Kira's 4th Birthday!

My little Kira Bug just turned the big 4 on August 11th. Seriously, when did she get so big? It seems like the time has just flown by. Kira was beyond excited because she didn't want to be 3 years old anymore, and she just wants to be "bigger."

For her birthday, she got to pick out her very own cake all by herself.... and Kira is a huge Elmo fan. So, that is exactly what she picked out!




As you can tell, she just LOVED her cake. She couldn't wait to start eating it! She was very super excited about her presents as well. She is really into Toy Story and kitchen stuff, so.... that is what she got! Plus she got a Cinderella doll (which I just absolutely loved) and even a few cute little shirts.






As you can see, she got quite a bit of wonderful things. I think out of all of them, she loved her Toy Story 3 laptop the most. It is helping her recognize her numbers and letters. Plus, it has "Buzz on it Mommy!" So it was a total hit.

And a fun picture of Natalie and Kira for good measure:


And of course, my baby Nico at her big sisters birthday!

A little getaway to Seattle & Lincoln City!

A week before the girls left, we decided that we would have a little 3 day mini getaway. Our destination was Lincoln City, OR. The last time that Kira went to the beach she was barely 1 year old, so we knew just how much she would enjoy seeing the ocean. So, on Friday, when Robbie got off of work, we were all packed up and ready to go!

The first night, we stayed at Robbie's brothers house in Cle Elum, WA. We got there sometime around midnight. The older girls went to sleep right away, but Nico had other plans. She was very tired, but needed to be fed before she fell asleep. After her feeding, I was getting ready to lay her down, and she just busted up laughing! I can't say that I knew what she was laughing at, but it was the cutest thing. She just giggled for about 10 minutes straight. After that, she went right to sleep. Such a silly baby that I have!

Saturday morning, we were ready for the trip over to Seattle. That wasn't such a long drive, which I know that the girls (and myself) were quite thankful for. Robbie wanted to say hello to his sister, Denise, so we stopped in Isaaquah for a quick visit. After that, we drove the rest of the way to Seattle! Natalie and Kira had been there before, but they never got to see all of the sights. So, we went right into the heart of it all.... with the sky scrapers, and the millions of people walking around. We were ready to get out of the car at this point, so I suggested that we go to Pike Place Market. I told Natalie that its a place from the movies, and that made her want to see it really badly. It was pretty hot out, so we only stayed for about an hour or so, as we didn't want the girls to overheat.







Once we were all done there, we headed to Bothell to stay with our good friend Mike, his mom, and his grandma. The girls hadn't been over to visit in a long while, and they were ready to be done with driving for the day. We got to visit for a while, and had ourselves some homemade macaroni and cheese that Mo (Mike's mom) made. It was so good!!!

The next day (Sunday) we got up early and headed out to Lincoln City. We were hoping that the weather over there would be pretty nice, but no such luck. It was in the 60's and a little breezy. Regardless, the girls were so excited to go! Kira couldn't wait to go out and play in the sand, while Natalie could wait to chase some waves. Nico didn't mind being out there at first, but after a while she got fussy. It was a good thing our hotel room was right on the beach!









We had so much fun while we were at the coast! I think that if I would of let them, Natalie and Kira would of stayed out there until it was dark.

On Monday, we made the VERY long drive home. Since we had to drive from OR all the way to MT, it seemed like it took FOREVER. But I would gladly do it again! The whole trip was very special to me and I know it was for everyone else as well. :)

When we went to Glacier Park

Back in July, Robbie, the girls and I decided to take a little trip. Natalie wanted to visit Glacier National Park while she was staying up here in MT for the summer. Even though I warned there could be bears and cougars, she was still very eager to go. So, off we went!!!

We had to get up somewhat early that morning. When Natalie and Kira woke up, they didn't have a clue as to where we were going since we decided to make it a surprise. Once they realized where we were going, they cooperated with getting ready for our little trip. Yay for surprises!
















You'll have to excuse the quality of the pictures, as these were taken with my trusty cell phone. My camera decided to die on me, but at least my phone was better than nothing!

It was absolutely beautiful up at the park. Lake MacDonald was HUGE, and the water was unbelievably clear. I've never seen water that clear in my life. We saw so many snow cover mountains, and waterfalls. In fact, there is a type of waterfall that was just AMAZING. It was called the Weeping Wall. Its just nothing but water just gushing out of the side of a mountain wall. When we drove past it, Natalie and I stuck out our arms, and we got soaked from the water! It sure was a good way to cool down though!

Sadly, we didn't see any bears or cougars. I was very happy about that, but Natalie, not so much. We did see some deer and mountain goats, which the girls liked very much. One deer was right on the road, and it was very close to these two men trying to take its picture.

All in all, it was a great trip. We were all in awe at just how beautiful Glacier Park was. This is something I hope that we will be able to do again!

So I kinda forgot....

Its been well over a month since I was last on here. Apparently, I kind of forgot that I actually had a blog. Silly me.
Starting today, I am going to use this to update on the goings ons of my life, my kids, and such. And what updates do I have.... where shall I begin?
This past summer, I had my two oldest girls, Natalie and Kira, stay with me. It was great. On Saturday, they went back to be with their Dad. And I miss them already so much. Not many seem to know why they live with their Dad... I'll get to that another day. It gets me into the downy dumps to talk about that right now. But, what matters is that we had a lot of fun together! I cherished every single day that I spent with them!
My baby NicoAnn is now 6 months old! Almost 7 months! Agh! I seriously do not know where the time has gone. She is such an amazing little girl, and I can't get enough of her. She can sit up, and she even eats baby food now. And that, she totally adores. Every single day, she is changing so fast, I can hardly believe it.
I will be back to update with more, don't you worry about that. I'll update about my summer with my Natalie and Kira, and what else I've been up to.
Until then.... TTFN!