We had a great “Splash Bash” party this summer with my MOMS Club, and the girls had a blast!
The giant water slide was definitely the hit of the party—endless fun!
Even though Kate was a little too young to partake in the sliding, she still had a great time watching the big kids slide and playing in the sprinklers. And, both girls enjoyed their picnic lunch and time with friends—a great time was had by all!
Some friends of ours used to have an annual party called “Jamalapalooza”. While they haven’t had it in recent years (when did we all grow up??), this year was the 10th anniversary. Reunion party required. They had daytime festivities for those of us with kids, so we took the girls to see everyone. Anna loved learning to play “pool”—a huge thanks to Q for keeping her entertained!
And, Chip was a champ to teach her the slightly more advanced version, using ½ a pool stick.
And, Kate did her fair share of entertaining the other partygoers with her propensity to eat entire giant strawberries by sticking the entire berry (stem and all) in her mouth at once. We may need to work on her party manners for the future…
Anna then deemed herself the Party Photographer and made the rounds documenting the occasion. 
We might want to consider working with her on an angle other than the 3’ worm’s eye view…
We had a wonderful visit with Nana this summer—the girls loved playing with her and showing her all of their toys!
Anna and Nana had countless tea parties with all of Anna’s (stuffed) friends…
And Kate loved showing off her new stacking skills with big kid blocks....
…and using her “baby rings” now as bracelets.
As is part of our Memorial Day (and Fourth of July) tradition, we made our annual flag cake this year. And, as usual, Anna was more than happy to help! It was amazing to see what a difference there was between last year and this year—she was so good at all the steps of the process! She did a great job of smoothing out the icing…
…and, did such an amazing job of lining up the blueberries and strawberries. She was very adamant that it needed to look just like the American flag.
VERY proud of her final product! With a little instruction from me, she did the whole thing by herself! Proud mama…
And, of course, a flag cake is no good if not shared with friends! We went to our friends, the Rohloffs, house for a Memorial Day pool party. Anna had a great time swimming…
…and, Kate loved being a “big girl” with her new sippy cup. She always loves being around Caroline—she’s only 8 months older than Kate, but at this age, quite the “bigger girl”. 
We discovered the most wonderful local orchard this spring that had a ton of pick your own fruits AND veggies. Even though it was crazy-hot, the girls had a great time harvesting…
Anna couldn’t believe how many peaches there were on the trees...
We found the thornless blackberries, and Kate had a great time picking (and eating her fair share of) them. I think she wasn’t sure if she should touch them at first, but once she realized that she could not only touch them but PICK them, she was one happy camper!
We thought it would be fun for Anna to see the astronauts that were on the Space Shuttle that we saw launch, so we went to Ellington Field for their crew return. And, even more exciting, Bucko came down and surprised Anna for the adventure!
Anna thought it was so cool to get to meet the astronauts, and loved that they signed her picture for her. One of them even wrote her name on the picture, which just made her day!
I think at this age, there is truly no happier spot to have a birthday party than a jump place. Anna had an absolute blast jumping with her buddies at her friends Alex and Chloe’s birthday party.
Finally brave enough to do the slides without any assistance (or really even too much cajoling) from Mama!
SO happy…
Just chillin with her pals Adison and Zach…
Kate’s hair is growing in pretty similar to how Anna’s did—a wee bit of a “baby mullet” during these early toddler years. But, it has finally gotten long enough in the back to occasionally put it in pigtails!
She’s much more into her hair than Anna ever was, though, so she loves when I put pretty much anything in her hair—bows, piggies, whatever. Definitely my girly-girl…
A shot from the back—a little lopsided, but not a terrible first attempt… 
We made our annual pilgrimage to a local farm to pick strawberries as one of our “Adventure Fridays” this year. As usual, Anna had an absolute blast! Here, my little strawberry princess enjoys a ride in her “coach” with her pickings. Plenty to eat, and plenty to freeze!
And, Kate got to really “experience” strawberry picking for the first time this year! Last year she was only a few weeks old for our adventure, so spent the trip attached to me in the sling. This year she got in on the action.
And, of course, our fellow adventurers, Julia and Jocelyn, joined us for the harvest.
The lines to pay for our goods were LONG, but the girls were troopers while we waited. They may have a sampled a strawberry or two along the way…
We spent a few days over Spring Break in at Grammie and Bucko’s house in Tomball, and the girls were pleased as punch when the neighbor illegally burning brush caused the fire truck to show up out front! The firemen were so nice to the girls, and let them take a picture with the truck.
We also ventured to the Rodeo while we were all together. It was a whirlwind trip, but a great time! Thanks to Bucko and Grammie for keeping up with us and our gaggle of little ones at the Rodeo!
Both Sydney and Natalie think having a baby around is pretty novel, which happens to work hugely in my favor when to comes to feeding Kate! Here, Sydney helps Kate enjoy some morning munchies at our favorite breakfast place in Tomball…
Kate loved sitting out on a palette on the porte cache (sp?), enjoying the not-too-hot-yet weather. Looking at this photo now, she looks like such a baby! How did my little one grow up so much in just six months??Ok, consider yourself fairly warned. The backlog of blog postings has gotten to the unacceptable level, so I've taken advantage of being on work travel for a fewdays to work on getting caught up. I'm committed to make November my month of catching up (have to get it done before the Christmas photos start piling up, right?). So, expect pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.
This spring, we took Kate on her “maiden voyage” to Kemah to ride the rides. Anna was beyond thrilled to show her the ropes, and excited at how much fun Kate had! Anna also took this opportunity to be quite the “big girl” and decide to ride most of the rides by herself. In this shot, Kate and I are riding in a balloon on the Ferris wheel, while Anna rides in her own balloon. Very grown up.
Again, with the independence, Anna was very insistent on riding in her own plane. Quite the little pilot in the making…
