Bluebonnets!

A few weeks ago I read about the Bluebonnet Festival held in Ennis, Texas, which is just over an hour south of our house. Apparently this is one of the best years for bluebonnets in North Texas in years and there was a lot of postings on Facebook about the bluebonnets in Ennis in particular. Usually the hill country around Austin is the best, but apparently the area around Ennis and surrounding areas is even better this year. I visited the field in Grapevine we've been to the past two years but it was almost bare. There were a few small patches of bluebonnets but otherwise it was just a field of grass and mustard. I thought the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival sounded like a lot of fun, however we had too much already scheduled that weekend so we decided to go yesterday, a week later, instead. It worked out perfectly since the bluebonnets actually peaked this weekend!

The drive went by quickly and both girls snoozed away as we drove the hour or so to the cute town of Ennis. The town's website listed two routes to take to view and walk in the bluebonnets - the north and the south, with the northern drive having a better field to walk among and the southern offered a lot more bluebonnets to look at. We decided to drive the northern route since we wanted to take photos of the girls in the fields. We were not disappointed! It was incredible and I can't even imagine taking the southern route since there were so many bluebonnets to look at. We stopped next to a field that had a fence around it but we could easily sneak the girls into it. Sofia made it through and we took a few photos of her, but Olivia was determined to keep sleeping, so we left her alone. We also took Sofia's photo with a longhorn head that was being used as a prop for a vendor taking photos of his goods for a website. We continued on the drive and everywhere we looked were vast fields of bluebonnets - it was remarkable! We finally made it to "the" field that we could walk in and it was incredible. There were several groups already in the field taking pictures, but because the field was on a hill, we were able to take over an area and take pictures without anyone else in them. Olivia was still pretty groggy and we had a hard time getting her to smile, but we did capture a few cute photos of her and especially of both girls. Sofia had a great time acting like she was a giraffe and running through the flowers. Olivia held onto her new lion which we bought at a yard sale that morning for 25 cents. It was really a beautiful field and a perfect day to be there! Along the drive there were several fields of animals - cows, longhorns, horses, goats, sheep and we stopped near the goats to feed them and look at them. It was a lot of fun and the girls loved it! As we headed back toward home, CK and I decided we need to make this journey every year! It was fantastic!

Visiting the first field


Poising in a "typical Texas" photo


Our sweet girl


This picture doesn't even begin to show how beautiful the bluebonnets are!


Feeding the goats....they wanted to eat Olivia's fingers


Yum!


Sofia and Olivia with the goats


Sofia and Olivia in the bluebonnets


So beautiful!


Our sweet girls!


And Olivia smiles!!


Our sweet girl


Olivia in the bluebonnets


CK


Running and having fun!


The girls and me


CK and his girls

Olivia at 20 Months!

Our girl is growing fast and this week I went through her dresser and weeded out nearly all of her 18-month clothes and her cool weather clothes and pulled out Sofia's former 24-month and 2T clothes. It was interesting to go through Olivia's clothes and I kept several of my favorite outfits for keepsakes - probably more than I really needed for her. Going through Sofia's clothes was very emotional in many ways. My Mom made a lot of outfits for Sofia during this age and Sofia wore the heck out of them. I'm excited that Olivia can now wear them and wish Mom were here to know Olivia and see how cute she is in her handmade outfits too. Sofia also wore store-bought (mainly Old Navy) outfits that remind me so much of her at 2 years old. I guess there were a few that I put her in more than others, since some looked completely foreign to me! Olivia is growing into these clothes quickly and is 29.2 lbs and 35 inches! She's really growing tall and hasn't been gaining as much weight as hight.

She still loves playing "Peek a Boo" and covers her eyes whenever we ask "Where's the baby?" She is an absolutely "shoe horse" and must pick out her own shoes everyday. Many mornings she wants to put them on as soon as she wakes up! She usually throws a fit to change out of her pjs and I usually bribe her by telling her that she can pick out her shoes after she's dressed. It usually works and she definitely has her favorites: Sofia's old black mary janes, her pink sandals from Target, and her sister's old pink Crocs. She also likes her brown pediped shoes with pink flowers but they are getting pretty snug at this point. There are several other pair that she inherited from Sofia, but she shows absolutely no interest in them.

