Nice Little Sunday

A couple of weeks ago, we made a Sunday afternoon trip to the airport so that Gary could take a friend's little girl and wife for a ride in the helicopter.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures in the helicopter since Daddy was busy and Mommy's hands were full with 2 squirmy little ones!  However, the girls LOVED the ride, and, even though they really had no clue what they saw, they were thrilled at the fact that we flew over Mamaw and Papaw's house and have talked about it ever since!

After the quick ride, we took a tour of a couple of the other planes in the hanger.

The girls were quick to take the controls and thought they were big stuff climbing in and out of the airplanes!

I'm not sure if Daddy or the girls liked the day more!

On the way home, we finished off the afternoon with a stop at the DQ!!!  The girls have definitely discovered a love for ice cream this summer!

Besides our fun airport adventures, I also wanted to post a few final pictures of the girls opening up their last round of birthday presents over the last several weeks!

They got cute pajamas and books from Aunt Sally...

 More cards and piggy money from Ma and John...

And purse pups from their friends Peyton and Paris...which they have hardly put down since they opened them!

Since it was also Mrs Ann's 40th birthday (Peyton and Paris' mommy), the girls made her a birthday card for us to take to her party!  We haven't let them play with markers much yet, just because we don't want to deal with the mess, but since we gave them markers in one of their birthday packages, we gave in!  I was sitting at the table helping them make the cards, and they were being very careful and doing great...until I walked away just for a moment!

 Luckily, they're washable...and I truly appreciate what that means!!

Now that the birthday fun has fully ceased (even though they still call people on their little play phones every day to say "Thank you for coming to my birthday party!), we've just hung out and acted silly!

 Here's a cute fall shot in our birthday sweats from Ma and John...

 Macy likes to wear Daddy's shoes...

And the final shots are from a couple of lunch and play dates with some of the girls' close friends!  Here's an after church lunch with Taylor...

And a DPK play date with the girls' best bud, Hannah!  It almost looks like we have trips, doesn't it??

Perfect 10!

This year marked a major milestone for Gary and I as we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary!  I am honored to say that I've spent 10 years married to my very best friend who has been a part of my life for an unbelievable 17 years!  It is so hard to believe our little T-town wedding was so long ago!  All these years later, it's amazing to look back on our truly wonderful lives and to realize how truly blessed that we are!

I didn't get a post done immediately after our celebration in July, but before the memories completely fade, I wanted to post a few pictures of our fun trip!  We went on a SEVEN DAY cruise to the Southern Caribbean, VERY reluctant and sad to leave our little darlings behind, but also VERY eager to get away from the chaos of our new house, busy jobs, and just the stress of being mommy and daddy for a few days.

 As nervous as I was about the length of our vacation, I was very excited to make it through the week with an appreciation for the great life, beautiful daughters, and wonderful husband that I have, and a much more relaxed and re-charged spirit!  While we were on our trip, we were able to enjoy time as a couple,

and were able to make a few awesome friendships that made our trip all the more enjoyable.

We were able to SLEEP LATE, enjoy relaxing meals with adult conversation,

hang on multiple gorgeous beaches, tour various islands, kayak through the coves of St Croix's "Salt River",

watch airplanes land and take off FAR too close for comfort in St Martin, and zipline through the rainforests of St Lucia (don't you LOVE the hairnets??)

...and...enjoy MULTIPLE sail away drinks on the ship...

...with our new friends and the awesome bartender, Ran! :)

While we were on vacation, Macy and Makayla were able to experience a vacation of their own staying with Mimi, Aunt Miss, Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Clayton, Aunt Sheryl, and, of course, spending LOTS of time with their cousins, Haley and Noah!  Every time we called (which, fortunately, was at least once per day), we were told about the "great adventures" of the day, where they spent lots of time at the pool, playing hide and seek with Haley, and visiting the Cabbage Patch Kid factory where they each brought home a new family addition!  Mimi, Aunt Miss, and Aunt Sabrina did an awesome job of sending LOTS of pictures, texts, and emails, and we were able to feel very involved in the day to day activity!  I think the girls may have had as much fun on their vacation as we did on ours!  :)

It was a great experience for all, and while I love every minute of being a mommy and look forward to MANY vacations with the family in tow, it truly was a good experience for all of us.  The girls were able to develop a new level of independence, we all missed each other so much and were so happy to be back together as a family, and Gary and I got to be just that...Gary and Mandy, husband and wife!  I can't say it enough...we are SOOOO blessed!

More pics from our trip and the girls' adventures with the fam can be found here - http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad218/mandyernst/10th%20Anniversary%20Cruise/?albumview=slideshow

Second Birthday Bash

As usual, I'm a little behind on my posts, but, as usual, we've been busy, busy! 

The girls' second birthday party was SO MUCH fun, and the girls got a chance to see how blessed they are with family and friends!

We kept the party "simple" this year, and gave the girls a little inflatable pool to keep them and their friends busy! Unfortunately, it did end up raining, but the kids were pretty much done with the pool by that point anyway! They spent time playing in the play house, riding in the jeep, and just hanging out!

After a yummy dinner of burgers and dogs, we got to enjoy homemade ice cream made by Mamaw and Papaw and monkey cake and ice cream cone cupcakes from Aunt Sheryl. As usual, she did an AWESOME job of making the cakes look awesome, and the girls COULD NOT get enough!! When Macy first saw the cake, her first comment was "I'm gonna eat that" :)

I think they may have enjoyed it even more the following week when they got to finish off the leftovers.

