A Labor of Love

So the AWESOME playground is finished. And by finished, I mean ladders and siding is up and it is finally safe for G to play on. Chris still has plans to add a steering wheel or two, a roof and maybe even more levels. but for right now Gianna has a little house area to play in, 2 levels to climb on, and a slide to go down. Elia of course loves the slide too. Chris has been working on this playground nonstop for the past week- coming home and going straight outside, and weekends, etc. And Uncle Patrick helped a lot too! This is what my mom would call a "Labor of Love." Here are some pictures! Enjoy ;)

A month ago

Last Week

Up Close

View from the porch

And here is the view of the new picnic table:

The Hiking Park

Chris found Arbor Hills Nature Preserve shortly after we moved to Carrollton. It has tons of paved and unpaved trails. At the end of the major paved trail is an awesome playground, so Gianna has nicknamed it the hiking park. We recently bought another child backpack so now we can get on the unpaved trails and tote both girls around:

On the trail:

After hiking around for an hour or so, we get to the playground exhausted. Then we (Chris) have to run around after Gianna as she climbs all over the place and goes down the slides.

Elia has a new love: going down the slide. But first, take a look at her in her sweet hat doing her first love: swinging!

Now, when you first put her up at the top of the slide, she gets the cutest grin on her face. Some might call it a sh!t-eating grin. She kinda looks around her surroundings as if to say, I am the queen. Here is a pic of it, but even this pic doesn't do it justice!

In case you were curious, her shirt says "Being Cute is a Full Time Job." Seriously, soooo fitting for little E! I love this series:

Sisters together and how cute is Elia?

Chris found another hiking trail up north in Lewisville, which we are excited to try out, but We will always, always LOVE this one!

Projects

A leaky faucet. New toilet covers. Cornhole boxes. A picnic bench. A new playground. These are all projects Chris has finished or is currently working on. And Gianna LOVES to help daddy with all of his projects. I am sure that Chris could finish these projects in half the time without her "help," but it makes her so happy and excited!

They took this outdoor coffee table:

and turned it into a kid sized picnic table:

Gianna helped measure everything else and I think her favorite part was helping "paint" (stain) the wood once he put it all together. It will be perfect for when her friends come over and want to eat outside!

Next up is the playground he is working on, complete with a slide! As soon as he finishes, I will put up pics as well.

Top 10 of Our Atlanta Trip

I kinda liked my last top 15 of our Cali trip, so here we go with Atlanta!

1. Probably the best thing was watching Craig, my bro in law, take his first communion at the Easter Vigil Mass. My sister met him 10ish years ago at a research internship with Oklahoma University chasing tornadoes. He used to say that scientifically it was hard to "prove" God. I think he learned a little bit about faith through Meg and decided to finally take a "leap of faith." So happy for him!

2. Colleen got engaged! I wasn't actually there the night of the proposal, but we all got to celebrate over the weekend with everyone. Colleen's ring is so pretty, and they are so durned happy!!!

3. Shannon and Tom made brunch for everyone and had a little party at their apartment's lounge room. They made Easter Baskets for the kids, and it was just a great way for us to all catch up with each other before the crazy festivities began!

4. Seeing my entire family. My parents were there with Ryan and Colleen. Shannon and Tom already live there and then of course Megan, Craig, and Colin and Austin. It was wonderful to see them all. I also got to see extended family I haven't seen in 2 years- my aunt and uncle and their 4 kids, and subsequently, their kids.

5. Easter Day. It was awesome. We saw all the family, had AMAZING food, an easter egg hunt, oh and did I mention the amazing food? Megan had a huge reception for Craig, and ooo lallala! I need to get the recipe for the rosemary muffin sandwiches. YUMMO!

6. The ATL Aquarium. Enough said, right? Tom got Chris in and took him around and then I brought Colin, Gianna, and Elia inside. Do you know how much it costs to get into the aquarium? $26 for an adult, and $20.50 for a kid 3-12. Ridiculous. But apparently worth it!

When Gianna saw the turtle, she kept saying things like, hi turtle, remember me? Its me, Gianna!

Looks like G is getting attacked by the crab... and how cute is papa with his girls?

7. Hanging out with Megan and Craig and Shannon and Tom. It was a crazy weekend, so I was glad we got to just "chill." Even though poor Shan did get food poisoning from PF CHangs Moday night!

8. Opening up the bar. Every night, Craig would get off work (which entails him exiting his office and walking down the hallway into the kitchen) and make us all a drink, including the kids! He makes a mean margarita, and that was probably the single most reason that I gained weight this past week. I am talking alcohol flowing every night!!! (they did give it up during lent after all)

9. Cousin Love. Pictures say 1000 words:

10. Staying at Home with Megan. All week, we would just wake up and the cousins would hang out all day! We went to the park one day and took a walk another day and had picnics in her backyard everyday. It gave me a little taste of what it would be like to live in the same city!!

Getting back to reality after this vacation was a lot easier than last trip we took. Probably because Chris flew back early Tuesday so I flew with both girls on Thursday night by myself. The flight itself was ok, it was just the 1/2 hour we were on the runway before, and the descent/taxiing when G had gotten tired of being good and it was hard to keep her and Elia occupied at the same time. When I saw Chris coming to get us, a wave of relief just washed over me. That, and Elia has been sleeping through the night since we have been back!

PS. I am having technical difficulties with comments. I have tried fixing it through my settings, but still nothing is working! If anyone has any suggestions/solutions, could you let me know through a comment on Skinnie Twinnies or through facebook? Thanks!!!

Atlanta Tease

I will write in fuller detail about our wonderful trip to Atlanta, so in the meantime, enjoy these pics!

At the ATL Aquarium:

Swinging with Aunt Shanny:

Cute cousins hanging out:

Cousins entertaining each other, for hours on end!

Its Almost Eastertime!

Gianna is just as excited about Easter as she was on Christmas Eve. Every time we talk about Easter, she can hardly contain her excitement and she says I'mgonnaseemycousinsAustinandColinandmyauntsanduncles all in one breath. I, of course, am excited but now we are even more excited to celebrate Aunt Colleen's engagement! Her boyfriend, er I mean, fiancé, flew to Atlanta last night and got in right before Col did, and he popped the question! She had no idea, and was so surprised. When she called, my entire family was in the background, popping champagne and laughing and there was so much excitement in the air. Now I feel just the same as Gianna! I'm sure I will post all about the cuteness of the cousins together and all the family hanging out!

Fee Fi Fo Fum

I smell the blood of an Englishman

Be he alive or be he dead,

I'll grind his bones to make my bread!

This sounds weirdly morbid when it is coming out of the mouth of an almost 3 year old! She is obsessed with fairy tales (well technically these are considered Folk Tales), and will latch on to one at a time and make you read them to her OVER and OVER and OVER until she memorizes them. First it was The 3 Little Pigs with "Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin!" Then it was The 3 Little Bears and Goldilocks with "And Little Bear's was JUST right." Then Little Red Riding Hood with "Grandma, what big teeth you have! All the better to EAT you with my dear!" And now we are on to Jack and the Beanstalk. I think she is going to get in trouble at school for reading instead of paying attention to the teacher like I used to.