Girl's Night!

I had a great 16 hour long girls night! I met up with Emily and Amie and we went to see the Princess Diana exhibit at Union Station. It was a wonderful, but very sad exhibit. We had dinner and drinks at The Drop. We all ordered the bruschetta and no one could finish it off! Then, we went back to our hotel and walked to Murray's Ice cream that was just down the street. It's one of the best ice cream places in town! We enjoyed sleeping in and not having to begin our morning by changing a diaper! :) We had an omelette and belgian waffle breakfast and ended our morning with an amazing massage! It was short but very sweet! I love these girls!

Zoo day with Gigi and Papa

This was Papa's first time to go to the zoo with us so you can only imagine the excitement! Aunt Val and I enjoyed the extra pair of helping hands as well!


A special treat for the big girls! They got to ride the camel with Gigi! They were very focused and excited!


The boys did great just chillin together! Too cute!

Getting everyone on the train is hard enough, getting everyone to smile into the camera is on a completely different level! The train is always a huge highlight! Benjamin was so excited about riding with Papa, it was hard for him to stay seated!

Feeding the birds is always a favorite! Bella did great and made sure she had long sleeves and put her jacket on! She's a pro at this now and even held so still when a bird came and landed on her head! By the end, Gigi was definitely the bird lady with up to maybe 7 birds or so! It looked like she was in Central Park or something feeding the pigeons! haha


The Howler Monkey was showing off today swinging and "howling" around!

Family Fun-Filled Weekend

To make up for lost time with Brandon being out of town the weekend before, we decided to go all out and do some fun family outings! Friday night we went to Zonkers. It's like Chuck-E-Cheese, Monkey Business, and roller coasters all in one! Bella could not contain herself with her first roller coaster ride and rode it repeatedly 7 times.


Saturday we met Gigi for the Power and Light family fun day. Today the theme was The Arts. We enjoyed a Paul Meisner Puppet show, Mr. Stinky feet, lots of free arts and crafts (Benjamin is doing a "self portrait"( that's the reason for the mirror), and give aways that the kids loved!




A favorite is always Deanna Rose. We loved seeing the 1 month old calves and the momma cow of course! Bella got a pony ride on a horse named Jimmy and loved it! She was very serious the whole time making sure she held on tight! Benjamin was cheering her on from the sidelines and gave her a big hug when she finished! We also got a bottle to feed the baby goats. Bella did great last year, but was not ready for it this year! In the picture you see Benjamin crying, it wasn't because he didn't like the baby goats, it was because he tried to drink the bottle and I had to yank it out of his mouth! Yuck! It was a beautiful day and enjoyed a picnic lunch outside and lots of playing!

Sweet Moments

This weekend Bella and I had a fun little girls night. Brandon was out of town and Benjamin was asleep so we decided to make cookies. She ran to the pantry grabbed the bag of chocolate chips, pushed the barstool over to the counter and was ready to go! She got her cook book out of the cabinet and looked through it and pointed out all the things in there that she wanted to make next! Then she read the ingredients. She said, "We need 2 eggs, milk, and water." haha, it was so cute! Her favorite part was licking the beater, of course, it's mine too! Then we got to have a cookie during story time before bed.

Pizza Club

I decided to organize a Pizza Club with our small group for a couple of reasons. I love a fun project, and I love pizza! We plan to meet once a month at a different KC pizza place and rank the pizza in several different categories. We went to SPIN pizza for our club meeting and it was a huge success! Of course, this is one of my favorite places bc they have sangria, amazing pizza, and of course gelato! I can't wait until next month!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful mother's day weekend! Saturday I got some "me" time and time with Val and my mom. We spent the afternoon admiring Monet's 3 panels of water lilies at the Nelson Atkins Art Museum, then we strolled around the Kauffman gardens and just let scenery soak in. We also enjoyed an amazing dinner at the Webster House. We all three ordered the same thing, which is usually a no no, but there were no regrets! We had glazed salmon, their house made mac n' cheese, and rice flour fried green beans! Yum! Then, for dessert we went to cupcakes a la mode and shared the stuffed french toast, the PB&J, and the mama mia cupcakes. Wow, they were delicious!!! I felt so refreshed and renewed and stuffed after spending time with Val and my mom. We had great conversation and no distractions except for the amazing food! I'm incredibly blessed to have my mom and the biblical example she is as a woman of the Lord, and mother.





Sunday morning as I was finishing up getting ready the doorbell rang. I had a suspicion there might be two little cuties on the other side so I grabbed my camera! I was right! They surprised me with these beautiful flowers that we planted later in a pot so I can admire them for months to come! Bella kept saying "Mother's day, Mother's day!" haha I guess three words were too much to remember! Benjamin just giggled and ran through the door. They spoiled me by taking me out to breakfast at Panera and then we went to the zoo for the morning. It was a gorgeous day and so much fun to have Brandon there to help corral the kids.




We all had amazing naps when we got home and then we had a babysitter come to watch the kids so Brandon and I could go to Pizza club!

Porter's 1st Birthday

We recently celebrated my nephew, Porter's, first birthday. It was an airplane themed party that looked like it came straight out of a magazine. The decor was so cute, there were fun crafts and games for the kids, and of course amazing food! Porter did such an amazing job eating his smash cake that Bella still talks about the big mess that Porter made!