Memorial Weekend=Time off Work!

We had the best Memorial Day Weekend! It was the first time since New Years that Jordin got work off, so we took full advantage of it! We left Friday night and drove to Austin (about a 4 1/2 hr drive- which P did remarkably well). And went to a camping place called Pace Bend Park. It is on this giant lake called Lake Travis (similar to Lake Powell-for you Utah folks). We didn't get there until 11, then drove around for almost an hour trying to find the perfect camp spot. There were two sides to the camp, the cliff side and the beach side. (With hiking trails in between.) The beach side was SUPER crowded, but the cliff side wasn't. The trick was finding a spot that wasn't right next to a 1,000 ft. cliff! We eventually found one, and then set up camp.

Here is the first place we put it. (because it was super late at night and we couldn't scope out the very best spot.) Can you tell how seriously we, by that I mean Jordin, take camping?! :) 

In the morning we found a better spot and moved it to a shadier spot that was nestled by some oak trees. So Jordin and I dragged (drug?) the tent to the better location on the other side of out camping site.

 Pretty, Eh?

Here are some more pics of cute P-cakes and our camping trip. This is the first morning. She was pretty happy!

She loves flowers so when we went on a walk, she had to pick a flower. She kept this flower with her all day until we went swimming in the after noon.

See? Lots of flowers. Told ya.

This is a blurry picture of P, but it is also one of the only ones where she is wearing shoes at camp. I don't know how she could walk all over without shoes, but she absolutely refused to wear them if she could help it. Sounds like me when I was little, right mom and dad?

This is the second morning. She was 'helping' dad make breakfast. By that I mean, she held the lid to the Pam and wouldn't let it go. :)

Look at my cute husband making us some pancakes. My favorite is how the spatula is in his pocket.

He's not spanking her. She's a drum.

This is us on the way to the beach side of the park so we could go swimming. Pailey LOVED swimming. We got some arm floaties for her and she was just so content the whole time. At first she would just sit on the ledge of the rocks (like 5 inches above the water) and throw little rocks in while Jordin and I would take turns jumping into the water. Then she really got into and spent like the next hour 'jumping' into Jordin's arms in the water.

This is the next day when we climbed down some of the cliffs to this more secluded swimming cove. She really liked this spot too. There weren't as many boats on this side, which means less wakes so she was able to float and kick around better. One hilarious thing that she would do is sing 'Ring 'round the rosie' OVER AND OVER while spinning in the water. 

This is a MASSIVE resort on the other side of the water called "The Island" It was beautiful!

The above pic is us waiting at a swimming hole called Hamilton Pool. There were so many people there (because of the holiday) that the park rangers would only let one car in when another one left. So we played Go Fish for about 30 min. until it was our turn.

My cute family

This is a round about view of the pool. It was awesome!

 

Here is the sunset at our camp. It was so pretty, but my phone just didn't capture the real beauty of it. 

One thing about camping in Texas is that it is HOT. Super humid and in the 90's everyday. So at night, we didnt put pajamas on P, she slept really well surprisingly for being on the ground. (Jordin and I had an air mattress because I refused to sleep on the ground and be 5 months pregnant at the same time.) :)

I love this next pic. This is the moment she woke up. She's such a beauty queen!

This video is hilarious. If you listen close at the beginning, you'll hear her say 'All done.' meaning that she is done sleeping. So funny.

  

This is a really pretty bridge in Austin. Austin all in all was just so pretty. Much prettier than Houston, for sure. There were rolling hills and it was so clean! It is like the hippiest place in Texas. Loved it. We just stopped there for lunch on the way home, and didn't take a lot of time there but it was nice overall.

This is on our way home. She was not very happy.

That lower lip thing is something she has mastered, for sure.

We had such a blast! And we want to go back and spend more time in actual Austin. But at the very least, it was just nice to get away from our routines and do something different. What'd you do this weekend?

P-cakes birthday!

Oh my, oh my! Our adorable and rambunctious little girl turned TWO last week! I am in complete shock. 

For her birthday, we got her a little tikes car. You know the one. I'm pretty sure almost every kid from our generation had one of these. Jordin and I both have great memories of playing with them so we just had to get one for P-cakes. 

Jordin's parents were in town so the night before her B-day, Daren and Jordin put it together and then we filled it will all of her presents. 