 

We opened gifts and were able to confirm the fact that the girls really are just plain spoiled! :)  The hit of the night was the school bus slide from Mimi, Papa, Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Clayton, Haley, and Baby Noah, and the new baby dolls from their friend Taylor!  Papaw lovingly named the new dolls "Lucy" and "Ethel", but to our delight, the names have morphed into something a little more kid friendly..."Juicy" and "Tassel"...(yes, we are aware that it sounds like we now have two strippers living in our house! :)

The next day, the girls were able to open a few more awesome gifts, including their new kitchen set from Mamaw and Papaw!  (shame on me for not taking pictures of that yet!)  They are thoroughly entertained...and, to be honest, they got so much that I have actually put a few of their gifts in the closet to be "re-revealed" in the next few weeks!  I figured it would be nice to extend the experience for a little while and it would give them a chance to appreciate everything more!!

More party pics are here - http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad218/mandyernst/2nd%20birthday%20party/?albumview=slideshow

And to close out the "year end" celebration, I finally got their "year in review" pictures uploaded, and they can be seen here - http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad218/mandyernst/Year%202/?albumview=slideshow

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our Sweet M&Ms!!

It's IMPOSSIBLE to believe that we're really sitting on TWO full years!!  What a wonderful couple of years it's been!

We had a great day today, starting with a room full of balloons to wake up to, then Birthday muffins, candles, and a song. 

Unfortunately, after that it was off to school...however, cupcakes were in hand for a special snack for the class!  I had a nice dinner planned complete with the girls' favorite food, but a huge storm came through and zapped our power, so we ended up meeting at a Mexican restaurant for "beans".  We finished off with a trip to the ice cream store and headed home to open gifts!

Knowing how much the girls already have and how much they're getting, our main gift is for gymnastics lessons this fall, and then we provided some "things to open" for today.  The girls didn't seem to mind, and were excited at their bounty. 

Tonight we put two TIRED little ladies down, knowing that rest is needed, since the party is just getting started!

On the eve of turning TWO!!

What a short, fast, crazy, stressful, fun, AMAZING summer it has been! My goodness how things have changed...and it is so unreal to think about how much it seems like our little babies stopped being babies and became little girls over the course of just a few SHORT months!  (excuse the nudity, but that picture was just too cute NOT to post!  :) 

As I've blogged before, we've had one heck of a ride this summer...to sum it all up, we've changed daycares, changed back, changed the place we call "home", changed our rooms, moved to big girl beds (same beds, no rail), started pee-pee in potty somewhat REGULARLY (YEAH!!!),

gotten a first haircut (a small trim for Macy only, at this point, and, yes, as you can tell by this picture, she's less than thrilled about the experience),

started doing somersaults, started singing and doing the motion for so many songs, increased our vocabulary by 1000s (or so it seems), learned to "drive the jeep" (steering is not that important, is it?), traveled to the beach twice, went on vacation at Mimi's (once with, once WITHOUT mom and dad), learned to jump in the pool without anyone catching (with our new lifejackets, of course), learned how much we LOVE ICE CREAM (who doesn't?) and POPSICLES, and...most importantly...we've laughed and loved every minute of it!!!

Here are links for a few silly videos as well -
Saying hi to Emmy Cate - http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad218/mandyernst/Summer%202011/?action=view&current=VIDEO0073.mp4
Showing off mad somersault skills - http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad218/mandyernst/Summer%202011/?action=view&current=VIDEO0095.mp4
Watching it rain while mommy and daddy move the last loads of stuff from the old house - http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad218/mandyernst/Summer%202011/?action=view&current=VIDEO0075.mp4
Laughing with Daddy in the car - http://s937.photobucket.com/albums/ad218/mandyernst/Summer%202011/?action=view&current=VIDEO0074.mp4

It is UNBELIEVABLE that Macy and Makayla have only a few more days until they'll be TWO!!!! I never knew two little people could make life so AWESOME! :)  Now...let the party begin!!!!

MUCH THANKS to Ma and John for the MANY cards and money that they've sent this summer, and to Pa and Grandpa Ken for our first birthday cards and money!  The girls are starting to figure this money concept out...and boy are they excited!!

(Sorry for all of the bad pictures and video...we've done a lot of snapping with our phones this summer...but better to have blurry memories than no memories!)

Cousins Everywhere

A couple of weeks ago, Uncle Jason, Aunt Jen, Reganne, and Riley made the trip from Kansas City to Gainesville to visit with the family. Fortunately, we were able to come down for the weekend so that we could spend time with the WHOLE family!  It’s so funny to watch how the kids all cling to the “next oldest”. Macy and Makayla still LOVE their Haley, and were fascinated by Reganne and Riley, but Reganne was the star of the show for Haley and Riley, and our girls are just a bit too young to fully engage with the big girls...they were not at ALL bothered by hanging with (and getting a LOT of the attention from) the adults…and doting on Baby Noah with every chance that they could get! We all had an awesome time playing at Mimi’s, swimming in the pool, riding in the boat, and playing at the perfect Tiki Bar restaurant where the splash pad is cleverly placed by the outside dining area for a perfect dining experience for all!

On Saturday night, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Lauren, and Emmy Cate made it up for a visit and dinner as well, so the girls got to hang with almost all of their cousins in one setting…it was SO COOL! As hard as we tried, we proved, as usual, that it is virtually impossible to get a perfect picture of more than one kid at a time at these young ages but had enough shots to make up some pretty good memories! If only we could be able to spend more time together as a group!!!