Surfside

This was our 23rd (?) year to go to Surfside with the Preston side of the family!  It's such a special tradition for our family, and we look forward to it every year!  The family has grown and grown year after year with weddings and babies.  John left Sunday, but me and the kids stayed until Tuesday.  Here are some pics from our time there!

These little (third?) cousins are basically 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. How cute is that!

We wore her out. :)

Until next year, Surfside!

Tiaras and Trains party

We celebrated our summer birthday babies with a joint "Tiaras and Trains" birthday party!

We set out some toy trains and a few princess gowns, shoes, tiaras, and wands to play dress-up.  There was a princess castle bounce house, water table, snacks, pizza, and cupcakes.  We invited family and a few friends over and had ourselves a little party!

Luke LOVED his first cupcake!!  Perry wasn't interested in hers on her first birthday, so I didn't have high expectations this time around.  But he scarfed the entire thing down!

The kids loved their party and had so much fun!  Luke wasn't turning one for two more weeks, so I didn't get too sad. ;)  It was a great little celebration!

Celebrating Perry's birthday

We had a fun and mostly quiet day celebrating our birthday girl on Sunday!  Perry woke up to a sparkly princess tent with her presents inside, some balloons, and some birthday donuts (even though she prefers the kolaches).  She opened presents and played with her new things most of the morning.  We ran a quick errand at Home Depot (she loves Home Depot).  Then we met everyone (Mumsie, Popsie, Auntie B, Chris, Reid, GK, Rhett, Uncle T, Auntie Becca) at Freddy's for the birthday girl's dinner of choice, and everyone came back to our house for some cake and ice cream!  Perry had a great day!

Last week, Perry got to partake in her very first aunt/uncle special birthday outing!  We started doing it with Reid when he was 3 (I think?), and it's one of our favorite traditions!  Britt and Chris took Perry and Rhett to do Build-A-Bear, ride the carousel, and have Chick-Fil-A.  Perry had the BEST time and loves her unicorn (that she named Rainbow) so much.  Thank you, Auntie B and Uncle Chris!

We are having a joint birthday party for Perry and Luke this coming weekend!  Can't wait to celebrate again!

Perry Frances is 3!

This sweet-as-can-be, strong-willed, silly, energetic, clever, hilarious, smart baby girl of mine is THREE!!!  I don't even remember life before her!  She makes our lives more lively, more joyous, more fun, more stressful, and BETTER in every way!  

A few random thoughts about our big three year old right now:

* Perry is very into hair.  She always says she loves my hair.  She always comments on people's hairstyles and points out if they have a ponytail, braid, or "bum" (bun).  She says she can't wait until she's bigger and can have a braid.

* Perry is very, very sweet.  She is good at giving people compliments!

* She is very creative.  She always wants to do "activities" and "art projects".  She is always seeing things in a different way.

* Perry is a girl's girl!  She loves dresses.  If I ever want her to wear anything besides a dress, she complains (every single time) and says "but it's not twirly!").  She also loves baby dolls and princesses and anything related to them.

* She has an extreme personality.  Ha!  My mom described her perfectly recently.  She is "very...everything".  Mostly, she is very high energy and very silly!

*  She is very into what she can do when she's older.  She always says "When I'm bigger, I can..."  Some examples are drink coffee, have earrings, have a margarita, be a mommy, have long hair, take showers, etc. 

* Perry is very strong-willed and stubborn.  The tantrums are frequent, I'm afraid.  Girlfriend knows what she wants!

*  She loves reading books, which makes me happy!

* She is truly the best big sister ever.  She loves Luke!  So much that she wants to pick him up and carry him everywhere.  She smiles when Luke wakes her up in the mornings.  She is constantly giving him hugs and calling him "my cutie little buppy".

I decided to have Perry answer a few questions to document her at 3!

What is your name?  Perry

How old are you?  3

What is your favorite food?  Strawberries

What is your favorite color?  Purple

What is your favorite book?  Dinosaurs (we don't have any books about dinosaurs?)

Who is your best friend?  Rhett

What is your favorite tv show?  Frozen

What is your favorite animal?  Bunnies

What do you love to do with mommy?  Play

What do you love to do with daddy?  Read stories

What do you love to do with Luke?  Laugh at him

What is your favorite toy?  Dog (not sure?)

What do you love to do outside?  Water beads

Where is your favorite place to go?  Freddy's

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Dancer

What makes you happy?  My birthday cake

Excuse me, but wasn't it just yesterday that this little girl was born?!

We love you past the moon and the stars, Perry Frances!