Home Again

Playing in the pool again - it has been HOT here.
Mackenzie has been begging for months to take Grammy and Peepaw to the duck pond, so that is what we did when we got home.

Aubrey loved the ducks too.

I'm not sure if she was throwing the bread AT the ducks or TO the ducks...

Mom was trying to get them to eat out of her hand.

In other news, Aubrey had her one year check and she is doing well, but not growing so much. She is in the less than 3% for weight and the 4% for height. But, knowing Mackenzie's growth curve, it doesn't surprise me too much and I'm not that worried, although she is even smaller than Kenz was at a year.

Mackenzie continues to be a handful at times. She has a quick temper and strong opinions. I hear this is normal for 3 year olds though, so I am holding out hope that I will not seriously injure my child before she reaches adulthood :)

She is still in the princess/dress phase bigtime. The other day at walmart she was holding up her dress with the tips of her fingers, swishing side to side and watching herself in the ice cream cooler. She was also singing "I see your HINEY, its nice and TINY, you better HIDE it, before I bite IT!!!" I mean, what do you do with that???

PS - look below for Colorado/birthday pics.

Colorado Highlights

This was actually on the way home. We stopped at the Rolling Hills Wildlife place outside of Salina, KS. We were super impressed - it was clean, new, the animals were all very social and we had a blast. This was the kid's petting zoo area where you could feed cows, goats, and other barnyard animals.
Mom making friends with the calf.

This was a monkey type animal - shoot, I can't think of the name of it. Anyway, it would walk away and then come back and pop up and hit the glass. Mackenzie would run away screaming and then they would do it again. It was so cute.

Aubrey chillin' in the stroller.

This is a picture of the girls on the patio at my mom's work. We went in to visit and help out one day.

My dad took Mackenzie to the fire station in Pinewood. She sat in all of the trucks and she really didn't want to leave!

At the park one day.

Mackenzie with her annual Estes Park ice cream cone.

My mom keeping Mackenzie from falling in the wishing well thing.

We had a girl's day and we all got our hair cut (except Aubrey!) Mackenzie was soooo good, she jumped right up in the chair and TALKED the girl's leg off the entire time.

There are a herd if elk that live around Pinewood, and one day they were just right off the side of the road. They are so cute right now with their fuzzy antlers.

Aubrey loving on Peepaw. She kept grabbing his shirt and pulling him down for a bonk. He was covered in black bean juice when she was done.

Mackenzie LOVED riding in the hiking backpack almost every night for walks.

This was a rainbow we saw one night up at the house. I think it was the brightest most perfect rainbow I have ever seen. Mackenzie keeps asking when it is coming back, lol.

Mackenzie Dancing

This was at the party, but it was so sweet I thought it deserved its own post.

Aubrey's 1st Birthday Party

Aubrey got a baby doll from Grammy and Peepaw. She loves dolls, and this one had a binky that she kept trying to put in her mouth.
Opening presents.

Mackenzie got to invite her best friend Maddie to the party. They had a blast together.

Aubrey finally digging into her cake.

Giving bites to Peepaw. She gave everyone else a bite before she took one herself.

Now what am I supposed to do with this??

Maddie and Mackenzie busting a move.

Peepaw holding a very wet baby.

Bubbles!!

Aubrey had a flower party. The child is obsessed with all types of foliage. So my mom and I made a flower garden with the cupcakes.

Okay, I'm back. I know, I know, try and contain your excitement :) I have a TON of pictures to upload, so hopefully blogger will cooperate today! Sorry these are totally out of order - eventually I will figure this out.

Well, I have been trying unsuccessfully for days to upload new pictures of Aubrey's party and our trip so far, so I guess it will have to wait until we are back in Arkansas!

Anyway, Aubrey's first birthday was so fun! I can't believe she is a year old already. She is such a hoot right now. She LOVES flowers - every time we walk by flowers or trees, she points at them and makes very excited noises (she isn't talking a whole lot yet, but she makes her meaning very clear). So we did a flower theme for her party. We also had a little baby pool, which she loved - she is a fish! She also really enjoyed her cupcake :)

The day after her party we left for Colorado. My parents had come out for her party and they drove us out. Matt just finished one week of camp and is getting ready for another, so we thought it would be good to spend some time out here instead of being home alone. The girls were SO good on the car trip. We stopped and spent the night in a hotel, which Mackenzie was very excited about. Of course they got some new things to play with, so I'm sure that helped too!

Unfortunately they have both come down with an awful cold, which they seem to do nearly every time we come out here. Poor Aubrey has been coughing so much at night we aren't getting much sleep. We took them in to the doctor today and they are both on meds now, so hopefully we can spend our last week here healthy and happy.

I promise I will upload LOTS of pictures as soon as we get home!