Mommy's Birthday

To celebrate my birthday, Sofia and her Papa took me out to a fabulous Italian restaurant near us called Ruggeri's for dinner. While driving to the restaurant we saw a beautiful rainbow, which we decided must be a good omen for my next year. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and then returned for cupcakes that CK brought home. They were wonderful! It was a very happy birthday celebration!

Before heading out to dinner with the beautiful roses CK and Sofia sent me earlier in the day


Yummy cupcakes!!


Sofia and Mommy with the rainbow in the background


Sofia enjoys a shirley temple - a drink that I used to have all the time when I was little. Since she never drinks sodas, she wasn't a big fan after she finished eating the two cherries. She kept saying it was "spicy" probably from the carbonation.


Post dinner cupcakes


Delicious!

Making Cupcakes

Two weekends ago, Sofia and I decided to make cupcakes. I forget how she originally got the idea, but she suggested it and I had a box of cake mix, so we went to town (I did make the chocolate frosting from scratch, which was very good). Anyway, we had a great time and my little helper was very useful at licking off the beaters and making sure no cupcake mix went to waste....

Mommy and her little helper


From the other side


Pouring the mix into the cupcakes tins


Sofia watches closely


Tasting the batter


Yum!


Testing the frosting


Yum!


The final product!

Balloons!!

On Sunday afternoon, Sofia and I headed to Plano, Texas, to watch the balloons final launch at the Plano Balloon Festival. The three of us tried to go on Friday afternoon to watch the launch, but arrived to cloudy skies that soon turned to rain and lightening. Instead of waiting, we went to a very delicious pizza place in downtown Plano called Urban Crust. CK had to study for his test on Sunday, so Sofia and I headed out to watch the final launch of the balloons without him. Once we arrived we had about an hour, so we walked around the vendors and then headed to the kid area. Sofia had fun in the bounce house, going down the slide, and playing around in the very hot afternoon. Once we saw the balloons setting up, we found a place on the grass to watch from our blanket. However, we were soon allowed to go out on the field and walk around the balloons as they inflated. It was incredible! I was surprised at how quickly they were inflated and in the air.

Unfortunately, we were allowed to go out among the balloons because they never ended up launching. I never figured out why, but a few of them floated maybe forty feet off the ground, then settled back and deflated. It was amazing to watch them inflate and they were each so beautiful - it was quite an experience!

Overlooking the Plano Balloon Festival - the launch area is just to the right.


In the bounce house


Watching as the balloons inflate


The first balloon to inflate


Out on the field, watching one of the balloons


Our view - incredible


Getting a sense of the size!


Sofia's favorite - the mushroom. It was called "A Shroom with a View"


Still inflating


Mommy and Sofia clowning around


Another picture of us

Grapefest

On Saturday morning, Sofia and I headed to Grapevine to Grapefest 2010. Unfortunately, CK had to stay home and study so we enjoyed the day and took lots of pictures to share our adventures. We arrived just after 10am in an attempt to miss the crowds and the heat (we didn't miss either by the time we left). We started off at the pony rides, and although the picture doesn't show it, Sofia was having a great time and waved each time her pony went by me. Then we went to the kid area and she played in the sand box, played on the kid bikes and then hit the Play Doh tables for a long while. Luckily, it was all in the shade so I was fairly comfortable while she played (you can tell from the pictures that her cheeks are red from the heat). From there, we went to the face painting tent (see next post). Then we headed to the carnival area and went on a bunch of different rides - starting with the roller coaster. We ended up on the roller coaster four times! Our girl is a daredevil!

Arriving at Grapefest


On the pony rides


Next to a very tall cowboy!


The Geico Gecko


Playing on the kid bikes


and with Play Doh


Visiting the petting zoo


On the roller coaster (for the second of four times)


Driving the cars


Our little helicopter pilot


All tuckered out.....on our drive home

Our Little Ladybug

After playing in the sandbox, riding the kid bikes, and playing with Play Doh, we came across the face painting booth! I tried to convince Sofia to do a full face painting of a frog, but she wanted a ladybug. So, the artist said he could do a full face ladybug - it turned out to be amazing! I took a bunch of pictures while he painted, and it's fun to watch the ladybug 'emerge' on Sofia's face. She was such a sport at sitting still and she kept her eyes on the artist the entire time.

Looking at the different options


Getting started....


The outside of the ladybug...





Half of a ladybug...





This is my favorite picture - I love how she's watching the artist...


The full ladybug! (It was about this time that I started thinking about how to get all the paint off of her once we made it home....)


Ladybug spots...





And a little sparkle....


Looking at herself in the mirror...


The finished product!! ADORABLE!!!