Olivia has also discovered the fun of brushing her teeth and loves to brush them pretty much anytime she's in her room. She points to the Thomas Train trainer toothpaste and says "Choo Choo?" which means she wants to brush her teeth with that toothpaste. She'll even try to spit, like big sister does in the morning. Similar to Sofia, she loves books and especially loves all the "First Animal" books. She will flip through them and make the animal sounds as she goes. Her favorite animal noises are for the horse, rooster and frog. Any book with an airplane in it she calls "Papa" and she points out every airplane in the sky with a "Papa?" which is adorable. She definitely has "No!" down but not "Yes" although she can copy Sofia when she says "Yeah" although I don't think she understand exactly what that means. I can ask her "do you want a cookie?" and she'll say "NO!" but she says it a little slower than her usual "NO!" so I know it means "Yes". She's trying to say words but often babbles on like she's having a conversation yet we can't understand a word she says. She does say "Wawa" for "Water" usually (she still squeals and points when she wants water instead of trying to say "wawa"). In the morning, she loves to say "Bye, Papa" and says "Bye" and waves to everyone when we leave. She's outgoing with most everyone although she isn't as outgoing on Sofia was at her age. She says "Choo choo" for train and spots dogs a mile away and shouts "Puppy!" She loves playing with her baby doll, although she still doesn't have a lovey that she must sleep with, although her crib has her baby doll, her "Puppy" (she loves cuddling with him before bed) and a little stuffed pig and teddy bear as well as her owl pillow (for decoration really). She always plays her musical fish tank as she's falling asleep and will often play with her baby doll if she's not really ready to go to sleep. She's also great at turning on her fish tank if she wakes up in the middle of the night, which puts her back to sleep.

One of the big milestone this month is that we can finally put a little chunk of her wispy hair into a pigtail that goes straight up. It's so cute and her hair seems to be growing pretty quickly and is really in her eyes if she doesn't get it pulled off her face. If we use a hair bow she usually pulls it out after a few minutes. She's good about handing it to me once she's pulled it out of her hair, but it doesn't help keep her hair out of her face. Olivia loves kicking a soccer ball around at Sofia's soccer games or practices and is quite good. She has great timing in keeping the ball moving and seems to enjoy it. She's a happy, silly girl, but is also showing that has her own point of view as she approaches 2 years old and can pitch a little girl fit at times when she doesn't get her way. She adores her sister and loves when Sofia plays with her or includes her in her fun, which Sofia is very good at doing. We are so lucky to have such sweet, fun girls.

Our big 20-month old and he doll - she sleeps with this doll and cuddles with it. She loves wrapping her in a blanket during the day and carries her around.


Such a big girl - wearing her absolute favorite shoes!


Not ready to smile just yet.....


A smile!


Olivia playing with Sofia's markers (another favorite thing to play with) with her pigtail!!


Such a sweet girl!


Brushing her teeth!

Thomas Train

Yesterday we went to ride on Thomas Train in Grapevine, which we've done every year for the past three. It's always been one of Sofia's very favorite things to do and this year I never even told her our plans on going since I wanted to see her reaction on the day of our ride. She doesn't really play with her trains or read train books anymore, so I know her love of trains have been replaced by horses (and other things), but thought it would be fun. Plus, Sofia is one who always has fun doing stuff. We decided to go with our neighbors, Marco and Stacy and their 2-year old Antonio and six week old, Luca. I figured it would be a lot more fun to go with someone who loves trains now. We originally planned to go on Saturday afternoon, after Sofia's soccer game, but by the time I looked into it the tickets were sold out. So, after Meeting we zoomed over to Grapevine and meet our friends about 45-minutes before we boarded the train. Sofia was really excited to go and ride on Thomas, and to get the train 'tattoos.' We decided to grab a corn dog since we were all hungry. After eating, we got into line to board the train.

We road the train and had fun listening to Thomas Train music while we made our way through the road construction and watched airplanes go toward DFW to land. Once we made it back to the depot, we walked around and decided to go to the train tables to play for a bit before we headed home. Sofia and Antonio found trains at different tables and were playing while Olivia watched right next to Antonio. She was mesmerized although there weren't enough trains for her to play with one so she was happy to watch. After a few minutes, I turned and asked Marco about Luca and when I looked back Olivia wasn't at the table. At first, I assumed she moved to another table and was maybe with Sofia. However, I didn't see her there and started to get a little worried. I saw CK on the far side of the tent looking down so assumed he was watching her. I called over to him and he said he hadn't seen her at all. Now I was very worried! I started running around the tent looking at all the tables and even under a long table that had a cloth on it. No sign of Olivia! I was in full panic now! CK was looking at the far end of the tent to be sure she hadn't gone toward the train line. I started fanning out from the tent and luckily a woman asked me what she was wearing. Olivia was wearing a pretty distinctive dress which I described and continued looking for her. After another minute a man came up to me and said "Is that her over there?" and pointed to our little girl on the stairs walking up and down. A man was there with his older kids and he said "She's been here a few minutes and I wasn't going to go anywhere until I figured out who she belonged to." I was so thankful and scared at the same time that I nearly collapsed! I grabbed Olivia and hugged her tight and was so thankful she was in my arms! We made it back to the train tables to show those who'd helped that we'd found her before we left. So, Thomas Train was very eventful but not as we expected! Sofia had a great time, even if it wasn't quite as magical as in years past.

