Logan's Birthday; Part 1

Of course I'm a month behind, but Logan's 3rd birthday was on February 5th.  That happened to also be Super Bowl Sunday.  We didn't know if we'd have plans or not, so we planned to celebrate on Saturday instead.

We didn't really do a party for Olivia when she turned 3, so we didn't do one for Logan either.  Instead we planned for a "fun outing" and everyone enjoyed it.

Logan specifically asked me if I would decorate the kitchen.  I gave him his choice.  He had a hard time deciding, but he eventually settled on Paw Patrol.

Olivia asked if she could help decorate, so she helped me on Friday night after she got home from the dance.  Logan woke up to this!

And of course streamers and balloons by his door.

These were his gifts from us, and both grandmas.  I had pretty much decided we weren't going to do a train table, and then I got this one for TWENTY dollars on clearance!!! You can't beat that! Because if it's not used (which it is... daily, for various reason by both kids), then we can eventually change it into a large lego table!  $20!!!!!

He slept in.  We ambushed him, and he wasn't too sure about it. ;)

But when he came out and saw all of his gifts, he brightened up!  And Olivia is anxiously waiting to give him the card she made.

He told everyone he was getting a robot and race cars for his birthday.  Grandma Pryor hooked him up with the robot.  She also got him some more tracks to go with his train table.

Grandma Hartman got him a marble run.  It's perfect for his little engineering mind.

He found this hat on one of our Target adventures and wanted it.  He may have been found sleeping in it since then. ;)

Besides the hat and the train table, we got him the hot wheels criss cross track.

Both kids enjoyed ALL of the toys!!!

Plus he got $29 (or tickets, as he calls them), which are safely tucked away in his piggy bank.

He chose these chocolate donuts as his birthday breakfast... and then hardly ate them. :)

We had originally planned to go to Grapevine, but then when we didn't have Super Bowl plans we decided to go on his actual birthday.  So we spent the entire day playing with his new toys.

Late that afternoon Michael headed to pick up the cake.  Then we sang and celebrated.

After that we headed to a basketball game.  (More on that tomorrow!)

I think he had a fun pre-birthday celebration.

The Daddy/Daughter Dance

Everyone I know around here goes to the local daddy/daughter dances.  There are multiple to choose from.  Most people do it through the rec centers, but I've also seen people attend ones at their gym and school.  I had always planned on sending Michael and Olivia, but it was actually Michael who saw an add and put it on our calendar to buy tickets.  Since it is a pretty popular event, and it sells out quickly, we bought our tickets all the way back in December when they went on sale.  Needless to say, Olivia could not wait until February to arrive!

This was Olivia's first time going, and I wanted to make sure she had a twirly dress. Grandma bought her this beautiful purple dress, and she LOVED it.  She got lots of compliments on it too.

Unfortunately it was a little cold, so we had to add a sweater and tights.  But it still looked cute.

Be still my heart!

Checking out the dessert table!

The neighboring city does multiple dances and separates by age.  Our city does one big dance, and I believe you had to be ages 4 to 12.

They found a table right by the dessert table.

A fancy pink drink!  They had a catered dinner from Spaghetti Warehouse.  The girls all got chicken tenders and toasted ravioli and the dad's had lasagna.

Michael took a lot of pictures and some videos, but most were blurry because girlfriend was on the move!

In the conga line

They had lots of fun, and I'm sure it won't be the last one they ever attend.

Meanwhile, I was trying to think of something fun to do with my little date.  But there aren't many play places open on a Friday night...  So we got some dinner, which included a milkshake, and then headed to Target.  We got cake pops and went to the birthday aisle to pick up stuff for this cuties birthday.

The Zoo

Every year the Dallas Zoo has discounted tickets for the winter months, and every year we make a visit.  It's not as close or convenient to get to as in Columbus, so once a year is about all we do.

The timing was perfect, since we had just studied all sorts of zoo animals--elephants, kangaroos, penguins, and more!

The kids were excited, and the weather was perfect.  It was in the 60's and a little overcast most of the day.  I've always found that the animals are more active in the cooler temps, and we were able to see a bunch of them!

One of our first stops was to see the elephants.  An elephant is both of the kids favorite animal, so they requested we head straight there.  We got to see all sorts of them... even a few babies.

Logan led us around with the map.

And Olivia documented the entire day through pictures.  She's really interested in taking pictures lately (and even video), so we have been letting her use my old point and shoot camera.  She's in love!

Giraffes!

"Mommy, take a picture of me!"

It was a perfect January Saturday.

Play Street

Olivia learned about a couple of different farm animals during the month of December.  Of course, I visit to a real farm would have been fun... but not really a December activity.  So after all of the kids headed back to school, we took advantage of the low crowds and headed to a farm themed play place!

We've been to the Play Street in Frisco a couple of times, and the kids love it. That one has more of a city theme.  The McKinney one is newer, and we hadn't been yet.  The kids had a blast!

Logan in the ice cream shop.

They have a life size cow that you can "milk".  Logan screamed the first time it mooed at him! :)

Olivia thought it was awesome!

Got milk?

Logan warmed up to him, and eventually gave it a try.

Tending to the horse

Shopping at the farmers market

Fun!

Logan enjoyed playing with the floam.

I sent this picture to Michael.  Logan was playing with balls, and Olivia was crafting in the background.  A perfect place for both!

Her rainbow

Our little engineer... he built these pipes and then was disappointed that the water didn't actually turn on.  What a mess that would be!

Olivia made us a menu at the craft table, and then served us up some yummy goodness.

We played all morning.  This place is literally right across the street from Michael's work.  So we left and picked him up for lunch--a special treat for everyone!  The kids can't wait to go back.

The New Olivia

You may remember that Olivia had about a dozen goals for this past year.  Guess what?  She pretty much accomplished every single one of them!  She's pretty proud of herself too.  And rightfully so.

So I asked her about her goals for this year.  Her goal is to get to the top of rock wall #2.  It's quite a bit harder for her that wall #1, so it is a challenge.  But she's determined.  I love that!

And she decided to start the year with a new look.  She's been talking about cutting her hair for a few months now.  Really, she was just sick of the tangles. (And we were using all sorts of products to try to make them better.  It's just the type of hair we have.  I'm 37 and sick of the tangles!) I wanted to make sure she really, really wanted to do it. So we sat on it for a few months, talked about it, looked at pictures, and made a plan for after Christmas.  She never wavered.

Her hair grows pretty fast, so I told her if she didn't like it she could always grow it back out.

She insisted Emily come along and sit next to her.

So. Much. Hair.

We went to the girly place, so they put it in braids (which looked kind of funny). But she got glitter, and scented spray, and hearts on her cheek and a sucker.

I thought about growing out her bangs, and we had been wearing them pinned back for a few weeks. But I gave her the ultimate decision and she said she didn't like how she looked with a bare forehead and wanted to keep the bangs (cowlick and all).  So we are back to bangs.

I think Michael was a little hesitant about cutting it at first, but he just told me the other night that he thinks the cut fits her personality just right.  I agree!  

Love her and her spunky personality!