Road Trip to Kansas

I'm not even sure where to begin.  The last 5 days have been a blast and a blur.  But mostly a blast.  We decided to make the ~730 mile drive to Ulysses, KS - hometown of our very own Bryce.  It was a much overdue trip, as can happen when you have a baby.  We haven't all been to KS since Abby was 1.5 years old and we went for Christmas of 2010.  Although we were only in KS for few days, we managed to see so many friends and family.  It was worth the long drive and I'm glad our girls got to spend time with their great grandparents and learn about their Daddy as a child.  This was Lilly's first time to Ulysses and I know she won't remember it but I'm sure Abby will tell her all about it.  :)  We showed Abby the hospital Bryce was born at, the house he grew up in, the pool he learned to swim in, his elementary school, etc.  She was so curious about what he did, where he slept, what he played with, etc.  It was sweet to see her genuine interest in his childhood.  What a fun age.     

On our way up, we spent the night in Fort Worth and got to catch up with our old college buddies and friends.  The fun part is seeing all of our kids play together.  This was also a much overdue reunion.  We had great food, great company and now great memories to add to our friendships.  

Unfortunately, Bryce got sick on our drive up and had a fever for the next 3 days.  Eventually, Abby caught it and she spent the drive home sick.  We drove straight home on the way back.  We spent 13 hours in the car yesterday and let's just say, we were all glad to get out of the car.  So Bryce is now recovering and Abby is in the peak of her viral symptoms.  Cross your fingers for me and Lilly!  On to the pictures...

There were so many kiddos!  And so many boy-toys for my girls to play with!

Abby loved playing with the twins!  It didn't bother her at all when they pulled up on her.  She loved how little they were.  :)

We drove into KS on July 4th and this is the birth place of Bryce's inner-pyro: Grandma Jo and Granddads back yard.  You can't tell but it was past 8:00 PM here and still this bright out.  Lilly was fast asleep in the dark, quiet basement and missed the festivities.

Abby loved the tank fire work!  Sparks flew out of the front and back and in the very end, the American flag pops out of the top!

Grandma Jo and Abby.

And who doesn't love a pink firework car?

My poor Bryce.  He has a fever in this picture and he really wanted to participate more but was forced to sit on the sideline and let his younger cousins have all the fun.

Bryce's cousin Trent stopped by with his look-alike son.  I always thought Bryce and Trent could pass for brothers!

Abby's "reading" the comics to Granddad.  :)

Bryce going down memory lane.  He was going to sell all of his Transformers as a kid but Grandma Jo thought he would regret it so she bought them from him years ago.  Well, now she gave them back.  Her plan worked.  :)

The inevitable happened.  The girls wanted to play too!

This little girl was her usual self - nonstop, always on the go.  ♥  She wore herself out every night and fell asleep before her head ever hit the pack-n-play.

Shhh!!!  Granddad's napping!

Bryce's cousin's brought their 2 year old puppy Samson and the girls loved watching him...from a safe distance.  :)  He's a sweet little puppy and Lilly kept saying "gou gou" and woof woof to him!

It's a tradition for Grandma Jo to take the kids to get donuts in the morning and this was Abby's first time to go!  She had so much fun and loved spending time with her cousins Josh and Caleb.  :)

Abby's "friends" liked to take naps on Granddad's couch with his blanket.

We spent Saturday with the Bakers and both girls loved playing with all their toys.  :)

We have a picture of Abby kissing Grandma Baker on our last trip and this time Lilly did it too!

My sweet girls.  ♥

The Bakers!

Then we headed over to Bryce's other cousin LeeAnn's house for a delicious dinner.  Grandma Baker set the bar high for home cooking so I wasn't surprised when both girls ate everything on their plates!

Do you think Lilly liked Grandma Baker's pineapple cheesecake??  :)

Abby had so much fun playing salon with Alison.

They were taking turns and giving each other pretend hair cuts.  :)

And, of course, Lilly wanted in on the fun too!

What a fun trip!  We can't wait to go back again!

Pool day at Grandma & Grandpa's!!

The girls have gone swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's a handful of times already this summer but this was my first time in the pool too - hence there actually being pictures to post!!  Abby has graduated to just arm floaties and poor Lilly is confined to her circle floatie.  She seemed to get restless and want to be free like the rest of us.  I'm telling you, when I say she's brave...I mean SHE IS BRAVE.  She thinks she can just swim and take off.  We really have to be careful with this one.

Our attempt to get a picture of the two of them together.  :)

Fun fun fun...

...followed by simultaneous meltdowns.  :)

I would have taken a picture of Abby's meltdown to be fair but I was inside getting Lilly down for a much needed bath and nap.  Fun in the sun is worth every meltdown though!

Sister Love ♥

Despite the jealousy issues (mostly fighting over affection/attention from me...) and daily "But I wanted that fiiiiirrrrst!!!" [Abby] and grabbing [Lilly], these 2 girls really do love each other.  Lilly is a typical little copy cat sister and it's adorable!  Thankfully the sweetness between the 2 of them out weighs the bitterness.

