Growing Butterflies!

YaYa gave Aubrey a butterfly garden for her 4th birthday!  It really was incredible to watch our little caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies. I also thankful that I didn't kill them...well, one didn't make it, but the other 11 were great!

This is what they looked like when they arrived on our front door step!  Well, after we opened the huge box and dug and dug and dug through all the foam peanuts!  Thank goodness I kept digging just to make sure I got everything because I wasn't expecting two cups!

Our instructions were to just keep them in the cups like they arrived until they form into chrysalis.  Before turning into chrysalis, the caterpillars eat the food that's in the cup and they triple in size within a few days.  Once ready, the caterpillars crawl to the top of the cup and hang.  After a day or two of hanging, they will then turn into a chrysalis. 

Once all the chrysalis had formed, I then transported them into the butterfly garden.  I hung them from the net on the side of the butterfly garden. I know....it looks quite disgusting! 

After a few days of hanging in the butterfly garden, they began to shake and then they emerged from their chrysalis.  We only saw one actually come out because they surprisingly emerged from their chrysalis very quickly.

After a few days of the butterflies flying around in the garden, we decided we would set them free.  Some of them crawled right onto our hands and stayed there for a minute or so before braving their new home!

Pink Seersucker Ruffle Dress!

I made Aubrey a new dress for her birthday and she had so much fun posing for me!  I loved a Kelly's Kids dress that I got her this summer that was this same style, so I created a pattern from the dress and made one.  It really wasn't that heard, either!

Oh, she cracks me up!

Luau Fun!

While in Orlando on vacation with Danny's family, the condo where we stayed hosted a luau.  They had girls hula dancing and a guy dancing with fire!  The whole show was extremely entertaining!  I would have to say though, that Anna, enjoyed herself the most.

That girl can dance...and dance she did.  

The whole time music was playing, Anna danced! 

Daddy and his angel, Alexandra.

People were asked to come up and learn how to hula.  Wouldn't you know that my two girls were the first ones up there!  Anna seemed to get a little stage shy once she was in front of everyone.  YaYa, Lydia and Aubrey did a great job learning to hula!

The crew with the lead singer of the band!

Daddy and his girls!

Bibiddi Bobbidi Boutique...Here We Come!

We arranged our trip to Disney World around a week vacation with Danny's mom and his sister, Serena and her family.  We ALL stayed in a 2 bedroom condo, which was a little tight, but we had fun! 

One day was spent in Downtown Disney where Aubrey and Lydia became real princesses...well, they are both already princesses, but they visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where they were primped and pampered and came out looking like the most beautiful princesses in the whole land!

Before the princess makeover:  Can you tell how excited Aubrey is?

I love this picture!  The price of beauty!

Look closely, there is so much gel in Lydia's hair that it's sticking up like a stick!  It's amazing what they do to their hair!  Once done, their hair WILL NOT move for 5 full days!  Ha!

Aubrey getting her make-up done!  She' so serious!

Ta Da!  Princess Aubrey with her birthday banner!

Best princess cousins, Aubrey and Lydia!

Daddy and Mommy with their (one of their) princess!

We celebrated Aubrey's birthday with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.  She loved having everyone come and sing to her!  Please note: their hair was done at 11:00 a.m., we stayed at Downtown Disney all day and then had dinner.  Their hair hasn't budged!

Aubrey Celebrates her 4th Birthday at Disney!

We're off to Disney and to Celebrate Aubrey's 4th Birthday!

Aubrey's first trip to Disney is one she will always remember!  It was better than I could have ever imagined.  Yes, Disney is the happiest place on earth, but what made me happiest was seeing the excitement overflowing from Aubrey with every new thing she saw!

The first characters we meet on our way in are Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters.  Since this was Aubrey's first encounter with any Disney characters, she wasn't quite so sure about it.  The stepsisters were arguing over Aubrey's bow and the mother was telling them how "childish" they were being.  It was very amusing, but I think Aubrey just thought they were nuts!  She wouldn't let go of my hand the whole time we were talking to them!

Next, we got to meet Cinderella.  Aubrey promptly asked Cinderella is her stepsisters were mean?  Cinderella of course, has a nice, politically correct answer and that seemed to satisfy Aubrey.  After we got our picture taken, Aubrey wanted to stay longer and keep talking to Cinderella.  She didn't understand why we couldn't stay longer with her!

Now, on to Mickey and Minnie's house!  Aubrey especially enjoyed Minnie's house where she got to look in Minnie's refrigerator, watch the popcorn pop in her microwave, visit her sewing room "just like mommy's) and to see her garden!

I personally loved Mickey's Philharmagic show, but Aubrey wasn't as fond of it.  In fact, when I asked her after the first day what her least favorite part of the day was, she stated the "show where things were going to hit us!"  She kept taking her 3D glasses off in the show so it wouldn't look like everything was coming at her.  We also happen to sit on the next to front row where they squirt water at you at one point during the show.  She did like that!

 
We got to meet Jasmine!  I loved hearing Aubrey converse with the characters.  She always had a specific question to ask each one of them.  She asked Jasmine where Alladin was?  Also, whenever she would hand any of the characters her autograph book, she would always spell her name for them.  It was so funny!

Daddy and Aubrey posing to the side of the castle.  Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, we found a great spot at a snack place with tables to enjoy the parade.  We got there about 30 minutes before the parade started and enjoyed funnel cake (for mommy), ice cream (for Aubrey) and coke floats (for daddy) before the parade.  We also had a great view of the castle!  It was the perfect spot!

