Lilly's First Dance Recital

 Lilly danced in her first dance recital this year (with Preston). Of course, I cried through the entire dance, she did so good! I was such a proud momma. When she first started dance, she was so nervous and didn't always want to go. By the end, she was lining up on her own and walking in the room with a smile on her face. I knew that she would come around, but I didn't expect her to make such growth! Over the year, she has become such a big girl. Miss Dori told me to give her time. And, she was right! Our big girl, was all smiles out on that big stage. She LOVED every minute of it. Now, we are deciding what to do in the Fall, she wants to do gymnastics too.

The Cottage

I love this picture of them all looking off the back of the boat!

Lanie and Lilly dancing.

Marissa plays so well with the kids!

Lilly was unhappy because the water was so cold!

Uncle Saylor fishing!

 We spent a few nights at the cottage for Memorial Day! It felt great to get away~ It was a glimpse into what summer is going to be like. We can hardly wait!!

Memorial Day Parade

The kids in the parade threw out Popsicle... Popsicle have never tasted so good! It was refreshing!

Mommy and Lilly

Waiting for the parade to start!

 Walled Lake had it's annual Memorial Day Parade. Ryan and I took Lilly and met up with family and friends. We get pretty lucky because we sit at the Lynch and Son's Funeral Home. They are stocked with snacks, water and a bathroom! Plus, shade if we get hot. Lilly loves the parade, but takes a few minutes to warm up when it comes to picking up the candy. A piece landed in front of her and she stood there and didn't move. It's funny how she's come out of her shell with somethings and not others. So, I held her hand and showed her how to do it! We left sweaty, happy and full of candy!

Birthday Pictures

Strawberry Short Cake Birthday Party

Lilly's birthday party theme this year was Strawberry Shortcake! Her favorite remains princess, however she's finding the love for strawberry shortcake and friends. We celebrated with our families at our house this past weekend. Like every other birthday party we've had for Lilly, the weather was rainy. But, that didn't stop us from having a great time. This year, Lilly was comfortable walking around and hanging out with everyone without me being near for the first 1/2 an hour or so. Lilly loved playing with her cousins, dressing up, running around and just having a ball with her little pals. Now that the kids are a bit older, it's easier for the adults to chat and not have to entertain the kids. They all played very well together with out full on adult supervision!
Lilly loved having everyone sing to her, and of course she loved opening all her gifts! Thank you to my family and Ryan's family for being so wonderful to Lilly. She is so lucky to have such a special family!

Happy 4th Birthday, Sweet Lilly Marie

Our baby girl turned 4 on April Th! It's definitely a bitter/sweet day for me. Bitter because it means she's another year older and is moving further and further away from being little. Sweet because, she loves being big and is so smart and just a wonderful little girl. When I talk about Lilly's birthday, it seems that I get choked up because it brings me right back to night and morning when I was in labor. I'm sure this is true for many moms, however I bet the older they get the less you go back in time and think about delivery!! For me it's still fresh in my mind. For Ryan and me, we have been blessed with this little girl who has brought us so many laughs, tears and worries! We feel very lucky to have her. I thank god everyday for a healthy little girl who is caring, funny and spunky!! Happy Birthday, Lilly. We love you more than you'll ever know.

Happy 40th Anniversary, Mom and Dad

My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary in April. We recognized it at Easter, but had something special planned for them. It was a surprise! This past Friday, we told my parents to be ready by 6:30. The only thing they knew was we were celebrating their anniversary.

We got our kids to the sitters and arrived at my parents only to be surprised ourselves... the limo was early~ My parents were surprised, but we wanted to be there for it too!! My parents got a knock at their door at 6:00. When my dad looked out the door he shouted to my mom "holy *#it hun, there is a stretch limo outside". The man at the door was the limo driver letting us know he was here!! When we all got to my parents, they were in shock (again we were too, the limo guy was way too early). The next surprise was, we were heading down town to Vicentes. It's a delicious Cuban style restaurant, with salsa dancing and fabulous music in downtown Detroit!