Waiting in line. Marco with Luca, CK and Olivia


Olivia looking at Thomas Train for the first time and trying to figure out what exactly it is!


We are ready to get on the train!


Olivia and her Papa on the train


Olivia and me


Sofia riding with Marco, Stacy, Antonio and Luca


A pensive girl on the train


Olivia is ready for her nap


Tickle Monster!


Sofia with her trains..


....and more trains!


Getting one of two tattoos


Our "official" Thomas Train picture. The line was crazy long so we decided to skip it this year...this one turned out well though.


A bit before our panic...Sofia playing with a train. A kid took the train from her a few minutes later...

Best Friend Sleepover

Sofia's best friend, Maggie, visited from New York this week during her Spring Break. Maggie and Sofia went to Spanish Schoolhouse and became big buddies as soon as school started last year. Maggie is a very smart little girl with a lot of moxie and I've always loved her personality and silliness. At times the girls tended to get a bit crazy when they were together. One time last spring when Maggie and her family were over for dinner, Sofia and she made their way into our walk-in attic and pulled off a ton of insulation and carried it into Sofia's room for their pet "ladybugs."

Maggie moved with her parents and little sister Lily to New Jersey in June last year. Her Mom grew up in New York City and her dad worked in NYC before they moved to Texas six years ago. It was really hard saying goodbye to them since their mom and I became good friends and Maggie and Sofia had been such great friends. Since they left, Sofia and Maggie have facetimed with each other using my iPhone and Maggie's iPad a few times which is so silly. They end up giving each other "tours" of their rooms, making up stories with their stuffed animals and basically talk about the connection when they have technical issues. Maggie still has her great spirit and Sofia and she have both grown up but get along great.

During their visit to Texas, Sofia met up with Maggie and Lily for play dates every day after school and on Wednesday night Melody and I hatched a plan for Maggie to have a sleepover at our house. They came over for a play date and Maggie stayed. Both girls were super excited and I made them my mom's recipe of Macaroni Mickey Mousse, and served it with broccoli, and grapes. The girls ate and then played and drew on Sofia's art table. It was so cute. Both girls were writing how they were best friends. Sofia wrote "Maggie is my best friend ever...." So sweet. After they played for a bit, they went upstairs to the movie room and I put "The Lion King" on for them. They had a big bowl of popcorn and each had a blanket and lovies and were so cute together!

They watched the movie and had fun and then I put them in Sofia's bed for the night. They both looked very tired and since it was already 8:30 after a long, fun day I was certain they would drift off to sleep without much effort. I could hear them giggling and being silly for another hour maybe and assumed they were asleep after that since I couldn't hear them. However, at 10:30 when I decided to turn off the lights and go to bed, I could hear them talking quietly. I considered going upstairs and telling them to "go to sleep" but then realized that it was useless and they would eventually sleep.

The next morning I let them sleep in until 8:30 so I could feed them and get Sofia to school before 10am. They were SO groggy when I went into Sofia's room and I could tell they could have easily slept a few more hours. They got up, got dressed and I made them pancakes for breakfast which they ate up. Melody came and picked Maggie up at 9am and I got Sofia off to school. The girls had such a fun time together and I wish they still lived here. Both Sofia and Maggie seem to have grown up a lot and still have fun together and play a lot of make believe, yet don't seem to act crazy any more. It was a great evening having Maggie over and we'll have to visit them in New Jersey so Sofia can have a sleepover!

Having dinner together


Drawing on Sofia's art table


Best friends


Writing about her friendship


Drawing


"Maggie is my best friend ever..."


Drawing rainbows on the chalkboard


And the movie starts!


Two girls and their lovies are all set for bed


The next morning! Two very tired girls!


Trying to wake up over breakfast


Sweet girls


Saying goodbye....