Lily's 2nd Birthday: Picnic Style!

Lily's second birthday party was at our house on July 30, and it was so fun!  We had a picnic themed party, with lots of red and white and fun backyard activities!  Here are her official picnic pictures:

 

 

Before we get to more party pics, here are her stats at two:  She weighs 29 lbs and is 34 inches tall.  She LOVES Play Doh, cooking in her kitchen, playing with Max, and hanging out outside.  She is curious, cautious, and (usually) very sweet. 

 

A few fun things:  When we color, she always gives me a green color, Stro a red color, and Max, who she calls Bubba, an orange color.  She can't help but dance when she hears music.  She still isn't interested in TV, but loves to watch YouTube videos on our phones.  She always blows on her food (even if it isn't hot), and squinches up her shoulders when its cold.  She can say lots of family members names now:  Mama, Dada, GiGi, Mimi, Nate, Papa, Bubba, and Gidget (Granny and Papa's dog).  She has learned to say "Help Mama" when she needs something, and anytime she sees a trash can, she shouts "yuck!" 

 

Now on to the party!  Here are her invitation and a few decorations:

 

 

 

I couldn't resist a monthly pictures banner!  So fun to see her go from one to two!

 

Using last year's lemonade stand!

 

Thankfully it didn't rain, and the backyard was full of bubbles, games, a picnic basket with pretend food and dishes, a water table (minus the water), colors and chalk!  It was a big hit!

 

Family Pictures:

 

 

We were so happy to have Lily's cousins, Julia and Vera, and their mom and dad, Jaime and Jonathan in town from Florida for the party. 

  

 And party pics:

This was the cutest thing!  Marcella, who is six, plays Ring Around the Rosy with the three littles when we have playdates.  AS SOON as these girls walked in, they got in a circle to play!

These cousins had a great time playing together!

Backyard fun!

It was supposed to rain but didn't (yay!), which meant it was slightly overcast and not as hot as it could have been!  I love that so many people spent time playing outside.

Amelia on the left and "Big Lilly" (as opposed to our "Little Lily") on the right

On the top is Stro's mom Ruth, Aunt Neva, and cousins David, Sarah, Natalie, and Sarah; on the left is Nikki and Kamaria, Lily's volunteer teacher in the Bayou at church; and on the right are Jenny, Shanna, and little Finley

My goddaughter Emberli, brother Nate, and Em's mom Kelli; my friends Beth and Jenn and the littlest party guest, Charlotte; Lily and Nikki

The lemonade stand was fun once again!  Sailor went behind it and said, "Hello.  Who wants to buy some picnics?"  haha

 

Ellie and Lily; our cute girl after her cupcake; Claire; and Ellie playing the color hop game

 

Finally, a couple of pictures from singing Happy Birthday...Lily looks confused, haha

 

 

It was a super fun party, and we are so grateful to all our friends and family who came to celebrate with us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lily's Summer Bucket List

I haven't posted much this summer because I've been saving all our fun pictures for THIS post!  At the beginning of the summer, I made a bucket list of fun summer activities for Lily.  Although we haven't done every single thing, we have done most of them.  Its been nice to have a list to refer to when I don't know what we should do that day!  It also helped me find some new things that she enjoys doing, especially Play Doh and coloring!  Here is our list and a few pictures of some activities, lots of which came from Pinterest.  :)

 

Not super easy to get a picture of, but here she is rolling the dice for the move game.  Its a six-sided wooden block that I wrote jump, skip, twirl, run, dance, and kick on.  She loves to roll the dice and do what it says, but she especially loves jumping!

 

The hula hoop game.  Putting the balls inside the circle, outside the circle, around the circle.  This one she loses interest in pretty quickly, but it is still a great intro to words like inside and outside.

 

Blowing bubbles is one of her favorite activities!

 

Watching fireworks with Nikki and Stro on the Fourth of July

 

First time in her pool this summer!

 

A ball pit in her pool!

 

She really loves matching games!

 

Zoo trip with friends

Aquarium and a milkshake afterwards

Children's museum on three separate occasions, including with Grandpa while he visited from South Carolina

 

 Although we didn't make it to the big splash pad at the park, we did play with our miniature version in the backyard!

Three new playgrounds- two outside, one inside

 

Read & Sing at the local library

 

She is now officially obsessed with Play Doh!  We play with it every day.

 

Also obsessed with stickers and coloring!

 

This was one of my favorite activities- painting the driveway with water.  She eventually poured her bubbles into the water and really loved the soapy result!

 

Although I don't have pictures of these, we also had dance parties regularly, gardened (she now pulls weeds when she sees them in the sidewalk!), ribbon danced, read 10 new books, and learned three new songs (Wheels on the Bus is the current favorite).

 

And even though they weren't on our bucket list, here are a few more fun things that happened this summer:

 

Splashing in puddles!

Feeding animals from her hand

 

A couple of fun train rides!

 



 



Snapshots!

A few recent pics:

 

China Lights in City Park

 

Story Land park with our MOPS group

 

She loves slides:)

 

Play dough!

 

In Point Clear, AL

 

 

Hiding in the laundry basket:)

 

Lunch with Aunt Meg

 

Swimming on Memorial Day with Claire and Amelia

Read & Sing at the library

 

At the zoo in our new wagon!

 

She loves Ms Brittany!

Where's Lily?!

 

She loved her "big girl" water from Starbucks!

 

Play date at Talia's house

 

She loves pouring water!

 

We went to Bash's baseball game, but it started pouring. She looks cute soaking wet though:)

 

Brittany and Chase hosted a BBQ for our small group at their house recently. Lily loves playing at their house!  Something upset her while I was in the bathroom and I came out and she was snuggling on Chase like this. So, so sweet!

 

First time in her pool this summer!

 

A little mini splash pad:)