our hotel to the slope


Where our hotel meets the Corridor run


Michael showing off
On the shuttle from the airport, we sat next to an ND alum who has a condo in Winter Park. He used his annual pass lift ticket to get us a great discount on our lift tickets, and then he invited us to dinner at his place on our last night in town. He and his daughter were great hosts. Overall, I think we got excellent prices on everything; due to the slow economy, sales abound.


The view from Bill's condo


Our hotel room


The view from our hotel room


In the snow once more before we left