Two Big Events

We were fortunate to have two big reasons to go visit with Nate and Kate.  First, Kathryn turned 3!  And, Second, a big Thanksgiving feast with the whole Haggerty family.  Kathryn had a Minnie Mouse themed party with two bounce houses.  We all had a lot of fun helping Kathryn celebrate.

Megan brought out a tower of cupcakes and everyone got to decorate their own, very clever idea.

Kathryn was serious about cupcake decorating.

Jessica enjoyed some time with Nathan, he shared his video game with her.

I think Jessica should feel very special that Nathan  shared his video game with her.

I got to play in the bounce house with the kids for a little bit when most of the guests had left.

Allison is growling.

We spent the night at Lady and Paw Paw's apartment on Thanksgiving.  Steve and Paw Paw set up the trampoline in their backyard.

Kathryn and Jessica really liked bouncing on the trampoline together.

 

Here is a picture of the trampoline near max capacity.

We took turns bouncing Nathan as high as we could.

Here are a couple videos of the kids on the trampoline.

 

Kathryn and Allison share some common interests.

Well, maybe "share" is a stretch.  Here is Allison throwing a fit because she wants Kathryn's baby doll.

 

 

Here's a funny video of Jessica and Kathryn playing next to each other.

Here's a video of the kids dancing in the living room.

Allison ate turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, green beans... and anything else she managed to get up to her mouth (including some dog food but that's another story).

I don't know when this picture was taken.  I really didn't think Jessica ate anything at Thanksgiving but here's proof that she had some sort of chocolate.

Here are some pics from home:

Jessica was pretending to be a blue parrot sitting on daddy's (capt hook) shoulder.

Here's a video of her describing it.

Daddy (aka "Sandman") has a gift of slumber with these girls.

Allison has been practicing walking with her pooh mower a lot lately, it is kinda funny to watch her get frustrated.  I usually help her but I had to capture the fit on video this time.

 Here's a video of happier times for Allison.

 

Zoo with Grandpa

As soon as we got Grandpa home from the airport on Saturday we took him to a new playground we discovered in the Old Hospital section of housing.  Joe had the girls dressed in their Tennessee gear.

I think the girls knew that grandpa was here to play with them.  Jessica remembered and Allison picked up on Jessica's vibe. 

When we got to the playground Jessica showed daddy her climbing tree.

I LOVE these pictures.

 

Then we kinda played musical babies for the rest of grandpa's visit.

 

Allison looks like a baby monkey checking her daddy's head for bugs to eat.

 On Veteran's Day we had perfect weather for the zoo.  Allison was ready to point out stuff to us before we even walked in.

We brought our wagon, even though the girls didn't ride in it very much.

 

We fed the birds.  Allison kept trying to grab the birds and Jessica would shake them off when they landed on her Popsicle stick, she was determined to feed the birds on her terms.  I love these pictures of Joe with the girls.

 

 

Here are some videos of us feeding the birds.

 

 

 

We also fed the giraffes.

Jessica got to hold the cup this time.  I thought the giraffe would knock it out of her hand but she held on tight.  Allison would squeal and babble with delight at the animals but she watched quietly when it was time to feed.

 

We fed a llama.

I loved the momma monkey with her baby clinging to the front of her, I could relate to her.

More monkeys checking us out while we check them out.

We got up close and personal with the goats in the petting zoo.  Alli was dying to get down and touch one so I set her free and stayed close by.

 

 

 

The girls really got a big kick out of the bears.  There was a squirrel in their enclosure and one of them was trying to catch it so they were pretty active.

We posed for a family photo after one of our trips to the restroom.

Allison enjoyed the zoo as much as I thought she would.  She was probably happier than Jessica most of the time.  Jessica is in the struggle for power phase (terrible twos) and she finds it hard to enjoy herself unless she is destroying something or putting herself in eminent danger.

 We rode the train around the zoo.

We had some time to burn before we could ride the train so we played for a bit.

Jessica likes riding the carousel but these little boys' dad put a quarter in the machine and she didn't want it to move.

Not two seconds after she got off the little moving horse, she climbed on the big zebra and demanded that we put quarters in it.  Oh the power struggle and confusion!

 

Jessica enjoyed chasing the free range peacocks and chickens much more than riding the metal horses.  Grandpa fed them so they would come closer.  Jessica got a hold of the peacock once and I heard it shriek.  I so thought we were going to get kicked out of the zoo before we got to ride the train.

Allison crawled on a baby expedition through the grass inspecting every leaf along the way.

Here's a video of Allison talking about the leaves.

Jessica was almost eaten by a snake and that pleased her.

I'm just going to sneak this video of Joe reading to the girls in this blog because I like it so much.

You can really see Allison's temper in this video.  She is trying to throw stuff out of the tub and Grandpa stops her and she yells at him.

 Jessica dressing in her new Poncho, thanks Meema and Grandad.  Allison has a matching one.

Allison's First Birthday

Allison is officially one year old now!  Her birthday party was a blast thanks to all the family and friends who came to help her celebrate.  I have to start this blog with a video of everyone singing happy birthday to her. She patiently waits for her cake like she has done this before!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sweet little girl even wanted to share.

 

She fed some cake to Lady.

And she even let big sister have some.

Here is the cake that I ordered from Publix (cream cheese frosting).

Allison had a dress up/carnival themed birthday party.  I dressed like a clown and learned how to make balloon animals.

Jessica was a fan of the clown wig and I think she wore it best.

Allison wore her super hero outfit for the party.

Jessica was a kitty.

Grandpa learned how to make balloon creatures too.  Together we filled the living room with doggies, swords, octopus, flowers and jester hats.

 

 

 

 

We set up the bounce house in the backyard.

Allison really enjoyed the bounce house (it was her first bounce house experience).

 

Jess, Nate and Kate were all very careful not to squish the birthday girl.

 

I love this picture!

Here are a couple videos of the bounce house.

 

Allison didn't really need help opening her presents but big sister was willing to lend a hand anyway.

Aunt Megan knew how to score cool points: wear a daisy duck hat while holding a cute puppy... irresistible to Allison.

Meema and Grandad sent Allison a few presents in the mail, these girls LOVE getting stuff in the mail.  This peg pounder was a present for Allison but Jessica kinda took it over.  Jessica is really into tools, just like her mommy.

Daddy reading a new book to his little girls.  Thanks for the new books Meema and Grandad.

Uncle Eric got Allison this Minnie mouse.  It was a perfect match to her Mickey.

 Here is a video of Allison opening a puppy from Meema and Grandad.

And playing with the puppy.

 Here are a few bonus videos of the girls that I am just adding to the end of this blog to save time.