Bubbles!

This may be the girls' current favorite activity:

You can clearly see on their faces how much joy they're experiencing in this moment. It brings me joy just to watch... and you, too, I hope!

Lunch at Culver's

One of the restaurants we regularly look forward to visiting in Lexington is Culver's. Culver's is home to the Butterburger, a cravable & very delicious burger. Yum!

Since Nana & Grandad also enjoy a good butterburger, we decided to have lunch there together on Sunday before we headed back to Ashland.

Believe it or not, Caroline really seemed to enjoy their onion rings! I guess I shouldn't be surprised; no matter what, she seems to like food with lots of flavor every time. (I didn't get a picture of it, but she ate a couple hamburger pickle chips, too!)

Backyard Fun at the Halls'

We were in Lexington again this weekend, and, of course, that means another visit with our good friends, the Hall family! They have recently moved into a beautiful new house, with a great big backyard for the jungle gym & trampoline.

Here's Jordi & her new friend, Lydia (also 3 years old), having a turn on the trampoline. (Since none of the boys had their shirts on, Lydia didn't see why she should have hers on, either!)

Caroline has quickly become adept at climbing. She spent much of her time outside climbing up the ladder...

...and going down the slide! Here she is, showing Jordi how fun it is to slide down on your belly!

Lollipop Love

Muffin has a treat drawer at her house full of things kids love, namely candy! Caroline does not let me forget that getting into that treat drawer is a non-negotiable part of visiting the Ford's house. Her candy of choice is almost always, of course, a lollipop:

Can you see how much Caroline loves her, as she says, "awe-ppl-op"? She was one sticky mess, let me tell you! I don't know.. do you think it tastes better that way?!

We miss you, Aunt Donna!

As if saying goodbye to Aunt Donna (on Thursday) wasn't sad enough, we also said goodbye to the lovely spring weather we were having! So, in remembrance of both, I'm posting some pictures from our trip to the playground while she was here. It was the first one of the season, and Aunt Donna was here to experience it with the girls:

It's nice to have an Aunt around to help you get on the playground toys you can't get on by yourself!

This is the biggest slide on the playground, and Caroline didn't have a moment's hesitation at all. She just sat, and down she went! It didn't even bother her that she shot off the bottom of this particular slide and landed on her butt. She just laughed, got up & ran to climb up it again!

Jordi picked up where she left off last fall on the swing: learning how to pump. Luckily, Aunt Donna was here this time to coach her along!

Jordi's even getting the hang of this ladder. She sees the other kids doing it, and wants to be able to get up there, too. It's tricky, but I think she's got it!

Unfortunately, there'll be no trips to the park in our near future due to 30-40 degree temperatures forecasted for the weekend. (In fact, it's spitting snow as I type this!) Let's hope it warms up again soon!

Caroline's 2nd Haircut

We took advantage of the fact that we were in Lexington last weekend to go to our favorite kids' haircutting place, Cookie Cutters:

Here's Caroline, being a good girl & sitting still for the stylist. How is that achieved? By sitting in a pink jeep & watching the Wiggles! (Look closely & you can see Jordi's sitting on a motorcycle.)

Another reason to look forward to visiting Cookie Cutters... sliding! They love the indoor slide, and would have stayed all day if I let them. In fact, during our entire visit, the only time Caroline was uncooperative was when it was time to get off the slide & go home!

Dad's Birthday Dinner

Since we were in Lexington this past weekend, Tim & Judy took us all out to celebrate Chris' birthday dinner at one of our favorite spots: P.F. Chang's! We used to eat there all the time while we lived in Boston, and have missed their delicious food since moving to KY. At first glance, it doesn't seem like a kid-friendly restaurant, but luckily we had a great server who made a special effort to keep the girls (& therefore the grown-ups!) happy:

Did you know they have training chopsticks? She brought the girls these specially constructed utensils, made just for their little hands. Here's Caroline, having a go at picking up some fried wontons. How fun!

Jordi really enjoyed using her chopsticks, too. So much, in fact, that she went through one and a half bowls of wontons!

I took this picture of Caroline & Aunt Donna on the way back to the car. So cute.. I just love it!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Yesterday was Chris' birthday, and we had a really great, weekend-long celebration. It started in Lexington on Saturday, and ended last night in Ashland:

First, we had a pre-birthday family celebration on Saturday. Everyone was there: Nana, Grandad, Uncle Al, Aunt Donna, and (of course!) us. We had steaks on the grill (delicious!) followed by an out-of-this-world cake from Magee's Bakery!

Then we had another party on the actual day of Chris' birthday, which was yesterday, the 12th. The girls are loving the frequency of cake lately, and are eagerly anticipating Nana's birthday, which is coming up on the 19th!!

Spring has Sprung

Finally, a warm spring day! Yesterday's high temperature was around 70 degrees, so it was high time to get outside and enjoy it! The sunshine was irresistible, and couldn't help but draw us back outside to enjoy it:

Caroline was thrilled to get back onto the neighbors' porch swing! Here she is with her buddy (and owner of the swing), Jack. As you can see by their smiles, they're both enjoying themselves immensely!

Even Aunt Donna got into the act, taking her book outside to read in the warm afternoon sun. (I took this while Caroline was napping & Jordi was still visiting next door.)

Later on, I took some fun pictures of everyone at the park, but I'll save those for a later post!

Riding the Merry-Go-Round

Although we frequently go to the mall playground, it has to be a special occasion for us to ride the merry-go-round there. Since a visit from Aunt Donna qualifies as such, the girls were thrilled to get such a special treat!

And from my point of view, it's nice to be actually in a picture once in awhile!

Fun Times at the Museum

It's been awhile since we visited our local Highlands Discovery Center, so we thought we'd go check it out again during Aunt Donna's visit. We hadn't been there since last fall, and it was nice to see Caroline enjoy herself so much more this time!

Both girls noticed this stage right away (upstairs in the Country Music Heritage exhibit), and were very enthused about being introduced (over & over) and dancing!

Next, we headed downstairs to the Children's Discovery Center. Here are the girls spending some time picking vegetables in the "puzzle garden."

Last time we were here, Caroline was too little to enjoy much of the interactive fun in the "Life in Poage's Landing" exhibit, but that's all changed now. Here she is, doing a great job driving the luggage truck!

It was a great afternoon for all of us girls!

Off to "Yew Nork"!

Here she is, dressed & ready to hit the town! Jordi spent a lot of time getting herself and friends packed into this tub and ready to go to (as she puts it) "Yew Nork" City.
They're all bundled up (note that even the tub has a scarf around it) because "it's really cold there," she told me. What an imagination!

Caroline's New Bed

Doesn't she look excited? Well, she is! Last week, Caroline made the major growing-up move from her crib into a regular bed. You can tell by the picture that it's a toddler bed, which is just a scaled-down version of a twin bed. The benefit being that there's a lot less to go when falling out, which happens regularly!

Despite her excitement, however, Caroline is having some adjustment issues. She's waking up 2-3 times each night, and, unfortunately, letting everyone know about it! We are all exhausted! (especially Aunt Donna, who's not used to such nocturnal disturbances!)