Let's All Go to the Movies ...

We've had a great Saturday family day ... one that must be captured for our memory book!

We slept in til 8am (woohoo! thank you, Kendall!) ...
enjoyed our breakfast poolside as a backyard picnic ...
worked in the backyard pulling up weeds & lots of our plants and flowers that are dead from this extreme heat of a summer (despite Ash's dedication to consistent watering & extra watering each day!) ...
decided we were hot enough at 9:30am to take a swim in the pool to cool off, after our yard work ...
and got ready for today's big event ...

We ate a yummy lunch at Chick-Fil-A and hurried to the Movie Theater ... for Kendall's 1st movie theater experience! 

When we saw the previews for Disney's Winnie the Pooh movie to come out this summer, we knew we wanted Kendall to see it.  As the summer went on & she began to enjoy a few Disney movies at home, we thought we might get adventurous and take her to see it at the Theater.  She is only 2, so we really didn't know if this was a good idea, but we thought we'd try it!  We decided to wait until it was showing at our local $1 Movie Theater ... and today, it finally arrived!  (It's perfect timing ... this is an unusual quiet weekend (our 1st this summer!), next weekend is Labor Day, and the next weekend after that starts Ashley's 8 week football season ... so today was the day to go!)

 

To prepare her for Pooh Bear & his friends, Kendall & I checked out an old Winnie the Pooh movie from our library during one of our weekly visits at the beginning of the summer ... it was a little slow (it was an old movie), but she did like the characters. During part of the movie, Tigger is sad because he has to give up bouncing (his favorite thing) ... Kendall is such a sensitive & caring soul, so she has brought up that in several conversations this summer ... and again today, as we told her that we were going to the movies to see Pooh Bear on a big screen! She also wanted to see fireworks ... this girl has quite a memory we are realizing! She LOVED the fireworks from the 4th of July, and STILL talks about them and asks to see more fireworks, on a weekly basis. She loves to look for them at the start of Disney movies (above Cinderella's castle) ... so I told her she would see them at the movies. She was really excited about this as well!  (We told her we'd get popcorn, too, to which she said "I  excited" ... and had she known what popcorn was, she really would have been excited about that, too! ha!)

We got to the Theater ... bought our 3 tickets ... Kendall gave all of our tickets to the ticket guy ... walked through the hall to find our theater ... and found our 3 seats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendall was perfect throughout the movie & had a fun time ... she only moved seats 3 times (to sit on Mommy's lap, Daddy's lap & her own seat), which for this 2 year old who is normally moving around constantly at home, we thought was really good!  Daddy treated us to a bag of popcorn (which we never do normally!) but you only take your daughter to her 1st movie ONCE!  She also loved the popcorn ... of course.

The movie was cute and funny ... she laughed at several parts too ... and it was only 69 minutes ... just long enough!  We had a great 1st movie experience ... we might just do this again, sometime! The Lion King is coming out in a few weeks for a special 2-week only showing in 3D & digitally restored ... we have the original one at home and it's one of Kendall's favorites, so we might try to see that in the Theater ... we'll see!

Here is our own Priceless moment ...
3 Tickets to Winnie the Pooh ... $3.75
1 bag of Popcorn (& 1 Drink for Mommy & Daddy to share) ... $10.25 (Ash would say "that is highway robbery!" ... and he is right!)
Spending a Saturday afternoon together, watching your daughter experience a movie at the Theater for the 1st time ... PRICELESS!

the FW Muesum with friends

This summer Ryllie & Lyndon Caton have been coming over on Tuesdays & Thursdays (8:30-2:30) while Angela (better known as "Angel" says Kendall) works.  There have been some days that her hospital cancels her shift ... this has been mostly in August ... sometimes she'll still bring them over so she can get other things done, but sometimes she'll keep them with her.  Today was our last day for them to come over & Angela was canceled again  ... so we decided to take the kids to the Fort Worth Museum of Science & Natural History.  (They've got a family season pass & were able to get Kendall & I in on their pass, so that was awesome!)

The kids had a blast ... and since summer is over & this was the first week of school, it was pretty empty ... double awesome! 

you see a movie on the wall, you are beckoned to
lay down to watch it ... where ever you are, I guess!

Before heading home, we decided to stop in at the museum next door ... the National Cowgirl Museum ... which we got into for free, thanks to their season pass!  It's all things cowgirls ... the west ... horses ... and fun!  They loved playing in the camp grounds area ...

and then we were off to ride a buckin' bronco ... yee haw!  Ryllie took her turn first ... she's a veteran of this buckin' bronco ... and it video records your ride & then displays it as a movie!  Too fun!  They loved watching each other on the movies!

Kendall was a little unsure of this buckin' bronco, but she did fine and had fun ... despite looking a little serious in this photo!

We had another fun experience at the Museum and we are definitely getting a family season pass!  She loves this place ... and it's a really fun way to spend the day!


We've had a fun summer with Ryllie and Lyndon playing at our house each week ... Kendall will be most sad to not see Ryllie at least twice or three times a week, now that the summer is over and we're all starting preschool in a few weeks!  There is a little friendship that formed this summer ... over sharing her toys, watching movies & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, playing "dress-ups" (as she calls it) and eating lunch & snacks together.  Ryllie picked out a special present to give to Kendall ... she gave it to her today ... she gave her a Princess Aurora ballerina barbie doll ... and she is already greatly loved by Kendall!   She has also LOVED helping me with Lyndon, who despite being 16 months younger than Kendall & being bigger than her, she still insists on helping change his diapers & feeding him his bottles, and helping him with anything she possible can.  (She is such a sweet little Mommy!)