Every morning Abby and I go together to get Mei Mei when she wakes up and they both look for each other to get/give morning kisses!  They also kiss each other before Mei Mei goes to bed.  I love that Mei Mei knows that's part of the good night ritual.  :)  A perfect example was my conversation with Abby on the way to class:

Abby:  Mommy, I can't wait until Mei Mei turns 2 so I can help you take care of her.  Right now she's still a baby so she needs you.  But then I can help wash her hands when we get home.  I can help her change her clothes.  I can change her diaper for you when you're busy doing dishes in the kitchen.  I can help put on Mei Mei's shoes when we are going somewhere.  I can do all kinds of things for Mei Mei!

I consider myself lucky.  ♥

Morning cuddles on the couch.  :)

They LOVE to share a cheese stick together.

Mei Mei loves to sit in people's laps.  Abby's lap is sort of smaller so this was the compromise.

BIG HUG!!!

Proof that they love to play together!!  ♥

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there including my own Daddy, my husband and now my brother, for the first time!  I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Bryce for being such a great example of what a great father should be like for our girls.  They think he hung the moon.  ♥

Most people post sweet pictures of the father on Father's Day but I thought this one was much funnier!  Abby is crying while lying on Bryce because she doesn't want Mei Mei there and Lilly could care less and is just using Bryce's face as a stepping stool to get onto the couch.  I love these moments.  :) 

And what do I do?  I grab the camera to take a picture, of course.

Field Trip!

How do you kill almost 2 hours with kids in the summer when it's 95 deg F outside?  Take them to Bass Pro Shop!  It's perfect.  First of all, it's AIR CONDITIONED!!  It's huge, relatively child proof, taxidermy animals galore, boats, tents, camping chairs, fishing stuff, gift shop, water fall, fake gun shooting range (like how city-girl I sound?), fun out-doorsy furniture to sit on, etc.  Just endless things for short attention spam people to do and see.  Both kids had SUCH a blast!  And a special thanks to my parents for helping me contain, corral and keep my kiddos safe; especially my little, CRAZY, FEARLESS, TEMPERAMENTAL Lilly.  She is a dangerous combination.  Bryce and I already foresee trouble with her.  I sort of don't want her to start talking!  But, of course, we love her for being exactly who she is.  :)  We will definitely be going there again!  Onto the great pictures from today!

Camo-recliner!  It's got to be someone's dream chair but it ain't mine.  ;P

We opted to get this cowgirl the hat and not the horse.  :)

Miss Independent being independent.  Abby always liked (and still likes) to hold my hand when we walk around but this one swipes everyone away.  :(

Bryce said she had pretty good form!  This is the fake-gun shooting range I was referring to earlier.

Lao Yie shooting at turkey in the bonus round!

Someone was pissed that we wouldn't open this huge container of cheese curls.

It was extremely entertaining to watch her frustration and then glee with this container.  Fear not, moments later, she was on to something else.

Abby insisted that I take a picture of all of their butts together.  That's my girl.  ♥

Abby looking fierce on the 4 wheeler!

YEE-HAW!

Then we came home and Abby posed for some pictures with her pink boots.  :)

As Abby would say - "I'm stylin'!"

Abby's daddy got into the groove as well - haha!  What a great end to a great day.  :)

What a fun week!

We managed to get a lot of fun play time in for the girls in the last week despite Lilly having a wicked virus that had her out of commission for almost 4 days.  When Abby got sick at this age, she was a serious cuddle bug.  She was pretty much lying on my chest 24/7 until she recovered.  But not Lilly.  She only cuddled when her temperature was over 103 deg F.  She even threw up twice during the peak of her illness.  That was new for me.  Thankfully Abby was a really big help and helped me corral Lilly away from the vomit while I cleaned up.  As a reward, we went out for ice cream later!  Ok, onto the pictures!

Our nightly ritual.

We spent last Sunday in Pearland and Abby got to chow down on homemade jiao zhe.  Yum!

Our attempt to take a cousin picture.  Lilly just wasn't having it!

I love my little niece!  She has awesome curly hair and the best arm and leg rolls.  :)

Jo ma getting a glimpse of what her future with Willow will be like. :)

Lilly will sit on anyone who will feed her a banana.  I'm so glad my kids love bananas.

Lilly really enjoyed exploring my parent's back yard for the first time.  Much like me as a baby, she wasn't a fan of sitting on the grass.

Our main goal for going to the back yard was to feed the ducks bread but they never showed up so the girls ate the bread instead.

For some reason Abby was giving Lilly a shoulder massage.  ;P

Mei Mei and her Lao Yie!

Mei Mei and her Lao Nian!  All she wanted to do was pluck all the petals off.  No-no Mei Mei!

The ducks were missing out on whole wheat bread!

Xiao Xiao always watching out for her Mei Mei.  Both girls are such carb-monsters!

This is what a sick baby looks like after she breaks her fever during a nap.  Abby was so attentive and wanted to brush her Mei Mei's hair.  Lilly let my mom hold her like this for 30 minutes.  That's a record.  Poor little baby!

Fast forward to today and Lilly is definitely on the mend.  She just has the residual post-fever rash and continues to nap/sleep longer than usual but other than that, our sweet go-go-go butterfly baby is back!!

Bryce was brewing today so Abby got to play in the kiddie pool all day today!  She was in this thing for over 5 hours!

Mei Mei finally woke up from a nap, had lunch and joined her sister in the kiddie pool for the first time ever! It's safe to say she LOVED it.  We'll definitely be doing this again this summer.  :)

"Mei Mei, whatcha doin'??"

Lilly really enjoyed the slide and Jie Jie was right there ready to catch her!

Playing well together.  ♥