2nd birthday continued..!

Well -- it's been a whole week since Grandma J and Papa R rolled into town!! I've finally had a chance to catch up a little - go through the birthday pics and now it's time to share!

When G&G arrived .. Ms. R was up from her nap, ready and waiting!! It was a special reunion!

Ms. K was still snoozin'....but when she awoke and found G&G AND chocolate chip cookies she thought she was in heaven!

The girls wasted absolutely NO TIME in showing G&G their new tricks....

After getting settled in .... and daddy arriving home from work -- we headed out for dinner.  Walked to our local pizza joint and enjoyed dinner on the patio.  No pics of this event -- likely because we were too busy chatting and catching up.  But - we had a lovely time!!

When Saturday morning arrived -- so had "party day".  So excited!! The girls woke in good spirits and after a light breakfast it was time to get ready to head out to the zoo!

Ms. K -- per her usual ... was ready and willing to get gussied up for the event!  She's always quite pleased with herself when in a pretty dress!

 Very obliging with the photo shoot...

Sure .. go head - take another!

And posing by the fire place - no problem!

Ms. R --- per "her" usual ... well, not really into the whole dress thing ...

Or photo shoot thing....

She's just kind of way too cool for that right now ... ;)

Before we left -- we couldn't' hold back in opening a few fun gifts!  The girls were giddy with excitement over their new sleeping bags -- and have played with them everyday since!

Ms. R getting more into the spirit!! :)

Along their travels -- G&G found these darling cowgirls hats!!

Daddy loves this one ... he pictures her saying ... "howdy partner"!!

 This sweet innocent cowgirl is more mama's style.

 But then it was off to the zoo!!

We had to take our annual "zoo stroller pic" ... where the girls are always looking less than thrilled and questioning what we are doing ...

But -- after a peek at these GIANT ostrich eggs.... things seem to get more interesting.

Oh - and this guy!!

He'll liven up any party!

We almost immediately ditched the stroller and the girls were "FREE" to walk along.

And by "free" I mean with their doggy "backpacks" on ... helping us keep them safely by our sides.

It was so wonderful to have TWO extra sets of hands and arms to help with the girls.

Speaking of free - I felt like a free woman ... roaming about the zoo with an empty stroller.  It was great!

Holding the girls "up" to see the wonderful sights!

At one point - Grandma and Mama had to use the potty -- when we came out we found Papa R manning BOTH monkeys!!

Where was daddy?? Hmmmm...still not sure!!

Speaking of monkeys -- or apes ... or whatever this big guy was .... it was round about his home the girls started to tire.

So -- we stopped for a bite of lunch .... and then decided we should probably head toward the car.  One baby in particular (Ms. K!!!) was exhausted and only wanted Mama to carry her and that was only going to last so long!

We couldn't leave without a quick peek at the penguins!! Too cute!

Oh -- and our annual family birthday photo attempt -- which again proved to be a hoot!!!

Yes -- this was about the best one.  The girls were NOT interested in the photo shoot at this point!!  Oh well, we tried!

After a very fun-filled day we returned home for NAPS!! Each and everyone of us took a nap.

This is daddy -- fast asleep under the girls' new princess sleeping blanket.

After good, long naps -- the girls awoke with new found life.

The were ready to finish that party we started!!

The hubs and I made a yummy dinner ....  homemade fettuccine alfredo (Gauntie D's recipe) with grilled chicken and salmon (for Grandma J)... and we topped it all off the CAKE.

Oh we were stuffed!!

The cake was made by a specialty bakery near where we live -- I couldn't pass up ordering a cake from a place called .... PinkaBella Cupcakes!

YUM!!

The girls were much more aware of what to do when it came to cake eating this year.

They dove right in!!

 Messy - but DE-lish! :)

Thankfully the girls were pretty tuckered out -- otherwise all that sugar right before bed may have been a real oopsy on my part!!

They slept like angels ... til almost 8am the next day!!

Sunday .... brought a slower day.  We had a few "projects" to attend to before G&G left .... like baby proofing cabinets .. thanks to Papa R we are now back in the safe zone.  We'd hoped to skip that step here in our new home ... but according to many photos of the ladies standing in drawers -- I'm sure you can see our need to secure everything!

G&G had to fly back that afternoon -- so after a nice walk to the local market -- they were on their way.... much to our sadness.

We had such a wonderful time having them here.  It gave us something to look forward to and to plan for. It was very special to share the girls' 2nd birthday with them.

Sunday eve we were all very tired -- but recalled all the weekend events very fondly.

I'm finding with each birthday -- the emotions run high for this mama!! In the days and nights leading up to their birthday ... I'm very reminiscent with the hubs -- which I think is pretty normal.  I think back over the girls' birth ...  and feel both happy and sad for all the time that has passed.

Sad because it's going too fast -- but happy because we've had so much JOY in the meantime.

I also really like to plan the girls' parties.  This year - much more low key than last -- but I still really enjoyed putting together the ideas and hoping they would LOVE every minute.

I hope they did!

I have a few more birthday posts in the works -- so stay tuned for that.

Until then -- have a wonderful, happy Friday afternoon!!

It's 75 and sunny here in the northwest -- and from what we hear we better soak it up!

With love,
Cuz I'm the mama!