Happy Father's Day!

I mean, it just seems like he was born to be a dad.

To read to our girls... to teach them things and tell them great stories....

To take them on fun dates and to be just as excited as they are about it...

...and that is *super* excited.

And to laugh and play, laugh and play, laugh and play! ...Then play some more.

S, you've got 3 girls on your hands who are *totally* smitten with you.

Yes, you.

Which is why in the late afternoon we camp out at the door so that we can scream, dance, twirl and crack up laughing when we see you walk up. It's the best part of our day.

Papa and Meme to Memphis

We just had a great visit with the Robinsons. The girls were *tha-rilled* to have Papa and Meme in Memphis and although we never made it, Kate kept saying that she wanted to take them to the playground so "aaaaaaaall her friends" could meet them.

One night during their visit, the Robinsons baby-sat while we went to a dinner celebrating the two out-going Allergy Fellows at UT. It is so hard to believe that Scout has already been back at UT a year and that next year it will be his dinner and he'll be ALL DONE with his training! Can it be?!?!

The Fellows...

Nqyuen does a great job keeping the boys in line and is the official food-provider, party-planner, and general "make-it-fun chair" of the program! (On top of being a super doctor, of course!)

The girls, of course, had a ball while we were gone.
When we got home, Kate had somehow managed to convince Meme that she (Kate) shouldn't go to bed, but Meme should. So our little negotiator had *Meme* tucked into *her* bed, all ready for some Zzzzzs! Nice try, little one!

We had a girls' trip to the Midtown nursery to pick out some lovelies with Meme...

...and then came home and made some Krispie treats in the AC to cool off. C.C. particularly enjoyed sprinkling the chocolate chips on top and it looked like she might have enjoyed the taste-testing part, too.

After being soooo excited about her pink flowers and her very own garden Kate decided that working in the yard was really more Meme's thing. Hmmm.... she talked a big game, but we didn't get much manual labor out of that one. We'll give you a pass this time, sister, since it was 100 degrees in the shade!

C.C., however, really enjoyed adding her own lawn ornaments to the garden.

Thank you, Robinsons, for crossing the state to come visit us in (HOT!) Memphis! We had so much fun with you here and we still have a long list of fun to-dos for next time!!! (Like all those shops we missed, Rachael!)

Vaca #1: Orlando

We just returned from a (much too short!) 5-day trip to Florida. We spent the first couple days in Orlando and managed to squeeze in a day trip to Disney. So fun!!!

The plane ride with C.C. was, as usual, interesting. The folks around us did enjoy a 5-minute reprieve from the seat-kicking, seat-back-tray-messing, squealing and laughing routine thanks to Elmo.

The airport, though, that's more our style! All that room to run? Let me loose! The trollies and shuttles with no car seats? Bring it! People, people, and more people? Bingo.

Swimming at the resort.

The kids' pool was great and full of fun fountains and gadgets.

Swim lesson with Bandaddy.

...Helping Daddy manage the burgers and 'dogs.

Hi girls!

Kate wanted to take a picture. Not too bad!



What big sis gets to do, little sis wants to do too! C.C.'s turn.
"Please don't drop the camera, please don't drop the camera..."
Hayes clearly wasn't quite ready for the camera. Nice.




D I S N E Y!!!!

The morning of our Disney day, Kate received a surprise package from "Belle." ....It was a new Belle princess dress to wear to the park! Wa hoo!!!



Daddy with his girls... Tinkerbell and Belle. What a patient man. =)

Ok, so Magic Kingdom is the happiest place on Earth they say. ...Then why do we all look like a family straight outta the 1800s? Maybe it was sensory overload from just walking in? I think we had smiles plastered on our faces the whole rest of the day!

Tink may be a fairy, but don't mess.

C.C. asked all day to see Mickey but when we got there we were lining up to take a group photo and Mickey grabbed my arm to move me over a bit for the pic. Well, Mickey, THAT was the wrong move! She started screaming hysterically and wouldn't go near him. We didn't capture the right-of-passage screaming-in-the-arms-of-the-character-shot. Just couldn't do it.

Of course, now everywhere we go C.C. wants to take her new Minnie doll and she screams "I see Mickey!" all over the place. This past weekend we went to the St.Jude Classic Golf tournament here in Memphis and Scout couldn't get too close to the green because C.C. was excitedly yelling to every passerby, "I see Mickey! Mickey! I see Mickey!" Oh dear, she is confused...

In the late afternoon we decided to take the train to the next part of the park we wanted to visit. We conveniently "forgot" our stop and rode it all the way around twice to get back, but I am convinced it was half on-purpose by all of us. It was a nice little rest and the only place with a breeze!

Top priority for Kate was getting to see Belle. She didn't breathe or blink all through Belle's storytime.

Bingo! Belle!

Loving the rides.

Ashley and I are not roller coaster fans at all. But we figured we could be brave for this one since, ahem, it was in "Toon Town" and my 4-year-old was happy to climb on board! We (or maybe I ws the only one) still screamed the whole time. Eeeeeeeeee!

Kate, of course, was way more brave.

And ran off the coaster loving it!

Both girls *love* the "small world" ride.... it's perfect for them with dolls, dancing, and costumes! We couldn't get C.C. to sit and take it in because she was just too excited so we gave up and let her be captain of our boat, pointing everything out along the way! That little white sign in the picture says something about not letting children stand up and keeping arms inside or something....

Aunt Ashley and Uncle Hayes treated Kate to a Belle doll at "Castle Couture." She has been by her side ever since!

The girls have the best aunts and uncles ever!

Such a fun day!!!

At the end of the day, Uncle Hayes kept the tradition alive and bought C.C. a massive pink cupcake from the candy shop. (Last year it was a huge rice krispie treat for Kate from the same place.) I was a no-fun mommy and threw down over it, but after some serious negotiations she did score about half of it and was in total delight with the sugary goodness.

...Until the cupcake was gone and the mess remained! This is the point where I looked at Hayes and Scout and said, "Wipes are in the bag." =)

The girls were GLUED to the light parade at the end of the day and the looks on their faces were priceless. Total wonder and awe. It is really amazing. I just cannot believe they do this every single day of the year!

It was a wonderful day at Disney and such a gift to have a day devoted to doing nothing other than 100% fun and laughter as a family... and for us to be big kids, too!

Tired pup at the end of a long day...

Kate almost fell asleep standing up leaning on my mom on the ferry back to the car!