It's not often that the adults get to spend a night out without the kids. It's always fun to be able to talk like adults and not have to watch our P's and Q's, plus to be able to just focus on us and not be distracted by the kiddos. My mom and dad had a special evening with their kids. I think I can speak on behalf of all of my siblings, that it was a great surprise!

Easter

Happy Easter! This year, Lilly was especially excited because my mom's side was coming to our house to celebrate Easter. She remembered from last year that meant the kids got to participate in an Easter egg hunt. Easter morning, Lilly woke up excited to see what the Easter Bunny dropped off for her. She was shocked to see her basket filled with princess shoes, a nightgown, eggs and more! As she was opening up her goodies in her basket (and eating jelly beans) she noticed an egg by the TV. The egg hunt was on! She found all her eggs and then redirected her attention back to her basket. Soon after, I had to get the house ready and Ryan wanted to work in the yard. Lilly bee-bopped around the house eagerly waiting for her cousins to come over. When they finally did, the kids loved playing together and searching for eggs. The fun part for us, the adults, was to watch the kids interact. Their conversations were adorable. The older they get, the more in depth their conversations have become. As usual there was a dance party and lots of eating to do!It was a great day~ We sure do have the best family!!

Who Needs A Playground When There's swings?

We feel like we want to find fun things for us to do each day since we're off and home with Lilly. Yesterday, we took Lilly to the park. We originally planned to pack a picnic lunch and make it an adventure, but it was too chilly. Lilly's first destination, the swings. She ran there and planted her self on the swing and didn't get off. She stayed swinging for almost the entire time. The last 10 minutes she played on the jungle gym. As a kid, I loved the swings too! I don't blame her at all, someone pushing you while you just sit and enjoy the ride, not bad!! Ryan even joined us today, even though the masters were playing, and the Tiger's were playing in the opening game.

Just Hanging Out

Hanging out with Grant.
Painting a bird house~Dancing around in her dance clothes, she stopped to take a quick picture~

Me bugging her to take a picture~ It was because I got her to wear pants the other day!!

This week, we've been home just doing whatever! One morning, Lilly painted a bird house. Another afternoon, she played with her friend Grant. She's been enjoying herself spending time at home with me and Ryan. It's been so nice for us all!! I still have a few more days home on my Spring Break, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!!

Splash Universe

Lilly gettng use to the water.Lita and Lilly race down the slides.

The lazy river~

This week is my spring break and it's also a week that Ryan took off so that we could all be together! We didn't plan much this week because they always fill up. We wanted to be able to plan something the night before, or even that day. On Tuesday, we met up with my brother, Stacie, mom and the kids at Splash Universe in Dundee. We took Lil there last year and had a ball, so we recruited some folks to join us! The kids had a ball. Lilly's favorite part was swimming in the bubbles (a pool with jets) and the lazy river. She loved going down the water slide and playing with Pres, Lanie and Payton too. It was nice for the adults as well, we got to take a spin down the big water slides. Ryan (my husband) loved it the most!! I liked it, but didn't like being dumped under water at the end! We stayed for about 3 hours- it was perfect! When we got home, we were all beat. I think the combo of swimming and the chlorine, made us all tired. It's always a great way to spend a rainy day!!

Detroit Zoo

Notice the huge snake in the background.

Before I write about Ryan and Lilly's trip to the zoo, I have to share that I am an I-phone dummy! The other day, I was trying to download my pictures from my phone and within a second, my phone became Ryan's phone and all my pictures were lost. I wanted to cry. All my pictures for this past month have been deleted, gone, no longer in my life... I am very upset about this, but have moved on. Ryan has his phone synced to i-tunes and the minute I plugged my phone in, it synced his to mine. Now, you all understand why I haven't added pictures in a while!!

On with the zoo trip... this was a Friday trip to the zoo. I wasn't there, and as usual I was wishing I was! They had a great day. The weather was beautiful and the zoo was pretty empty. Lilly loved seeing all the animals, playing at the park and just hanging out with her daddy! I'm hoping this summer I'll be able to join in on the Friday fun!!