2 year old pictures and party

Yesterday couldn't have been better. All day was fun and exciting. Corinne kept a great attitude with the day being about Audra and they were sweet to each other all day. We started out the day taking Aud's 2 year old pictures. The first one is my favorite. It reads the sweetness of her.
After we took some pictures at a park, I took the girls to get a donut.

For dinner, Brenda, Ali, Kamo, and Amanda came. I grilled a few ribeye steaks, and we sliced them thin, topping a salad with "the works" (tomatoes, cheese, avacado, red onion, and black beans) Mom joined us later for some cake and to open presents.

I bought a cake this year, due to time constraints. Epic Fail.
We also couldn't find any candles, so we used matches. No one speak of this to my father.

For her birthday, Audie received a few books, and her donkey (pictured below). Amanda, Ali and Kameron read the books (complete with voices) and then put on a Dora skit for us. :)

Yee-haw!

Happy Birthday Audie!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful and sweet little Audie!

We had a photo shoot this morning for her birthday, but I will save most of the photos for a full post when we have cake and presents later on tonight.
After we took pictures downtown, we stopped for a birthday donut....
(click on photo for a bigger version)

Corinne ended up being the perfect model for me today! I hope she's getting the hang of being my guinea pig for pictures ;). I'm really looking forward to her pictures on her birthday!

New babies, mini golf, and hot air balloons

Our friend Jamie had a baby girl 2 days ago! Little Paige was such a cute little munchkin, I could have held her all day! We went to see her in the hospital this week, and the girls just loved her.

I think I am going to write a book on potty training titled: "Potty train your kids in public places". How is it that kids always want to use the potty while at a restaurant, or the mall, or some other public place? Well, of course Audie saw this potty with "handles" and she had to use it. I suppose I'll take what I can get with potty training, eh?

A few weeks ago, we took Corinne to play mini golf. Unfortunately, we had to dodge a thunderstorm, but I think Corinne had a good time spending one-on-one time with us. Below is a picture of how she got the ball in the hole. Who needs a golf club anyway?

At the sports complex, they also have kids rides. Matt and Corinne took a ride on this mini roller coaster. I'm still not sure if Corinne liked it or not. She says she did, but the picture below, tells a different story. She clenched that handle bar so hard, bowed her head, and closed her eyes tight. She didn't open her eyes until the ride stopped.

And finally, a hot air balloon ride. This ride took her up and down and around in circles. She enjoyed it a lot. She had to ride it twice though, because she said she needed to ride in a pink hot air balloon. Of course.

Due to the thunderstorm that night, they offered us vouchers to return at a later time! We're looking forward to going again!

While the girls were playing this morning they called me in to see what they had done. Corinne said, "Look mom, a double stroller...it saves space!" She attached her baby carseat/carrier to the handle bar of their baby stroller. I was pretty impressed. It functions perfectly!

curlers and kitty cats

Who would have thought that as curly as my hair is, we'd have to put curlers in the girls' hair?

Last night Corinne asked me to put curlers in her hair (not a rare occasion), and Audie decided she wanted her hair in curlers too. I love my girls.

This little girl loves her (wait, this used to be my cat) kitty cat. We're lucky Zona is so tolerant of Corinne. The picture above is typical of every day. Corinne carries Zona around like this, spins her around, jumps with her and falls down on her. Not to mention pulling Zona up on her lap, petting her fur with force, squeezing Zona tightly while clenching her teeth saying "Zonie, Zonie, you're a good cat. Zonie, I love you. Oh Zona, oh Zona."
Who knows, maybe Zona likes the attention. She will jump to Corinne's lap and make herself comfortable. She doesn't try to squirm away when Corinne is squeezing her. Zona takes it all like a champ.
Zona is still my cat. Matt reminds me of that quite frequently. But I'm glad her and Corinne have become such good buddies.