Hawaii Part 1!

 We took off Thursday April 12th from Des Moines to go to Oahu, Hawaii to celebrate my brother in law, Todd, and new sister in law, Jen's wedding plus some more days to take a much needed vacation!  Chloe was awesome on the flight.  She has her new reading material and is all set:)

 Then a little movie time:)

 After flying all day we snuggled in together in a rental mini van, 7 people and a million pieces of luggage and we all fit!  Thanks for hauling us around Tyler:)  And thanks for letting me have the front seat, that saved us a lot of barf bags;)

 Our fabulous villa at Turtle Bay! 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and an amzing view!

 The view from our balcony!  Breath taking!  I think it was around 6:30 when we arrived.

 Just in time to spot the bride to be in the pool and take a swim! 

 This pool was at least 85 degrees!  It made swimming morning, noon and night possible and very comfortable, it was awesome!

 All cleaned up and ready to go!  From this moment on Chloe always wore a flower in her hair, preferably one that matched Rebecca's:)

 Chloe's first steps on the ocean, making sure she didn't get her dress wet!

A little skeptical but she soon fell in love with the beach/ocean:)

Easter Weekend!

This week we had our usual 3 days of school, gymnastics, play date with Hannah and visit from Uncle Rich.  We also got to add in a visit from Andrea and a new hair cut for Chloe, it's so cute, Andrea is so talented!  The rest of the week was very special as well.  I'll tell you all about it below.

 This morning Chloe woke up to an Easter Basket.  It had a fancy princess clock, she had been asking for a clock for her room:), some Easter gloves and a bunny that hops!

 Family photo before Church.  Chloe behaved so well in church, best morning yet! She sat in between gramma and Brigett and followed along in her program for the entire mass, I was very proud of her:)

 Family photo!  We had such a wonderful weekend with family.  It started Thursday night when Uncle Rich came over like usual, then Aunt Brigett arrived that evening!  Friday we took a girls trip to the outlets in Williamsburg.  We had so much fun shopping together.  Chloe was a trooper and even took a nap  on the way home.  Then Brigett watched Chloe so Jason and I could go on date night.  We went out with our friends, the McSweeney's, out to dinner and then to a play.  We had a wonderful time!  Brigett, thanks for watching Chloe and giving us a night out!  Saturday morning I had to do some testing at the Dr's and it ended up going way longer than expected, nearly 7 hours!  Jason and Brigett helped out so much and I appreciate all their extra efforts in getting ready to host Easter.  Saturday afternoon Mom, dad, Rich and Andrea came over for an evening of food, relaxation and family.  Today we enjoyed a nice Easter mass followed by grilling out for lunch on this beautiful day!  Thanks family for making the trip, helping with the delicious meals, and pitching in with cooking, cleaning and care taking.  Jason might be most thankful for dad fixing his lawn mower!  Magic fingers:)

 While we were at church the Easter Bunny stopped by and hid some eggs.  Chloe was so excited to go on her hunt and see what surprises were in the eggs.

There were ink stamps, pads of paper and bubble rings, what fun!  Chloe would like to thank Gramma and Grandpa Kneifl and Gramma and Grandpa Smith for her Easter presents, she can never have too many stuffed animals for her bed!!!  Happy Easter!

Another beautiful and fun week with my girl:)

I love this picture!  Just wish it wasn't so blurry... Chloe did an amazing job at gymnastics this week!  She's so fun to watch and she has such a great time:)

All suited up:)  This week was fast and furious again!  I think the nicer it gets outside, the busier we become and the fewer posts I make:(  But we did our usual, school, gymnastics, Uncle Rich visit, and play date at Hannah's.  Then we added in my Dr's appt, everything went well and baby is growing on schedule:)  Chloe also had picture day at school, I can't wait to see her photos!  We had some friends come over to play which is always fun.  That bring us to the weekend, check it out below!

We went to Ava's 2nd birthday party Saturday afternoon.  Cinderella came over for the princess party and Chloe thought it was so cool!  She was looking forward to the party all week!  The girls were so cute, what fun!

BFF's :)

Can't stop hugging!

Ava got a new horse for her birthday, it was huge hit!  I think the girls turned it into the Kentucky Derby party:)

It was upper 80's yesterday and sunny so we pulled out the pool and Chloe played all afternoon and evening outside.  She fell asleep at 7:30pm and didn't get up until 8:30am!

She's always gotta keep me on my toes, as she's shouting, "Look mom, take my picture!"

Jason and I, (mostly Jason though;) (he said I make a really great foreman), have been working on the patio.  He took out the stairs to the sliders, it added a ton more space! 

He took out the white picket fence and built a new privacy fence that is pushed back about 3 feet so that added a lot more space as well.

We got new furniture, swivel and rocker chairs for him and a double lounge chase for me:)

More open space for the kids to play with out escaping into the drive way or neighbors driveway, much safer and less worrisome.  It looks great and we've enjoyed doing some outdoor home improvements.  We also got new gutters in case you are admiring those as well;)



Spring Break 2012!!!

Last week was Spring Break and we had a super fun, busy time together!  Chloe enjoyed lots of bike rides in this wonderful spring weather.

She likes to make stops and gather things for her "collection" :) (like the Little Mermaid)

We went to the Science Center with our mom's group for the first time and it was AWESOME!  Here are huge bowls and wands for bubbles!  I think a season pass will be on her Christmas list this year:)

The agriculture section, it was so cute and fun!

Chloe and her friend Ethan going fishing:)

Chloe really liked the snakes, turtles and bat cave!

Chloe got on the green screen to give the weather report.

There she is on TV, the side of her head at the bottom middle, too cute:)

Chloe also had fun hosting play dates, going on play dates, helping me with shopping, cooking and cleaning.  She really is a wonderful helper and so sweet.

Daddy and Chloe doing some reading in the warm weather.

Daddy got Friday off from work and we all enjoyed going to the Reiman Gardens together.  Chloe loved the butterfly pavilion.

Getting an up close look.

The art display this time was all these fun and colorful knit designs every where.  Here they are on the IA State bench:)

So pretty:)

Making music on the ground piano!

Not sure who liked it more;)

Chloe loves this dog and wants her picture taken with him every time we are there:)

Looking for fish or frogs but didn't find any yet.

Posing for the camera...sort of:)

This plant/flower was so beautiful, huge and unique.

I loved the orchid ball display!

Chloe got a new scooter, or as she calls it a roller skater:)  She picked it up real quick (of course) and has had so much fun riding it!

Playing outside on yet another gorgeous day.

The Petersen's came back from their Spring Break vacation and we couldn't wait to see them!  The girls played for hours outside and were so good!

What a fun and easy afternoon with friends!