The strawberries came in early this year. We made our annual trip out with our friends to pick a few buckets full. With kids in school now, we went out in the late afternoon. While it could have been super hot, there was a nice breeze and the humidity was low, so the day was perfect. This year was the easiest hunt for our family. We had boots to take away the problems of the mud, the girls were able to pick a full bucket themselves, they were busy with friends while they worked, and we came home with plenty of red sweet snacks.

Our friends – only missing one trooper

This is how to pick strawberries – find a good spot, be willing to climb into the plants to find good ones, and hang with a friend.

The girls celebrated their birthday together and chose to have a dress-up party at a local store. We planned the party for when all of our friends (out-of-town ones too) could come. Everyone brought a doll/friend and they and their doll dressed for the party. Then they all shared snacks and giggles. The girls really enjoyed all the fun and being “grown-up”. While they are quickly growing up at least we can slow down enough to have these wonderful moments of fun. For the party theme they chose a Pink-Paris party.  Thanks friends for joining us for the fun.

All of our friends together again!!

Birthday Sisters

Princess Julia in white with TWO tiaras! Why pick one when you can have more.

Princess Emily ready to strut her stuff. She is not our shy kid.

A pretty cupcake ready to celebrate.

The dolls get to eat a bit too. Here is the yummy eraser cupcake for the dolls.

Before all the fun started we snapped a photo. They are pretty pleased that the fun will be starting soon. Emily brought her Emily doll and Julia brought her doll she named Julia.

So glad to get to spend some time with friends!!

Sharing the fun the best part. Pure joy!

This year we celebrated the end of school with a party for both of the girls’ classes and friends. We met at the park and played with friends and classmates who joined us. There were toys available to play with and fruit and cookies snacks. The weather was sunny and clear and we enjoyed our afternoon of play! It was so much fun we will try to do this every year.

My blue eyed almost 3rd grader.

Blue shirts were the color of the day. You would think the girls had phone calls to arrange it, but they are so good they didn’t need to.

These two both have mischievous streaks, bet you could not guess.

A swing that is big enough for two.

Snacks on the snack table, toys in the background.

Tire swinging 2nd graders.

Tire swinging kinderkids.

This year we spent our spring break at home playing.

Our first day was spent just getting chores done so we could play the rest of the week. This involved a trip to the grocery. Lately the kids have been making trips in the car-cart a lot of trouble, but after lots of pleading and promising Mama gave them another try. They were angels and despite not fitting well together we finished the shopping with peace. Hurray!

The next day we met some friends at the zoo and braved a cold morning. By the time we make it to the playground area it warmed up and all the jackets were off. The highlight for the day was playing playing with our friends and the second highlight was playing together at the playground. Never fear, we did walk past a few animals.

All the girls can fit on the lion, kind-of.

The next day we had big plans … then we threw them out and just played at our friends’ house. The mamas sewed these Elsa dresses while the girls played. Once they got the dresses on they sang almost every song from Frozen while watching videos of the songs.

What is a week of play without ice cream? Of course we had to go! We sat at the soda fountain counter and enjoyed milkshakes. Emily had a pineapple/strawberry shake. Julia had a strawberry shake. And mama had a cookie shake. While we ate them we discussed a movie we recently saw that had a scene where the girl did exactly what we were doing.

Our last day of break was spent with an evening at Frozen Head State Park. We picked daddy up from work and took sandwiches with us.

We made it to a stream on our hike and played around the bridge. We also looked for animals in the stream. There was a frog we found waiting for a bug to float by. When the hike was over we enjoyed our dinner and then an hour at the playground.

While we love to travel we enjoyed our stay at home too. It was nice for Emily to see friends she misses while she is at school. Julia enjoyed having Emily home to play with, at least most of the time.

It was a good year! Looking forward to the memorable and everyday moments of 2014.

No summer trip to Florida can be complete without a stop in Orlando to play. We spent a little less time this year because of the kids being sick. The sickness gave us only one pool day with all the kids so they made the most of it. On one of the play days we went to Downtown Disney to explore a little. All the kids had a blast checking out the Lego store and riding the train along with the carousel. After lunch we went back to play at the house. They had the most fun just being silly with each other and playing! Good memories!