Rain

We had so much rain this weekend! Addy has been wanting to wear her new raincoat and umbrella that was given to her on her birthday-- so what a perfect opportunity! Yesterday we went to church, here was her adorable outfit! The dress under her coat is also the same pattern as the raincoat and umbrella!

Ballet

Here are some pictures of Addy in her Mommy and Me dance class last week. We had such a fun time! Addy learned many new ballet moves, did some somersaults, walked across the beam, and many other cute things. Her favorite part is her outfit!!

WHS 10 year Reunion!

We finally returned home late last night from our trip to California. Our trip was centered around my 10 year high school reunion that I've been busy planning for months! I swore that I would never plan it again-- it was a little stressful at times, but I had such a fun time that I might reconsider!! I had so much fun catching up with old friends and seeing everyone that I haven't seen in ages.

I had the best looking date!

Wine Tasting

Jeff and I went wine tasting in Napa-- our favorite activity in California since we can't seem to find any good wineries in VA!! Napa never disappoints! The weather is always fabulous, and the scenery beautiful. This time of year is especially gorgeous. Thanks to Aunt Devon and Uncle Eric for watching Addy!

My favorite- Rombauer

Our view from our picnic lunch at Rutherford Hill Winery

Our first winery was Mumm, it has a beautiful back deck with nice patio furniture to lounge and relax

Monterey Bay Aquarium

One of our favorite spots in Monterey-- the Aquarium!! It's by far the best in the country, probably in the world (I have never been to one outside the US so I couldn't tell ya!)

I LOVE the jellyfish, they are so pretty

Sea Otters, so adorable and unique to Monterey

Addy and her cousins

We had a fun trip to California, visiting family and traveling all over Northern California! We went to Sacramento, Monterey/Carmel, the Bay Area, and Napa. A very busy trip! Addy had lots of fun playing with her cousins.

Here she is with Sariah (Ya-Ya)

Playing horsie with Aunt Janie and Tessa in Carmel

Posing for a picture with Ya-ya after her soccer game

Trying to eat baby Dominic's 1 year birthday cake!

Lounging on the bed with Ya-Ya, Marcus, Dominic, and Maile

1st day of Preschool

Addy had her first day of Preschool today and it was a success! She had her meet the teacher on Tuesday, and was able to get familiar with the classroom before she went all by herself today. After Tuesday, all she did was talk about school and asked when she could go back. She was so excited this morning! She ran right into the classroom, hugged one of her teachers, yelled "bye mommy, it's school now!" 

Addy is the youngest one in her class (the cutoff is 2 by September 30th) so most of the kids are 2 1/2 or almost 3. There are 13 kids and only 2 girls! I couldn't believe she is only one of 2 girls, quite different than what she is used to. The only friend that she talked about today was Sarah, go figure it was the only other girl. I think they'll be fast friends! I tried to take some pictures when she entered the classroom, but I didn't want to distract the other kids (most of them were crying and upset). She'll go 2 mornings a week from 9-12 at a local church. We're very excited for her and know that she'll love it!

Addy insisted on carrying her Fancy Nancy Sunglasses for the picture

Not such a great picture, I was trying to get in and out without being a distraction!

Addy's Party

Here are some pictures we took of Addy's pool party yesterday. We were excited that Grandma and Grandpa came to celebrate and help out with the party. It was a big success! The weather was perfect, we had ALOT of families, the BBQ turned out great, and the kids had a blast. Addy loved all of the attention (of course!).

The Cake that we made (1 of them was a chocolate carrot cake with cream cheese, and the other a dark chocolate cake with buttercream frosting--YUMMY!) Special thanks to Desiree who was very good at her attention to detail on the frosting :) The little buckets next to it were sand cups (dessert pudding with blonde oreo cookies)-- the kids (and many adults) really enjoyed them. 

Everyone singing Happy Birthday!

With daddy

Blowing out candles

Opening presents with Libby

Addy's Happy Birthday!!

Addy has been asking for awhile now when it was going to be her happy birthday. After everyone kept telling her when it was, the anticipation continued to build. She was quite a happy girl this morning when we went into her room with a piece of cake singing happy birthday to her!! She had a fun morning opening a few gifts. Barbara gave her this great little art table that has 4 chairs (very cool), and we gave her a few little things to open. We completed the morning by having breakfast with Elmo!! She loved it 5 months ago, and loved it even more this morning. She definitely was able to get in more time with the characters since there were fewer people. She gave Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird a hug and kiss at least 3 times. They also loved her squeaky shoes!! She even liked Oscar the Grouch, but he stayed in his trash can and didn't get to give her any love. We met some of Addy's friends to go on some rides. All in all, a perfect birthday morning! We're going out to eat for some mexican food later, and tomorrow is Addy's BIG birthday party at the pool!! We'll have lots more pictures to post.