Renaissance Festival

We had a great weekend spending time with family.  Saturday, Andy's mom celebrated her birthday at the Renaissance Festival.  This worked out well because it meant that we were able to cross another thing off of our list of 162 Things to do Before Kindergarten!

Happy Birthday, Andy's Mom :)

You never know what you'll see at this type of festival!

Part of the family.  We were also there with Andy's sister-in-law and her brother and his family.

Patiently waiting to take a horse ride with daddy.

Riding the horse with daddy.  She was going to ride by herself but decided at the last minute that it'd be more fun with daddy :)  Arin has sat on a horse before, but this was the first ride that she's taken on one!

Josting.

Feeding the animals in the petting zoo.

Showing off the wand that she made.

All of the excitement wore Ella Jane out!

This swing was Arin's favorite part of the festival.

She also enjoyed hula hooping (and so did daddy!).

Happy Birthday Grandma!  Thanks for inviting us to share in your special day!

Dress-Up

The girls have been having a great time playing dress-up.  Ella, who is into dressing up at a much younger age than Arin was, thinks it's cool to do anything that her big sister is doing!

Arin thought it was fun to dress-up her stuffed animals too!

Play with Puppies

One of the things on our list of 162 Things to do Before Kindergarten is to play with puppies.  I really should have written this post several weeks ago while our puppies were much smaller.  They will be ten weeks old tomorrow.  They are growing like weeds and very playful.  They get so excited to see Arin, which she loves, but they are getting so big that they often knock her over, which isn't so much fun.  They are too big for her to hold now too. 

We have been able to rehome three of the puppies, possibly four.  If anyone wants one, please let me know.  On Friday, they will be rehomed, including the momma, at the Humane Society.

Hold a Newborn Baby

One thing on our list of 162 Things to do Before Kindergarten is to hold a newborn baby.  Arin has had the opportunity to do this a couple of times recently.  First, she held her new second cousin, Kynzie, which for some reason I have no pictures of this happening.  Secondly, she has held her new cousin, Nicholas (which she pronounces "Necklace").  Thanks to my sister-in-law, Angie, I do have a picture of this happening!

UPDATE:
Angie found a picture of Arin holding baby Kynzie, so I am able to add that too. 
Thanks Ang!

Play with Cousins

I was just looking at our list of 162 Things to do Before Kindergarten.  I haven't updated this list in a while. One of the things on the list was to play with cousins.  This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago at our family reunion.  This is the majority (one cousin is missing) of our girls' cousins from my side of the family.  In this picture are some of their second and third cousins too!  My girls have had the best time seeing their cousins for the past two weekends at family get togethers.  It is hard not to live around family anymore, but perhaps it helps us to appreciate the times we have together even more!

Play Putt-Putt

One of the things on our list is to play putt-putt.  Last month we took Arin to do this.  She thought it was one of the greatest things that she has ever done and she often asks to do it again.

Keep a Piggy Bank

One of the things on our list is to keep a piggy bank. When I was pregnant for Arin, I started keeping a piggy bank. We used the money that was saved for her first birthday. Since then, we have been keeping a piggy bank and using the money towards our annual Family Fun Day (the first one is listed here). Arin has always loved putting the coins in the bank. She also knows the names of the different coins. Today, she had fun sorting the piles of coins with me. The piggy bank was completely filled and we ended up with $109.17, which was saved over the past 14 months (with the help of some contributions from some family members). Thank you Aunt Sheila for our piggy bank! Now on to planning Family Fun Day 2009!

Play a Board Game

One of the things on our list of 162 Things to do Before Kindergarten is to play a board game. When my parents were visiting a couple of weeks ago, they bought Arin the game SORRY! This was my childhood favorite game and I am so excited that Arin now has it. She absolutely LOVES this game as much as I do :) She asks to play it daily. It is great for number recognition and counting, taking turns, and learning strategy. Thanks Grandma and Papa for this great game that we've spent hours enjoying!

Also, thank you for Ella's new babydoll monkey that she also has spent hours enjoying!

Countdown Collage

One of the things on our list is to allow Arin the use of scissors and glue. With today's project, we were able to mark that off of the list.

We will be taking a trip with Andy's family in a few weeks. Arin is very excited about this and asks me daily if it is time to go yet. To help her visualize how many days we have left before we leave, I had her make this countdown collage. She started by looking through magazines and cutting out pictures that she liked. She glued them to the inside of a box. Then, we made paper chains to represent the days left before we leave.

Receive a Letter

One of the things on our list to do before kindergarten, is to receive a letter. Yesterday, when I got the mail, I saw a package in the mailbox addressed to Arin. It was a birthday present from our good friends Patty & Marshall. They used to be our neighbors, but have recently relocated to Texas! They visited the Dallas Zoo a couple of weeks ago and picked up this cute monkey bottle holder for Arin. Arin was super excited about it. She said, "My daddy calls me monkey and now I have a monkey!" Along with the present, there was a card and in the card were two sheets of stickers, which Arin was equally excited about! Thank you Patty & Marshall for the wonderful gifts and also for helping us cross another thing off of our list!

New Friends

Today, we went to visit our new friends.

We had a great time at their house. The girls colored together, played together and jumped on the trampoline together. Then, we had lunch, which was very yummy. After lunch, Jessica took us on a golf cart ride to tour their farm. We saw sheep and goats.

Then, Arin helped gather eggs from the chicken coop.

Finally, we toured the garden and saw lots of fruits and vegetables growing. Jessica let the girls pick strawberries and eat them.

It was a great day and we can't wait to go back and visit again soon!

Picking Flowers

Arin loves to pick flowers. Every day when we go outside, she finds some sort of flower to pick. Then she brings them to me and says, "I picked this for you, mama!" This weekend, we were at Andy's family's house. Andy's mom had planted sunflowers a few months ago and she let Arin pick them while we were there.