S'more Fun with Spring Break (part 3)

Sophie on one of the rides at Chuck E. Cheese

Abbie riding the carousel at Chuck E. Cheese's

Sophie eating her s'more. Her shirt says, "Girls have S'more Fun!"

We returned home from Kentucky on Wednesday night. On Thursday night, we met Nana and Paw-paw at Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner and games. I had told Sophie that we could go there over Spring Break but this was the first opportunity that we had to go. It was pretty crowded for a weeknight but the girls had a great time and it was good to see Nana and Paw-paw. Abbie seems to be getting over her fear of people dressed up because she got near Chuck E. without freaking out. On Friday, we went to Goofballs. I didn't take any pictures but the girls had a blast! It was a nice surprise too that when we got there, they told me that open play was free during Spring Break. The girls played on the big indoor playground, shooting balls through the air gun, sliding down the big slide and playing a couple of games.  Sophie's been wanting us to make s'mores lately so we made some on Friday night.  Yummy!  The weather sure has been dreary at the end of Sophie's Spring Break. 

Sophie's 5!

Sophie riding the carousel

Sophie's Barbie cake

Emerson and Sophie eating cake

Sophie is so excited to be eating pizza and celebrating with her friends!

Sophie turned 5 on Saturday, May 1st. For some reason, this birthday seems really hard for her mommy to swallow because it means that she'll be starting kindergarten in a few months. We decided to celebrate Sophie's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's this year with some of her friends. We had it on a Thursday night which was great because it wasn't crowded and we did before all of the storms came over the weekend! The kids ate pizza, played games, and ate cake. Abbie was pretty scared of Chuck E. Cheese, even the electronic one.

Chuck E. Cheese's

Abbie with Bob the Builder

Sophie with Uncle Phil

Sophie, Abbie, and Phil went up on the little stage where you can be silly

Abbie had a nice birthday. We didn't do anything too exciting during the day. Sophie and I made her some iced sugar cookies and she opened a gift from us. That night, we met Uncle Phil at Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate and eat pizza. It was a rainy, messy night so Nana and Paw-paw didn't get to make it. Abbie loved sitting on the rides but didn't like for them to vibrate. She enjoyed the carousel and climbing through the tunnels with Sophie. Phil also introduced her to air hockey. It was sweet because Abbie couldn't quite climb up the steps to get into the tunnels. Uncle Phil encouraged Sophie to help push Abbie up each step since she wasn't quite tall enough. Sophie did that several times even though Abbie weighs a good portion of her weight. They had a blast playing in the tunnels and coming down the slide. It's not very expensive to take Abbie to Chuck E. Cheese since she doesn't care about most of the rides. =) Happy 2nd birthday, Abbie!

Birthday Fun

Sophie & Brody at Chuck E. Cheese

Sophie & Abbie riding a horse at Chuck E. Cheese's

Sophie with her new bike

Sophie's 4th birthday was last week. As her birthday got closer, she kept thinking of more and more things that she wanted me to do for her birthday (i.e. making special foods, taking her special places, etc). After a while, I finally said, "OK, I don't think I can take anymore special directions right now." She was so excited that we were going to bring cupcakes to her school last Thursday for a little party there. She reminded me about making the cupcakes many times. Then, she really enjoyed helping me make them!! Abbie, my mom and I were all able to go to Sophie's school for the little party. Sophie loved serving the cupcakes to her friends, wearing a special hat, being the line leader and all of the other special privileges you get on your birthday.

On her actual birthday, it was very rainy!! I had thought that we might go to the zoo but there was no way. I ended up taking the girls to the library and then meeting Matt and my parents and Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch. Sophie was very interested in going there. We had lunch and played games. It was the first time that we had been where Abbie was able to ride a few of the rides too. We ran into Brody and his family at the restaurant. He and Sophie were born on the exact same day. We go to church with their family. They were also having a birthday lunch with the grandparents! When we left there, it was pouring down rain so almost everyone got a little wet!

For her birthday, we surprised Sophie with a big girl bike and a few other goodies. I didn't know how she'd like the bike but she wanted to try it out some the next day. It's a little big now but she will grow into it. She also loved the bride and groom Barbies that she got from Nana and Paw-paw. She has received some nice surprises too from other family members. We were busy with wedding showers this weekend for my cousin, Keri, who is getting married soon but we are having a little party for Sophie this coming weekend with some of her "girl" friends and extended family.

Bye-Bye Pacifier

Well, we had a nice 4th of July although just before we found out that Sophie had pink eye as well as a bad ear infection. I knew that she hadn't been feeling well for a couple of days but you just never know!! For the 4th of July, Sophie was feeling better and so we went to a party hosted by the Gray's, some friends of ours from church. They had a large group of us from church over where many of the kids swam in the pool, jumped on the trampoline or in the jump castle, we chowed down on some great food, they had other playground stuff for the kids and then many stayed for the fireworks because they live near Crockett Park. We were not so brave this year because both girls were really tired!! I wish we had taken some pictures at the party but we didn't. We had a great time though!!! On the 4th of July weekend, Sophie saw a toy that she really liked but Matt told her that he would only buy it for her if she gave up her passy. So, she jokingly said, "bye-bye passy" over the weekend. Well, we've talked about getting rid of it for a LONG time now but could always find excuses to give it back, etc but this time we stuck with it. I never thought that she would have it for so long but it always has helped her go to sleep. It's been hard for Sophie but after 3 nights of sleeping without it she was able to pick out a toy that she wanted (the baby stroller shown above) AND she got to go back to Chuck E. Cheese's (we did that in celebration after she was potty trained too). Sophie had a great time at Chuck E. Cheese's with her daddy, Uncle Phil & Nana but unfortunately, we don't have any pictures. Ever since she has given up the passy, Sophie hasn't taken any naps. Hopefully, when she gets used to not having it anymore, she will go back to taking naps at least some of the time.

Dinner with Chuck E. Cheese

Sophie playing with Play-doh

Sophie with Chuck E.

Sophie and Phil with Chuck E. Cheese

Sophie hasn't mastered potty training yet by far but we took her to Chuck E. Cheese's on Tuesday night. We've been promising to take her as a reward when she learned to use the potty so we celebrated her progress! Also, the day before, Nana gave Sophie a Titans cheerleader outfit. Sophie enjoyed wearing it though we had to explain who the Titans were because Sophie's thinking about basketball season now. =) Nana, Paw-paw, & Uncle Phil were able to meet us at Chuck E. Cheese's. The pizza was great, it wasn't crowded until we were about to leave, Abbie slept through almost all of it, and most importantly, Sophie had a BLAST! She enjoyed seeing the little Chuck E. Cheese show though it's been scaled down a lot since we were all little and she had fun trying out all of the rides and games. She was very protective of her tokens though. Paw-paw bought a ton of tokens so we've got plenty left where we can back and visit another time. Her favorite ride was the one with Chuck E. Cheese shown above and she rode it several times. She couldn't quite get the hang of skee- ball yet which was always my favorite but she's a little young. Since going to Chuck E. Cheese's I've explained to Sophie that yes, we have to keep going to the potty.