Aubrey loved all the rides (except Snow White's because she thought it was scary).  Here she is with dad on Alladin's Magic Carpet Ride!

Yes, it rained off and on most of the afternoon, but it really started pouring by the end of the day (6:30ish).  Aubrey loved wearing her rain poncho, but dad was too manly (and they were $$$) to wear one!

Day two at the Magic Kingdom started off with a sighting on Donald Duck.  He was such a gentleman by kissing Aubrey's hand!

And finally...Aubrey meets Minnie and Mickey Mouse!  She gave them each a big hug and got their autographs! 

Aubrey loved riding on the roller coasters!  This was really the first time she had ever been on any sort of ride.  Here, we are about to get on Goofy's Barnstormer, but she also rode Splash Mountain and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  In order to get on the last two roller coasters I mentioned, a child has to be 40" tall.  I measured Aubrey's height before we left and she was 38" tall.  So I went out and bought her some Keds so that I could stuff the bottom with napkins to make her tall enough for the rides!  It worked!

 I just love this picture!  She was trying to get the ultimate experience of riding a roller coaster!

Every little girl has to get a pair of mouse ears on their first trip to Disney!  Aubrey picked these out herself, but I thought the bow was a nice accessory!

Aubrey specifically asked me if she would get to see Mary Poppins at Disney World...so I asked around and found where she would be meeting kids.  We were the first in line to see her and Bert!  Aubrey asked Mary Poppins if she could borrow her umbrella.  Unfortunately, Mary Poppins told Aubrey that she needed her umbrella, but she let Aubrey loot at it and hold it for the picture! 

Aubrey, Danny and I in front Cinderella's castle.  Needless to say, Aubrey LOVED, LOVED the castle!

On the way out of Magic Kingdom, we saw Winnie the Pooh and Tigger!  Pooh Bear kept tickling Aubrey's neck which she thought was super funny!  I love this picture!  I think it's one of my favorites! 

Aubrey had a wonderful time celebrating her birthday at Disney World.  She is already asking when we are going back!  Whew!  We will have to consult the budget on that one! 

Aubrey Turns 4!

I can't believe we actually have a four year old! 

Aubrey was so excited about her upcoming birthday and we finally told her about her birthday trip to Disney World!  Instead of having a big birthday party, we decided to take her to Disney World for the first time.  I can't begin to tell you how excited she was, but she still thought she was having a birthday party.  She just thought her party (with all of her friends) would be at Disney World! 

Since our trip to Disney was not planned until the end of May, we had a very small celebration for the day of her birthday.  MeMe and Mackenzie came to visit for the weekend and we went to the Zoo on Saturday.  The girls love going to the Zoo and we are so thankful for our family passes that Pop-Pop and Phyllis gave the girls for their birthdays!

On Sunday (the actual day of her birthday) she and Anna both woke to a balloon surprise in their bed!  Anna actually woke up first and found them, but she quickly woke Aubrey up!  Aubrey was a little out of sorts at first (as she is most mornings when she wakes up), but it didn't take her long to realize it was her birthday and the balloons were just the beginning to a wonderful day!

After playing with the balloons, we got ready and went to church while MeMe and Mackenzie stayed home with Alexandra to prepare Aubrey's birthday lunch.  I asked Aubrey what she wanted for her special birthday lunch and she quickly stated, "macaroni and cheese with chicken nuggets and green beans."  Who would have ever guessed!  So that's what we had.  My mom even found Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets!  After our yummy lunch, it was time for cake!!! 

Aubrey had a fantastic birthday...and the celebration will continue in Disney in a couple of weeks!

Aubreyisms

Aubrey is such a sweet child and the things she says and does just touches my heart and make me happy all over!  Just a few of her recent Aubreyisms!

So Much Love
Before going to bed one night last week, this is the conversation between the two of us.
Me:  I love you.
Aubrey: I love you too.
Me:  I love you so much.
Aubrey: Do you know how much I love you?
Me: No.  How much? ( I couldn't wait to hear this answer!)
After a short pause to think, Aubrey says: Super Much!

Really, Really, Really
When she has done something that she knows she shouldn't do and doesn't want to get in trouble, she looks at me and say's, "I'm really, really, really, really (sometimes I don't think she's ever going to stop saying really and the number of reallys normally is lesser/greater depending on what she has done) really, really, super sorry."

Green Eggs & Ham
She can be a picky eater when she wants to be and she always tells me she doesn't like strawberries when I offer them to her.  She has even told me she didn't like a yogurt I gave her once because it had pieces of strawberries in it.  Today, I was cutting strawberries for Anna and Alexandra when Aubrey came up to me and asked me if she could taste the strawberry.  I gave her a small piece of strawberry and she took it, looked at it, covered her eyes with one hand and put the strawberry in her mouth with the other hand.  She turned her back to me as she chewed and then once done, she turned around and announced, "I like strawberries, Mama!"

At dinner that night, I was telling Danny the story of how Aubrey ate the strawberry. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "just like Sam I am."

Zoo Trip

May 15, 2010

MeMe and Mackenzie came to visit us the weekend of Aubrey's birthday and we thought a zoo trip would be perfect for all the girls!  Pop-Pop and Phyllis gave the girls a annual family pass to the zoo for their birthdays, so now we can go to the zoo anytime!  We have been a couple of times already and are planning many, many more trips this summer! 

The girls always enjoy the zoo and it's one of those places you can go to over and over and never get tired of and always see someting new.  We still even haven't seen all the animals in the two trips we've taken this year!

Aubrey and Mackenzie with the giraffe! 

The giraffe is the only one looking at the camera!

Mackenzie feeding the giraffe.