Chloe in real life!

If Mack sees a picture of any baby, she automatically thinks it's her cousin, Chloe so it was so much fun to finally get to see Chloe and Marie in person again! We hadn't seen either of them since last July and, as you can imagine, Chloe has sure changed.

Aunt Meg, Chloe and Marie pick up Mack and me for a trip to the Toledo zoo. What a fun day! The weather was perfect and the zoo wasn't too busy. Here are a few pictures from our day:


Mack was so excited to go to the zoo with Chloe, Marie and Aunt Meg. She even asked me to make up a song about it at bedtime the night before.
Aunt Meg , Chloe and Mack checkin' out the seals. It was so much fun for Mack to be able to see the animals we have been reading about in our books. Her favorite was the penguin exhibit and she liked being able to walk around like the big kids:
Mack and Chloe just after lunch. Chloe is fascinated by big kids so this was the prime place for a sighting:
After lunch we scoped out the primates and then checked out the playground before heading for home.The hour long ride home was just what was needed for a cat nap. Notice poor Marie sitting between the car seats:
Mack slept the whole way home with the blanket over her head.
On Friday, we celebrated Chloe's Birthday late as well as my birthday. Chloe turned one on March 22nd but we didn't wanna miss out on celebrating with her.

Aunt Meg lives across from a preschool playground. It's a popular place with Mackenzie who asks to go there just about every day. Chloe and Mack had fun. And so did we( I warned Marie that I am constantly on the look out for " bloggable" momments so she gave me one):
Nature girl on the hunt for something new to explore:
The next time Chloe is here, I think she'll be taking those steps two at a time!
Just look at those sweet faces!
Here's a picture from Leif, Marie and Chloe's visit last year:

And this year( we all look a little paler in April than we did in July!):

The girls had fun playing together on this blanket. Both LOVED to swing, hammock style!

It's always so much fun to spend time with Leif, Marie and Chloe and we look forward to their visit later this summer!

Nature girl

With Spring in the air, Mackenzie and I have been taking walks nearly every day after nap. I snapped this picture of her getting up close and personal with an ant:
We've put the snow flake projects behind us and have moved on to flowers and butterflies:

Mike's trip to Florida

Mike is back from Florida and , though he's a little sun burnt, he is refreshed and ready to practice what he learned at the STN conference. Too bad there weren't enough patience for him to actually work this week! But I digress...

After the conference,Mike visited lots of places he had hoped to and even got to drive a Dodge Charger! Now THAT's a rental car!

Mack and I missed him so much. We were both more than ready when it came time to retrieve him from the airport. When Mack caught a view of him waiting for us, she tried to get out of her car seat to get to him saying " Daddy! Daddy! My daddy!".

Here's Mack eating a Mickey Mouse shaped rice crispy treat. Notice the Mickey mouse necklace that says " Mackenzie".
Mack's happy to have her daddy back
Here's what Mike brought me...pretty perfect I'd say! lol

Ride 'em Cowgirl!

And in case you aren't sure of the proper attire of a ladybug riding cowgirl, here's a close up:

G.G!

With Mike in Florida and Mary being off of school for the week, it was the perfect time for a trip to Ludington to see G.G. We had a great time. Mackenzie found lots to do at Grandma's and , though she didn't sleep well, she did a very good job the entire time. This was only the second time that she has stayed in a bed that wasn't her own ( apart from when we go do Colorado, of course) so I am proud of her. Here are a few pictures of our trip:

Mack playing with GG's little piano
Grandma and me
GG trying to trick Mackenzie into believing that red puppy was blue. Nice try, GG!
An artsy pick I couldn't pass up:
Grandma, or shall I say Co-Captain Veronica Taylor, took flying lessons and learned to fly. A stranger who saw a story about her in the local paper sent this to her and I think it's too cute! Mary and I insisted that she put it out for all to see.

Easter day

Whew! Our extended Easter celebration concluded today after a busy day!

To get started, here's our customary "this year vs. last year" shot:

Mackenzie before church last year:
And this year( too chilly for a pretty dress):


( If you're really bored, you can look back at last years Easter post and see Mackenzie three Easters ago as a newborn)

Our day started out earlier than normal since Mackenzie and I were meeting Grammy at church for breakfast before service. As soon as Mack swallowed her last bit of sausage, she was ready to go to the nursery to play with her Sunday morning friends. After church, we stopped by Grammy's. She had a special surprise for Mackenzie- a cool Elmo video about birthdays, two outfits, leggings and socks!

After nap we headed back to Grammy's for Easter dinner. Aunt Janet brought her good friend Anna and Doris and Aunt Meg also came. It was a ladies event! We all commented on how wonderful the food ( and the company) was. Aunt Meg and I took Mack out for a short walk where Mackenzie rounded up nearly ever pine cone she found along the way. Thank goodness Aunt Meg was there to help carry of them!

It was a very relaxing afternoon. Thanks to Grammy for hosting.


And since I last posted a picture of Janet playing with the kids in the bathroom, I promised I'd post a picture of her doing something normal. This is Aunt Janet in her element:
Mackenzie was chasing after Aunt Janet with this book and they had such fun reading together.

Here's Mackenzie riding off into the sunset...

43.75 loooong days

Mike and I gave up candy for Lent. It really was an eye opening experience and I'm glad I did it. We ended up ending Lent just a few hours early and both indulged our sweet tooth at around 9:30 pm.


Mike with his bounty:
Can't have chocolate without ice cold milk:

Sadly, after eating just a few pieces, I got horrible heartburn which kept me up all night. Chocolate,old friend, how could you betray me?