A Picture Says It All

Today was a really big day!  We finished packing, we went to Grandpa Si's birthday party, we made a car switch, we visited with Grandpa Joe and Grammy and we packed up the car!!  We are leaving very early in the morning to meet everyone else at McDonalds for some breakfast and then we are Pigeon Forge bound!!!  We are all so excited to spend 5 nights with Gran, Pa & Grandma, Lawrence & Sara, Jeff & Lesa, Tabatha & Jacob, and MOST IMPORTANTLY...Levi and Evan!!!!  And then, we get to spend the  weekend in Cincinnati with Grandpa Dave & Grandma Donna and Adam & Christy!!!  It will be our first big family vacation and it will be just great!!!!!
We will try to get some updates on the blog while we are gone, but let me tell you something funny about today!  It was Grandpa Si's birthday and we all got together at Olive Garden (one of my favorites) for a big lunch!  We had such a great time!  It isn't very often that so many of us can get together.
Well, after we ate Uncle Adam gave me a dollar bill!  I was super excited and even told mommy I could go buy a LaLaLoopsy with it!  Well, Uncle Greg saw my dollar and he out did Uncle Adam by giving me TWO dollars!  So Uncle Adam pulled out THREE dollars...before I knew it Grandpa Si, Grandpa Dave and Amanda were all getting in on the action!!!  By the end of it I had a fist full of cash, a big smile on my face and I was pumped to spend some money!!!  (Don't worry, I gave everybody hugs and thanked them very much for my dollars!)  I ended up getting to go to Walmart and spending some and my parents talked me into saving some for vacation!  AND IT WAS GRANDPA SI's BIRTHDAY, not even mine!!!
Happy Birthday Grandpa Si and Uncle Tim (who I hope got to celebrate in Texas with Aunt Emily)!!

EARLY

We're taking a quick break from packing to update you on life at our house! First of all, I finished up my first set of swimming lessons! I officially graduated out of Polly Wogs and will be moving up to Level 1 in the summer!! How exciting is that? I love being in the water! The last couple of days we've been in full packing mode!! You just cannot believe how much stuff we have to take on vacation to be gone for 7 days! Myla needs bunches of stuff, I need bunches of stuff and our parents are really trying to figure out how to take LESS for our trip! I am so very excited about leaving Sunday morning! I keep asking if it is time to go, but I know that tomorrow we have a birthday party and then we pack up the car and then after some sleep we are hitting the road!!! Because we have so much to take already, mommy decided that we should do our Easter baskets early!! Me and Myla got a really awesome princess magical music vanity that I LOVE! Myla loves it, too!! Well, there is so much more to tell...but we have got to pack!! P.S. Grandma, don't worry! In my bed time prayers tonight I prayed, "Please, God, let there be a shallow end at the pool on our vacation so Grandma can get in the water." So I just know you will be able to swim, too!!!

Notice the Date

Guess who walked all the way across the room today!!! Miss Myla! She has been taking several steps together for a bit, but she is really finding her balance now and can make it across the room if not distracted!!!

Some Days Seem Like a Photo Shoot in Our House

Missions Accomplished

Today was an action packed, get things done kind of day!! No, we didn't get spring cleaning done.  No, we didn't get the calendar figured out for next week.  However, we got some very important stuff taken care of!!
First we all headed over to the gym for swimming lessons.  Mommy, daddy and Myla all watched while I finished up my next to last lesson for this semester.  I did a great job and even listened when it was time to get out of the pool (I sometimes struggle with that).  Soon after we left there we decided it was time to take Myla to Brinkman's (a.k.a. Buster Brown to all the old people out there)!
Yes, Myla Joy got her first pair of shoes!!!  Mommy and daddy kind of thought she could wear my first pair of  walking shoes since they had kept them and the shoes looked like brand new!  Plus they realized that I had gotten my first pair right around 10 or so months old, just like Myla.  However, the lady at the shoe store said that Myla needs a size 5 and my shoes were size 3!  Yes, Myla has way bigger feet than I did!!!  I guess that makes sense because she is pretty tall for her age!!
So we got Myla some snazzy shoes for her to walk in.  We wanted to have them before our big vacation coming up in a couple of weeks.  And, since we were at Brinkman's, both of us got balloons!  That is one of my favorite parts about going there, except the trying on shoe part because I LOVE CUTE SHOES!!!
After Brinkman's we headed to Hair Matterz so I could get my hair done.  I hate to have it combed or brushed and it is so thick that I just needed some "bulk" taken off.  It was quite an ordeal and mommy says she will probably drive me to Indianapolis to Cookie Cutters next time because I like to move around and I have a very had time keeping my head straight, but Kim (a friend of my parents) did a really good job, anyway!  I think mommy was just embarrassed by how much work had to go into getting it done!!
After that we went to Kohl's and got a few spring outfits for Myla and a couple for me.  And then after that we dropped daddy and Myla off and....this is my favorite part of the day...we met Levi and Evan at the park!!!
This very warm weather in March is just great because me and my cousins got to play at the park for an hour and a half!  It was like we hadn't seen each other in years (and it feels like it has been years)!  We played and played and played.  Daddy and Myla stayed home so Myla could nap and daddy could do something called a fantasy baseball draft on the computer.  No idea what it is, but he was pretty serious about it!!
So after lots of playing we came home and got the rest of my family and we ALL headed over to Berry  Winkle for some ice cream!  It was so good and when we were done eating I did NOT want to leave my cousins.  So, we all headed over to grandma and pa's house for the evening!  I had such a blast and we ran all over the house!  We played in the play room and Myla even got to come in there for the first time!
It was a wonderful day that ended with sadness because I had to leave my cousins.  Luckily I was distracted by how good bath time was!!!  I had been very sweaty and grimy!  Baths for me and Myla and then BED TIME!
Yes, we accomplished so much today and it was a wonderful day!!!

Guess Who Likes Swimming?

You all know that I love to swim!!  Tonight we decided to take Myla to the pool and see what she thought!  Well, she just loved it!!!  The minute she got in she started splashing her hands.  We had a great family swim night!!

Lots of Pictures

We had a big weekend!  My last Upward cheerleading game for the season, a visit to Aunt Ruthie's house, church, springing forward (which I do not like...I missed that hour of sleep), and the Upward Award Ceremony!  I did a great job with my two dances during the awards night and didn't even get scared cheering on stage in front of all those people!  Here are lots of pictures of the last few days!!!