Grandma Charleen's 100th birthday

We headed up to Kansas again this past weekend to celebrate Nick's grandma's 100th birthday.  She was doing really well, and here's some of our adventures that we packed into two days of travel and just two days of visiting.

Being silly in the car.

Playing in the outdoor area at the McDonald's in Burkburnett, TX after a quick lunch.

Check out that crazy hair!

Daddy and Gabi say "cheese".

Nick and Gabi exchanging sun glasses before we take off to visit a few friends in Cheney (and drop off some Mary Kay purchases too).  Pizza at D'Marios was delicious!!!  Then we had a quick stop at the hospital to visit the Anderson's and their new baby, Carter (congrats again, guys!).  Can you believe we even made time to stop at Guitar Center (for Nick) and Pier 1 (for Debbie and I)?

Spending some time with my family in Salina at the mall after we met up with the Knopf family for church on Sunday morning.  Nick got some cargo pants at Old Navy for just $3.50 each, I found a shirt at JCPenny for $4, and my mom found some black pants for $5 that she needed for an up-coming work trip.  

Wow--bargain shopping galore!

Nick's aunts and uncles on his dad's side of the family and some other people (we didn't know who they were!).

His grandma and her boys (from left to right are Nick's uncles Merle, Bruce, and Dean, and Nicks' dad, Chuck).  Can you believe that she has only been living in an assisted-living place for a few years?  And, I really can't fathom what she's been able to see our country go through in 100 years either--whether that be the wars, the economy, or even technology!!!

Being silly on the trip back to TX--if you look closely you can see that the cap is on the Dr. Pepper bottle.  I think that she really wants to be like her mommy--guess I'd better watch what I do and say even closer now, huh?  :)

Construction Zone

So for Valentine's Day we gave Gabrielle an assortment of dress-up stuff.  A couple of skirts, some jewelry, and a construction hat/goggles set.  Here she is enjoying herself as a construction worker--too cute!

Nice!  :)

Don't miss the cute smile at the end of the video!

Happy Valentine's Day (a little late)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year we gave Gabrielle some pretend dress-up stuff including some plastic necklaces, bracelets, and rings. She loves to put them all on, and then take them off and put them all into a small purse of hers. We also gave her some play clothes, but those weren't the hit that I thought they might be.

Comparing our pretty rings.

Checking to make sure it fits right.

Now, that's a lot of accessories! Not to mention that the construction hat goes just perfectly with the princess shoes and all that jewelry!

Playing the piano with mommy.

CHEEEEESE!

Gabrielle has figured out how to get her clothes off...which usually happens in the evening. Hopefully this will be something that she only does at home! What a good ending to a wonderful day.

Hangin' with Haley

Haley Hart came to play one day last week while her mom was recovering from a hysterectomy. The girls had a great time together, and there were only a few times that I needed to remind both of them to share. They are getting better at playing together, and trying to wait until the other one is done with a toy (of course, there's always room for improvement too!).

Checking out all the books in Gabrielle's room.

"How do you spell 'piano'"?
Seriously, how early do they start texting now-a-day?

Hello?

Making some food in the play kitchen.

Wonderful day at the park

We've had several really nice days here in the last few weeks. On Friday the 6th we all went to the park to play and then enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading home. We had lots of fun!

Whoa! It's sure bright out here!

Me just testing out the equipment...
And having fun in the process!

Gabrielle LOVES slides.

And, going face first too.

I know that this looks like she hit the ground, but she didn't...she's just having a hard time getting up after going down the slide face-first. :)

There we go...getting up and going again!

Trying out the balance-thingy with daddy.

Swinging with daddy.

Checking out the solar system play area. Seriously, there were all the planets circling the sun and a space ship too. Neat!

This playground is right beside one of the hospitals in town. So, naturally, Gabrielle wants to check everything out...even the stuff that isn't playground equipment (like the walkway up to a backdoor to the hospital...nice!).