Mommy & Daughter Pedicure Date

Ella had her first pedicure a few weeks ago. She had visited our local nail salon, Beauty Temptations, which is owned and operated by one of my closest friends, Katie, with my mom a few months ago, so whenever we drove by the salon in our car, she would shout: "MOM! That's Katie's nail shop! I want to go there! Pleeeeeeease!" (For those of you who know Ella well, know that she almost always speaks in exclamations, so when she's really excited, you better cover your ears.)

So I decided to schedule appointments for us with Katie a few days before we left for our beach trip. 

She loved the whole process: choosing her polish color, sitting in the fancy chair, soaking her feet, and getting her toes (and nails) painted. She was having a hard time sitting still while waiting for mommy, so Katie took some time to paint her fingernails too, lucky girl!

Katie and I thought it was funny yo have her pretend to read Teen Vogue. She thought we were silly too, because she told us, "I don't know any of these words!" 

Katie gave us pink lemonade to sip on while our feet got pampered. Cheers to a fun night with my sweet munchkin!

Our toes were beautiful and it's always so nice to get pampered! Now Ella keeps asking when we can go back. 

Oregon Zoo with Friends

On July 24th we met the VanderZanden family at the zoo. My brother, Brett, was visiting from Florida so he and my mom went with us too. We hadn't been to the zoo in a couple of years so the kids were super excited to return and see the animals and new exhibits. 

First up were the sea otters. The kids really enjoyed the one that kept swimming right up on the viewing window. Ella couldn't get close enough. 

Then we visited the penguins but they weren't too exciting so we snapped a couple of photos by the wood carved and painted penguins instead. 

Nicholas and Kayla are only three-weeks apart in age, both with SMA, and Ella and Emmy are just five-months apart so they quickly became fast friends. They were walking behind the group at one point and I turned around to find them like this, together holding hands, chatting about the zoo. It was adorable!

Shawna got Kayla out of her stroller so she could try to get a better view of the Asian Sun Bear. 

Can you spot him?

Then we made our way to the primate exhibit. Ella and Emmy started acting like monkeys, climbing on the fence rails to get a closer view of the baboons. 

The little girls got to climb on "monkey swings" at the end of the primate exhibit.

After the primates, we made our way into the Amazon and saw a huge Anaconda, piranhas, and lots of huge tropical fish. 

Nicholas really wanted to see the elephants, but their enclosure is being updated so it was under construction. We couldn't get very close to them, but stopped to eat some lunch and could view them through the construction fences. 

Then we were off to see the pride of lions. 

 Ella didn't care about the actual lions as much as she just wanted to climb the lion structure. 

 She finally made it to the top and was so pleased with herself. 

Next was the giraffes. 

Then we found our way to the alligator. Ella wanted to give him a kiss. I was glad he was behind thick glass. 

The flamingos were a new addition since our last visit. We all enjoyed looking at their pretty pink coats and tried to spot their baby eggs. 

 Nicholas and Kayla both enjoyed the bats exhibit. But the bats were kind of boring, we assumed it was nap time, so we didn't stay there too long. They also totally creep me out so I was happy to keep exploring. 

Ella begged for ice-cream so before we headed home, we found Dippin' Dots, a shady spot, and sat to let the kiddos enjoy some ice-cream, Nicholas and Kayla included. 

 It was such a fun and memorable day!

VBS & Gymnastics

Our family has really enjoyed summer so far. At the end of July the kids participated in their first year of Vacation Bible School at our church. They loved wearing different colors each day, making arts and crafts, and they reall, really, really loved learning and singing all the songs. 

One afternoon after VBS, we met our friends, the Darlings at a gymnastic studio in town for open gym. Ella lovd jumping, bouncing, and climbing with her friends, Bella and Mason, and Nicholas loved watching them play. 

Park Reunion

Several weeks ago, a good friend of mine, Holly Jones, was in town to visit her family so she suggested several of us who live in her hometown meet up at a local park with our kids after dinner. We had a great time catching up and I enjoyed chatting with some ladies that I hadn't seen since I graduated high school. Our kids had a fun time as well: running, swinging, sliding, and climbing until sunset. It was such a fun evening full of old friends and new friendships formed!