Parks, Parties, and Presents

We have had a very busy week! It started with friends visiting us followed by my family coming to stay with us for a few days, followed by my sister in law and her family stopping by for the night. Throw in there school evaluations for Nina and Nichole and getting ready for IEP's on Thursday. I hope you are ready because at this point I have several blog posts coming up, and I might be blogging twice a day! Ha!

My mom, her husband, and my sisters finally made their way to come visit our new home. It was great fun to have them here and my girls were very excited. Andy was excited too...no really, he was happy to see my family.

Ellie's birthday is coming up in August, and my family has been able to be a part of it every year. However, this year might be a little different as my sister is getting married the week after Ellie's birthday. For that reason, we decided that an early birthday party would be fun.

Ellie chose to go to the park, have cake, ice-cream, and presents of course. She waited patiently until it was time to go.

 Once at the park I stayed with Nina so I could help her walk while the rest of the family divided between playing with Ellie and chasing Nichole. However, Nichole did go down some slides and actually climbed around the playground. She was a little bit more interested in playing than wandering which is really good!

 Yes, I even went down some of the slides. What can I say, I love slides, swings, and playgrounds! There is a kid inside of me still.

See this fancy contraption around Nina? It is a walking aid called the Jolly Jumper Walk Eze. Basically it allows me to help Nina with her balance when she walks. If she falls, I can catch her right away. This walking aid gives Nina incredible security and it was incredible to see how well she was doing getting around in the park. She did a lot of walking on her own and she really used the support very little.

 Ellie had a blast. She was running all over the place and at some point she was running away from the pirates with my sister.

Nina was also having some fun without the walking helper. It was so much fun to see her move like that.

 Once home, we did have some delicious chocolate cake.

 With the grandparents who liek to spoil her and make her feel special.

 And I was able to get a picture of Nichole before she yelled at me. we suspect Nichole is allergic to cameras since every time she sees one she yells, "NOOOOO!!!!" and hides.

 Ellie has been wanting this Rapunzel tower for a really long time. It was a constant topic in conversation, "When it is my birthday I really hope I get the Rapunzel tower." It was so fun to see her excitement when she opened it up.

 Along with the bike, Ellie got a  Flynn Rider doll, a Rapunzel dress, a Rapunzel book, a paint by number set, and some clothes. Thankfully, the dog returned home with his owners.

 And here I am with my sisters. or "the other sisters" since my girls are "the sisters." The difference is that there are only 25 months between all 3 of my girls, but there are 13 years between my sisters and I. You cannot tell there are so many years between us, can you? Well, thank you!

 And just for the record, my baby sister (who is 17) is not that much taller than Alex and me, she was just wearing high heels.