highlights of the month (in pictures)

This morning I decided to upload photos from our camera and try to get organized. I don't usually let myself get too far behind with photos, but... what can I say? I'm not staying on top of a whole lot more than laundry these days.

1. Gabriel's first Friend Birthday Party (to celebrate his 6th birthday) was a pretty big hit. He invited 8 guests (included Bronwyn & Jackson, who I gave him no choice about) and 6 were able to attend. We had a pirate theme, per his request. He got his first Playmobil pirate sets and he has played almost daily with them since.

I'm not a cake decorator, so I appealed to my son with toys and really cool candles.
It worked.


This "Pin the Parrot on the Pirate" game was so cute. And a lot of fun.


Gabriel got lots of great gifts that he absolutely is enjoying.
He especially loves all the art supplies he received, and this giant Star Wars coloring book in particular.


Gabriel really wanted to invite Alyssa over, much to Bronwyn's delight.
They were so cute together playing dress up while the boys had battles in the other room.

2. In mid-March we went on a family vacation for a couple days. Wow, was this great. We rented an old 3-bedroom farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, about an hour from home. It came with acres and acres of fields and trails. Somehow we managed to go the one week in March that had 50*+ days.

Our rainboots came in very handy those couple days!


Picnics never get old with kids!


Our very own bean bag gift arrived from Jameson shortly before vacation.
It came in especially handy for fun family games on the one rainy afternoon we had.


It was great to spend the days outdoors and then come back to a fully-equipped house to share meals and games and evenings together.


We had just enough power left on the camera (that I forgot to charge) to set it up on a rock and take one family photo right before leaving the last day.

3. CFA Grandparents' Day took place just a week ago, and Grandma & Pap-Pap were able to make the trip up to be here for the weekend. I'm afraid I failed to take any photos the entire time, but I did manage to snag this one picture from my dad.

Gabriel and Merrick joined forces to sing their own rendition of "Happiness" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It was adorable!

4. And last, but certainly not least (in my book anyway!), I received more Fluff in the mail after not buying any for a year (talk about some self-control, right???). That's right, folks, I'm getting ready to transition Aubrey to the next size Fuzzi Bunz. Since we've more than paid for the diapers I bought last year, I figured I could splurge and buy 4 "girlie" diapers to add to the boyish/gender-neutral hand-me-downs from Jackson.

I don't absolutely love the daisy print as much as I thought I would (I had pretty high expectations), though overall they are a fun addition.
But the new zippered (!) wet bag that I've had my eye on since last summer is as awesome as I'd thought it would be!