Happy 5th Birthday, Ryleigh!

Ryleigh turned 5 on Friday!  I can't believe it.  She has been talking about turning five for several years because that meant she would be able to go to kindergarten.  I had a half day on Friday so we took her to lunch at Red Robin.  She wanted to wear a dress on her birthday so she looked cute opening presents.  She got to open presents from family that night.  Devin said she was asking all day to open them.  She even asked the second she woke up if she could open them before I went to work.

She was very excited to get the movie Frozen from Grandpa and Grandma McDowell.

And she was just as excited to get the one gift she asked for, a make-up kit from Bailey.

Saturday we had a little birthday party for her.  Again, she wanted to wear a dress for the same reason, to look cute while opening her presents.  She is such a girl!  She had her cousins and a few friends come to a Princess Party.  We started out playing Princess Bingo.  Even Zach and Mason played along.

 Bailey, Brynley and Madison

 Avery, Ryleigh and Ava

We played a find Cinderella's glass slipper game and then got up to the table for some cake and ice cream.  Ryleigh has been talking about the kind of cake she wanted for several months.  She requested a cake with all the princesses.  I found a cute picture on Pinterest of a castle with the princess figurines on it.  We were able to find all of the princess she wanted except Elsa.

Then everyone gathered around for presents.

We are so grateful to have Ryleigh as part of our family.  She is growing up way too fast.  We love her to pieces!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We have been talking about doing a garden for several years now and we finally made it happen.  We have a section in the back yard that sprinklers didn't water well so we dug it up and made it our garden.  We planted cucumbers, squash, peppers and tomatoes in little pots to start out with before we dug up the spot for the garden.  Once we had the spot ready we planted corn and then carrots.  Every thing has sprouted except the carrots but they were the last thing we planted. 

Here is the progress thus far.  The girls are having fun watering and watching the plants grow.  It's fun to go out and see new plants popping up.

 The corn is to the right of the little pots.

Next weekend we will replant the potted ones into the ground.  Here's hoping we get some yummy veggies.

Easter

We tried using Kool Aid for dying eggs this year.  They turned out pretty well unless you left them in super long, the color slid right off.

Bailey thought she could eat them right out of the dye.

Ryleigh wanted to taste the dye once we were all done even though I warned her it would be gross since there wasn't any sugar in it.  But she insisted.  

She convinced Dad

and Bailey to try it too.

The finished product! 

Saturday morning we went to an assisted living facility for an Easter Egg Hunt.  The girls did not want to get any closer to that Easter Bunny. 

When Auntie and Uncle got there, Brynley convinced Ryleigh to give the bunny a hug. 

The girls were ready to go.

Bailey off to hunt

Then Ryleigh

Showing off their finds

The Easter Bunny came to our house.

Easter morning, ready for church. 

Annual Trip to the Zoo

A couple weeks ago our friends came to town and we met up with them at the zoo.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Bailey!

Bailey's birthday landed on Easter this year so we decided to celebrate the day before.  She is obsessed with Curious George so that is the theme we chose for her party this year.

Opening presents

Sporting her Dora sunglasses from Auntie and Uncle

She got a little embarrassed when we started singing to her.

No problems blowing out the candles. 

Somebody said take a bite and there wasn't a second of hesitation.  Her cousins, Madison and Zachary, were not happy with her decision to take several bites out of the cake.  They said we are supposed to cut it up into pieces and share it.  It was pretty cute.  She eventually shared with everyone. 

I can't believe she is 3 already.  This morning after we told her happy birthday, she stood up in the bed and said, "Look, I am bigger now!"  We love her to pieces and are so grateful she is part of our family.

Spring Break in Reno

We wanted to get away for Spring Break but didn't want to go too far away.  Reno it was!

First stop after we checked into the hotel, Steak 'n Shake!  We enjoyed some delicious 1/2 price shakes and yummy steak burgers.

Next, we had to try out the sweet indoor pool at the hotel.  The first morning the girls were up at 5:30 ready to hit the pool again.  These are the same girls that sleep in until at least 8 if they can.  For the rest of the week, we went to the pool every morning and evening.

One day we headed over to California to visit Donner Memorial State Park.  They had a nice little museum with a video and then a little nature trail with a few landmarks.

 

Ryleigh fell asleep in the car on the way over and slept in the stroller the entire time we were there.

The next day we headed over to Circus Circus.

 Bailey fell asleep in the car on the way there and slept the whole time we were there.  She missed out on the fun games and prizes.  When she woke up and saw Ryleigh had won a purple stuffed fish, she insisted that we go back and get her a blue fish.

Lucky for her, the shows weren't happening until that evening so we left for more 1/2 price shakes and came back.  The whole time we were gone, she kept asking if it was time to go back and get her a blue fish.

We made it back and Bailey won herself a blue fish and we watched a few shows.

We headed up to Virginia City the next day. 

We took a trolley narrated tour of the town.

The story behind these two houses was pretty entertaining.  There were these two guys that were enemies.  The one guy bought a new house.  The other guy didn't want him to ever see the sun set again so he bought the lot next door and had his house moved to it right on the property line.

This school was the first building to have central air conditioning west of the Mississippi and the first building to have a drinking fountain on every floor.  It had about 1100 students.

That night we met up at a buffet with my Uncle and Aunt that live in the area for dinner.  It was fun to see them. 

We drove by this prospector outside of our hotel numerous times and each time Ryleigh asked to stop so she could get her picture taken with him.  We finally stopped the last day so she could get her picture taken with Last Chance Sam.

We also hit In 'n Out a few times.  Yummy!  We had a great week and were not ready to come back home.