Napping

Believe it or not, we went into this long weekend without any plans. No travel, no visitors. I took Wednesday off so I could pick up Aurora early, and Chuck thought he might have to work but did indeed get four days off. We ended up spending Thanksgiving at a friend's house with their family, friends and neighbors. There were a bunch of cute little girls for Aurora to play with, and the food was excellent. Thank you so much for inviting us, Carmen!

We did a little shopping on Friday to find a new area rug for our living room. We got a great deal and really like the result. So, in general there was a bit of this happening in our house this weekend:

And even more of this. Chuck spent a lot of time playing video games, which Aurora loved. She asked tons of questions, narrated, and did a great job telling daddy what to do (while I napped).

We also saw a movie. We met up with Bailey to see the Muppets. Afterwards, I took a nap.

Otherwise... did I mention I napped? Such a rare treat. There was also plenty of playing, reading, and relaxing in the Wadey household. No epic adventures, but I hope your weekend was just as enjoyable!

Kids Table

Last week at work we had our 3rd annual Thanksgiving potluck, and it was incredibly delicious. A few of us sat at the "kids table," as usual.

Aurora's preschool had a special luncheon today, and all the parents were invited. It was not quite as delicious, but most definitely included quality time at the kids table.

Yes, she was acting like a turkey the whole time. The kids had clearly been hard at work making turkey table settings, learning about the first Thanksgiving, and talking about what they're thankful for.

I am thankful for pretty much the same things as she is: my Mommy and Daddy, Grandmas and Grandpas, and Aurora's teacher Ms. Brittany. My grandpa would've celebrated his 88th birthday next week, and he is so very missed.

Also, Aurora is thankful for her friend Seth. Of course.

Pizza & Cake

Add in a little fruit, popcorn and juice, and that's about all we ate today. Twice. Yes, today we went to two birthday parties! The first was at the Austin Children's Museum, which was so much fun. The current display is DINOSAURS! But the kids all seemed to be more interested in the train set.

We played for quite awhile, then had a few hours at home before heading down the street to our friend Savannah's house. Her family has an amazing backyard, and it was a very well attended party. There were two bounce houses, slides, a small rock wall, a whole table filled with play-doh...

... and all kinds of awesome Little Mermaid decorations.

Once the sun went down, they draped a white sheet on the balcony and showed the Little Mermaid with a projector. Just imagine dozens of little kids trying to find seats, spilling popcorn, standing up in front of the projector, squealing and talking about every character and scene. Serious craziness, but in a pretty great way. I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

Dinosaurs!

Last weekend we found a copy of Danny and the Dinosaur at a used book store. Chuck remembered it being a favorite when he was growing up and said the author even came to his school when he was little, so he thought it would be fun to read to Aurora. She loves it - in fact, it's the only book she's wanted us to read each night for the last week! In the book, Danny becomes friends with a dinosaur at a museum, so I thought perhaps this weekend I'd take Aurora to a museum. As I was searching online, I found something SO MUCH BETTER. Just half hour away there's a Dinosaur Park, right outside of Austin!

It was pretty awesome. They had a play area and dino dig, a cool gift shop, special photo spots, a 1/2 mile trail filled with close to 20 life size dinosaurs, and a scavenger hunt with other interesting fossils and facts for us to discover along the way.

Aurora was good at screaming whenever I told her one was scary, but she knew they were pretend.

At the end of the trail, we turned a corner to find the biggest dino yet, the brachiosaurus... which I think must be Danny's dinosaur in the book.

If only we could've gone for a ride on his back...

Too Easy

I have to admit, lately this parenting thing has been a breeze. This daylight savings was the first time change where I actually feel a little guilty... I hear my friends talking about their kids waking up at 4 or 5am, while Aurora is totally just going with the flow. She wakes up when the sun comes up, goes to sleep happily whenever I say it's bedtime, gets dressed and plays by herself, she's started "reading" books on her own, and nobody's gotten sick in our house for quite some time (knock on wood). We can take her out just about anywhere - shopping, movies, restaurants - and she just says and does cute things the whole time, like bringing her cat and wearing boots to see Puss in Boots.

She's also started telling poop jokes and thinks burps and farts are hilarious. Seriously, I had no idea 3 1/2 would be such a fun (or easy) age. 

Picture Proofs

It's mugshot school picture time again! They switched it up to yet another photo vendor, and I think these turned out pretty great. Her hair looked a little different when we dropped her off that morning, but they did a cute job styling the side ponies. Look at this big, sassy girl!

Which do you like best? Give me your opinion and I might just give you a copy! They used the close-ups for the class picture, which is not quite as cute as an actual group shot, but it works. Seriously, these kids just keep getting cuter and cuter...