"I Hair cut!"

Today, Kendall got her 1st hair cut!

I had talked to her about getting a hair cut a couple of times in the past 2 days, building it up as a fun experience ... not knowing how she would do ... but hoping for the best!  She'd mentioned it a few times on her own in the past couple of day and several times today saying "I hair cut!" (She easily interchanges "I" for "my" or "me" at times ... I love to hear this 2 year old talk!)  This morning, she even told our Children's minister at church, Mrs. Patti, "When I wake up {from her afternoon nap}, I {will get my} hair cut!" ... she has been very excited about it.  So much so, she took over an hour to finally fall asleep for nap time and we had to wake her up from her nap, so we could get to her appointment.  But she was in a great mood, nonetheless.

We made her an appointment at a little salon called "Sweet & Sassy!"  And boy was it ever!  It was decorated and decked out in all-things GIRLS ... Girly-Girls!  It's a salon & spa, and apparently, a very popular birthday party spot, as well!  While we waited 20 minutes for our appointment (our hair stylist was having to fix someone else's little client's hair ... yikes!), Kendall amused herself with all the goodies & treats in the shop ... a little girl's haven ... all things glitter, stuffed animals, girly decor, jewelry, hair bows & headbands, nail polish, lip gloss and super cute boutique outfits ... a lot to get her hands on and that is just what she did, with me right behind her telling her to put it back.  They offer lots of different services, including mini-manicures & mini-pedicures, facials, special hair up-dos, and anything else you can think of that is girly!  I think I can see our little girly-girl wanting to visit this place again ... in the future!

Kendall was way over due for her 1st haircut ... but we just didn't want to loose all of her curls.  As it has grown longer, her hair is growing out straighter, with a little body to it, so the curls will be gone eventually.  Sad.  I was really worried how she would do sitting still, or even having someone mess with her hair ... fixing her hair (not so much the fixing it, as she LOVES to wear the bows, seriously!, but the brushing it) is a daily fit/cry/scream-fest, with the tangles.  I think a little girl bob is really cute, but we didn't want to loose all her curls, so we were just wanting a trim ... get all the dead ends & even it out a bit.

Here she is BEFORE ...

And this is her hair stylist ... Ashley ... she was very good with Kendall and did a great job!  Kendall is sooooo serious in these pictures ... she was a little unsure of the whole process, the huge cape, seeing her hair on the cape, watching Ashley with her scissors & comb, but she sat VERY still and just watched it all in the huge mirror!

At Sweet & Sassy, they finish off the experience by doing a big up-do of some sort, a little glitter spray in their hair, a sweet little face painting and letting you pick out a special lollipop ... Kendall LOVED it all!  Ashley did a small braid in the front(Kendall was getting restless by this time, and she didn't think she would sit through much of an up-do!) and we opted out of the face painting this time (she was ready to be done with sitting there & Ashley said she would just keep touching it) ... but Kendall did pick out her own lollipop and loved every lick of it!

Here she is AFTER ...

Another milestone for our sweet Kendall Grace!  She's just getting sooo big!  One day we will be back for more girly-fun!

Aloha, Auntieeee

We've enjoyed our last few days of summer break ... especially because my sister, aka Auntie E, (or as Kendall calls her "Auntieeeee") has been staying with us the past 8 days!  My brother-in-law got his new orders to Hawaii and left a couple of weeks ago, but my sister stayed behind to finish up the last minute things and flew out of DFW.

Kendall ADORES Auntie E ... she loves all of her Aunts and attaches herself to everyone who visits or we visit ... and these last few days with E was no exception!  They played dress up (those pictures are on E's camera, so I will have to get those from her!) ... and played with every toy or activity Kendall owns ... we went swimming (Kendall even got E to jump off the diving board, which she does NOT do. Ever. But Kendall was very convincing, apparently!) ... we went shopping, shopping & shopping some more ... we ate some great food, food that E didn't get in Florida where they have been the past 4 year, and food she won't be getting in Hawaii ... we spent a few days in Abilene visiting our mom, sister & fam ... and stayed up waaaaaay too late talking & laughing! 

Kendall owes Auntie E big ... because of her she got to eat ice cream (for the 2nd time in her life) and have donuts for the 1st time (for the baby book record, it was 2 donut holes) ... to which she LOVED and with EVERY bite she said "Mmmmm! Yummy!"  (We used to have to be very careful about what Kendall ate, since it was so little ... Now that she eats better & is gaining weight more normally, we are able to let her try special treats every once in a while.)

Our last night together with E was full of packing up all of E's stuff, laughing ... and a 45 minute pedicure (Ash stayed home with Kendall) ... BLISS.

We got up early Friday morning to get all of E's baggage loaded up and headed to the airport.  A very bitter sweet drive to the airport.
  

We helped E through the airport with all of her bags ... got her checked in for her flight ... and said our tearful good-byes.  It was very emotional for all of us.  Kendall was VERY sad ... she kept saying "I miss her.  I sad."  We hugged and kissed Auntie E, a couple of times ... our sweet pea is quite the hugger and kisser these days!  We stayed behind security and watched E go through the security checkpoint ... and walk off to find her gate.  Kendall was very sad ... it was heart-breaking to see her so sad & listen to her talk about missing E.

We do miss her but we are excited about her new adventure in Hawaii!  And, Ash & I will get to see them in October ... we are taking a Hawaiian cruise for our 10 year anniversary (already planned before we found out they were going to be there) and will be staying 3 extra days to see them ... and we are sooo excited!

Aloha, E!  Thanks for spending time with us before you left ... and we can't wait to see you in Hawaii!