The next morning, she walked out of her room and she gasped to loud! It was adorable. So we ended up opening all of her presents at 7:30 in the morning. It was a bit earlier than planned, but you can't deny the birthday girl her presents!

 Grandma and Grandpa Boyd got her this water toy. She loves it.

She is so funny about opening presents. She has to get EVERY piece of tape and paper off of the present before she takes the time to look at it.

This is a beautiful dress that she got from Grandma and Grandpa Miller. She loves dresses!

She also got bubbles... She still hasn't mastered the whole bubble blowing thing and tends to lick the soap, but we're working on it. 

 

This is one of my favorite photos. I love how wet she got. She loves her new toys. 

 She's still finding new ways to play in her car...

 Grandpa Boyd found a new way for her to use her car. Drive in!

 

 This was her b-day cake. It was an ice cream cake that we made. It was crazy good! It was a Pinterest item. It used ice cream bars, cool whip, caramel, and heath bars all chopped up. Yum!

 Her and grandpa liked to chill together.

 Later in the week we went bowling. I wasn't sure how she would do, but P-cakes loved it! We played about 2 1/2 games and on the second game, she beat us all! (She had bumpers and a ramp, but still.)

 One day when Jordin was at work, the Grandparents, P-cakes and I went to the park. There were about 50 turtles hanging out at the water. It was cool. One funny thing about turtles is if you has miss P what a turtle says, she'll respond , "Hey Dude!". I taught her that! While it may not be accurate, she knows it from Finding Nemo and I think it is adorable! :) (And if anyone can tell me a better sound that a turtle makes, you let me know.)

 This is a train they have there at the park and P loves trains!

 We went mini glow golf the other day too. She didn't like it as much as the bowling, but she did like this giant glowing turtle shell.

 This is one more bowling pic. She got bored eventually and decided to explore.

 All in all, we had a great week and P-cakes had a great birthday.  I have some more videos from her birthday and opening so other presents from family. I just need to go through them still. 

But geez, I can't believe her birthday has come and gone and I've got a toddler in full swing of her terrible two's (in moments).  We are so excited each day to watch her grow. 

Speaking of growing.... 

My little belly is becoming not-so-little. Baby boy is about a week ahead on the growth chart and kicking all the time. Jordin also felt him kick for the first time this week which is pretty exciting because up until then, it was just me feeling all the kicks. We are excited to see him grow!

 

It's like she ate Miracle Grow!

P-cakes 2nd birthday is this Sunday and I am in disbelief at the little person she has become. It really is like she ate miracle grow because she is growing and developing so quickly. It seems like within the last month or two she has really evolved into her own (very opinionated) self. She has always been opinionated, but now she can really tell us exactly what she wants. Her vocabulary is expanding everyday, and I love to see how she grows.

Some of her newer words are: dragon, pull, broke, sticker, straw, prayer, and more but I can't think of them all.
She mastered the 'sh' sound on Dash which is super exciting! Up until now she has been calling him Da. (Not to be confused with Dada.)

Her grandma and grandpa Boyd will be here tomorrow and I know she'll be thrilled. If I tell her now that they are coming, she just walks over to the computer because she's used to Skyping with them. It's so nice when we have the opportunity to see family. I know that Jordin and I are surprised at how hard it is to be away from family and friends. Not like we don't love them, we just thought we were a little more independent than we actually seem to be. We are really growing so much as individuals and as a family, but there are definite things we miss out on. I would even take the 5 hours away from family like when we lived in Utah- not that I want to live in Utah- because seeing family once a month is a breeze compared to every 4-6 months.

Now, I'm not complaining. I really love our time and experiences here, but we sure do miss our families!! There is something about seeing your baby become a little girl that makes you think about all the family members that are growing and changing and we don't get to see. Like our cute new niece that was born recently and she'll be like 5 months old before we meet her. :(

Okay, enough ramblings! Here are some pics from Easter weekend! We took P to a egg hunt in Saturday and it was a blast!

She was a natural!

She got to try out the Fire Truck!

They're so cute together!

We went on a walk and Dash chased after another dog, and P-Cakes got whipped in the face with the leash. She's tough. And she's Harry Potter.

At the Easter Egg Hunt, they pad a petting zoo. She didn't care about the ducks or bunnies. All she had eyes for was the Pony. Go figure. :)