A great 4th of July...and a great mini-vacation, too!

We had a great 4th! On Wednesday after I finished up at work, we took off for Charlotte to spend the weekend with Jon's family. We had such a great time, and hopefully we don't wait as long between trips next time!

Here's Mackenzie with her "ears" on. She was hilarious--every time something happened on her movie (she watched CARS mostly) she would yell as loud as she could!

Of course we had to stop at Crazy Steve's to get fireworks for my pyro. Little did I know that I have a

"pyro-in-training". She had a great time picking out sparklers, snakes, pop 'ems, and smoke bombs.

Mackenzie had to play the Wii with Aunt Beth and AJ.

Playing with Daddy. She gives such good kisses.

AJ's new neice, Abigail, joined us for 4th of July eve fun. Mackenzie loved being around her, and thought it was really neat that they share the same name.

Mackenzie could have cared less about the fireworks this year, but we thought they were pretty!
4th of July parade in downtown Nanny-ville. It was super hot. I was really glad that we were running late as usual--as we were walking up to find a spot, a little girl was having a heat stroke. She was fine, but I was so relieved that we wouldn't have to sit through the whole parade.
Fire trucks!
Glad to be out of the sun and on our way back to Nanny's!
After the parade, we hit the pool with Aunt Beth, AJ, his sister and her family, and some friends. Mackenzie hadn't been in a kiddie pool, so she enjoyed not having me right there.


Preston, PT, and Mackenzie (AJ's nephew and brother-in-law)
Mackenzie lighting up in honor of the 4th!

AJ and Mackenzie's friend Brooklyn were unfortunately too tall for this shot:-)

Mommy and Mackenzie

Since we saw such wonderful fireworks on the 3rd, we stayed at Nanny's house and enjoyed barbecue with lots of friends. Jon, AJ, and CJ (another friend) shot off fireworks for hours.

Relaxing Sunday, Beautiful Skies

On Sunday evening we took Mackenzie to see "Wall-E". She hadn't been to the movies with both of us in a while, so it was a nice treat. I usually take her in the morning while Jon is at work :-( We all really enjoyed it, it was so cute, and reminded us a little of E.T. Mackenzie devoured Gummy Care Bears, and Jon and I emptied the popcorn container. This time, we tried one of the booster seats (that are covered in millions of germs, yuck) to see if Mackenzie could be more comfortable. Lucky for us, she liked it, so she sat still for the first hour of the movie. When we left the theater, it was raining, and when we got home, this was the sight from the back porch. I've never seen the sky this color before, but it was beautiful. I hope everyone had a great Sunday afternoon just like we did!

Dinner with Papaw

Last week we took my dad (AKA Papaw) to Kobe's Steakhouse. He had never been before, and we all really enjoyed going. Mackenzie loves being with my dad, and never wants to come home when she's with him. I love that they have that kind of relationship. I had the same closeness with my maternal grandfather, and I remember how special he could make me feel.

Here they are in front of a turtle near our restaurant. She liked the turtle, but wouldn't go near him by herself.

Who knew that my picky child would love plain broth with beef and noodles? And the ginger salad. She surprises me at every turn.
All right, somebody take the Saki away from the toddler.
All done!
Our nice tablemates stepped up to the challenge of photographing us--at least one of us has a bad habit of closing their eyes. Whew--I finally kept them open!

Outings with Mommy

Mackenzie and I spent all day doing things she loves. We started off by hitting the movie theater, and watching one of her faves, Shrek 3. Then we had a delicious Mommy-Daughter lunch. After a quick nap, we headed off to the pool!

"Now how does Mommy wrap this around me?!"

A rare before-dinner treat!

Just hanging out!

Update on the "boop" obsession (see next post if you are not yet familiar):

Yes, this is a bra cup that my sweet, innocent daughter has put her dolls in. I really hope this phase will end soon.

Spring Portraits

More cute pictures, courtesy of Portrait Innovations!

Out of the mouths of babes...

PG-13 content: Parental advisory suggested!

There are no pictures for this post, and for that you will be grateful. My curious daughter walked into the bathroom as I was getting out of the shower, like she does most days. This day would turn into an in-depth anatomy lesson. This day, she wanted to know, "Mommy, what are those?" Matter-of-factly, I answered, "Boobs". Mackenzie got closer and closer to examine. At about a foot away, she said, "They're boops." Laughing now, I repeated her words and finished getting dressed. I asked her if she wanted to see her boops. "Yes, Mommy." I stood her on the counter and showed her. The observation of the century: "Mommy, you have big boops and I have little boops." "Yes, darling, that's right." Mackenzie then proceeded to tell Daddy the difference in our sizes in boops, and that she "loves her boops".

As we're sitting here blogging, Mackenzie is watching Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, a very cute cartoon she's come to love. She just told me that Kai-Lin has little boops.

Please do not be offended if Mackenzie tells you what size boops you have the next time you see her, she loves boops!

Cooling off...

Playing ball with Daddy and a new friend...

Goofball:)

Congratulations!

Aunt Beth and AJ are engaged!!! We're so excited for them. Aunt Beth asked Mackenzie if she wanted to be their flower girl, and Mackenzie said, "Sure!" Congratulations guys!

Bubble Fun!

A couple of weekends ago, Jon's family came down to visit. We spent lots of fun time playing with bubbles.

How else could we end a fun weekend? With a tub of popcorn and a good movie, of course!

Happy Mother's Day!

I spent this Mother's Day quietly, (as quietly as possible with a rambunctious 2-year-old) with Jon and Mackenzie. We stayed home and played all day. I so enjoy days like this, since they don't happen often. Our 7th anniversary is tomorrow, so this weekend was extra special. Saturday night, I was banished to the couch (read: napping!) while my super-sweet husband did the grocery shopping and the putting away of the groceries. My super-sweet daughter came running from the kitchen, hollering (waking me up) "Mommy, I got something-a-prize (surprise) for you---and it's flowers!!!!". Mackenzie came barrelling around the couch, hidden by the blooms of the beautiful mums. I hope every mom had as good a Mother's Day as I did.

Chalk drawings...

Mackenzie and I spent most of Saturday drawing on the driveway. She tried to "do like Mary Poppins, Mommy!" and jump into the art.

Such a sad little girl, when her imagination comes up against a brick wall, I mean, concrete driveway.

Circus and Carnival 2008

The 3 of us went to the 2008 Yaraab Shrine Circus. The actual circus wasn't much to be impressed with - our child who constantly "plays circus" was extremely bored. We left after the first 3 acts, which lasted close to an hour. We did enjoy the horses, which I called Angel Horses, and Jon promptly corrected me--they're Pegasus horses. Upon leaving the circus rings, Mackenzie asked to go ride the camel. Then the ponies. She had so much fun, we hated to leave. I rode the big slide with the little munchkin. I hadn't done that since I was a kid, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack! I'm not a fan of heights anyway, plus the speed was incredible. I'll try to post the video that Jon took later.