Vacation!!

Last week, our little family went on vacation and it was FABULOUS!

We went down to Jekyll Island, Georgia for the week. I'd not been there since I was pretty young, but we checked things out and found a great house really close to the beach (like 100 steps away).  It worked out perfectly.  Karsten still takes 2 naps a day, so in the mornings, Kate and I would walk over to the beach together and Kevin would stay at the house while she napped.  I loved my morning time with my big girl.

When Karsten woke up from her morning nap, Kevin would bring her out and the two of them would join us at the beach for the afternoon.  

This was Karsten's first beach trip.  I'll be honest, she ate a lot of sand the first day, got choked up and made herself a little sick.  After the first day, I think she realized sand is not for eating and she didn't put as much in her mouth. 

One thing is for sure, this baby girl LOVED the beach.  We already knew how much of a beach-girl Kate was, so I was thrilled that little sis is just as big of a fan. 

I'll say one more thing and then I'll let the pictures do the talking.... When we got back from vacation, everyone asked if we were coming back "well rested and relaxed".   We went on vacation with a 4 year old and a 10 month old, so there was little to no "relaxing".  However, the two kids sure didn't have a problem with it...

And now for the rest of the pictures...

 On Friday, as vacation was just about over, I took the girls to the beach to get a few quick pictures.

Vacation 2015 was a definite success.  Lots of family time.  Lots of sunshine.  And, lots of fun.

Definite success.

Cowgirl Kate

Kate has loved horses for almost as long as we can remember.  We have a farm with horses near our house, and we pass by it nearly every single day.  It's the one that we used to walk over to in the evenings, so Kate could admire her friends. 

Her favorite book was Cowgirl Kate, and her favorite television show is Sheriff Callie. She was a cowgirl for Halloween last year, and she loves to wear her boots in the fall and wintertime.  She loves all things cowgirl, especially the horses. 

For so long, Kate has begged (BEGGED!) us to ride the horses.  One day, when she was probably 2, I told her she could ride them when she turned 4.  Four years old seemed like such a long way off at the time.  I really should have thought about that a little more, because her fourth birthday came before I was ready! 

Anyway, a promise is a promise, so her birthday present from Kevin and me was a real horseback riding lesson.  This girl was in heaven for a solid hour and a half.  

Happiest FOURTH birthday to our oldest (still little) girl- the spunky and sassy kid who made me a mama.

Party Time

Last weekend, we celebrated Kate's birthday with a Pirates & Mermaids themed party.  To be honest, she really requested a Mermaid-only party, but I wasn't quite sure how I'd pull that off, so I asked her if she wanted to have pirates too, so the boys wouldn't feel left out.  She bought it, so Pirates & Mermaids it was!

 

 

Basically, we just put out a kiddie pool, blew up our bounce house, filled up the water table and turned on a sprinkler. Then we just let the kids run around. I think they had fun. (Karsten included.)

 

 

My dad even dressed the part.

This is Kate with her future husband, Conner.  They are 4 months apart in age, and have known each other since they were born.You would think they are brother and sister. They love each other to death, but they fight and argue with each other like crazy. At church, they pretend to be "Cinderella and the handsome prince".  Together, they are a handful!

This was Kate's first birthday party where friends her own age were invited. We kept the number of little kids pretty small, but I think she had a blast.  So we'll call the Pirates & Mermaid party a success.