Bike Ridin' @ Cullen Park

Today we took Samantha on a bike ride through Cullen Park. We didn't do a whole lot of riding...mostly spent our time looking for sticks and eating our picnic.

Big Girl Booster

Every little milestone Samantha crosses gets harder and harder for me to accept. I know every parent says this, but geez...it's true! They grow up so fast!

"About Me" Books

For the past couple weeks in Joy School, the girls have been working on their 'about me' books. They have created lots of artwork and pages that tell the reader everything that makes them unique, special and important. Today was the final day...we got the books and assembled all the pages. They each did a presentation of their books, shared their favorite pages and a performed a talent.

Heather likes her profile page.
She showed us how she can write her name.Samantha also likes her profile page.
She can also write her name...she explained the "A" comes first.Lauren likes her painting page.
She sang everyone a song...with everyone's help.
Avery likes her family page.
She demonstrated her gymnastics and taught everyone cartwheels.Today was a great day and they had fun. Sam has reorganized her pages over and over and over. We also added artwork from past months at school.

Camping!

We finally did it! A family campout!Well, I guess we shouldn't take too much credit. We crashed Grandma & Papa's ward campout, which was completely planned with food provided. We basically got in the car (not ours, we hitched a ride) with pillows, toothbrushes and a flashlight. We prepped Sam all week for the big event. We practiced making S'mores, had lots of talks of tents and sleeping bags, and since every night already involves a flashlight, she was ready!We went to Stephen F. Austin campground, which is only about a half hour away. The site was wonderful! I guess I was expecting a lot of dirt and humidity...but got none of that! It was really green and beautiful, right on the Brazos River (not so green or beautiful). We roasted hot dogs on the fire and had the Knies' famous homemade french fries. Sammie wasn't all that interested in being so close to the camp fire, but had no problem eating, and eating and eating! Sam played with a bunch of the kids....gathering sticks, playing 'find the twirly rings,' water balloons, bubbles, freezbie, and just running around. She wanted to go to bed so early! Shocking! The tent and sleeping bags were the highlight for her. It took her about 2 hours of zipping and unzipping the windows, testing everyone's sleeping bags, wanting to see the rain, and of course, flashlight games. She was the last one asleep, by a long shot.

We woke up to breakfast tacos and a hike to the river. Everyone we passed on the trail, Sammie would ask, "Have you seen Tarzan?" It was hilarious. There were vines growing off the trees everywhere...interesting that that was her connection.We are excited for our next adventure. If anyone is going, we'd love to tag along...we'll even contribute to the planning and executing!

Happy Easter!

Grandma pulled through on yet another great Easter Dress!

Aunt Melissa and Aunt Deesh were Sam's special helpers in decorating eggs and cookies. Sam woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had filled all the baskets with candy, church books and movies. There were eggs upstairs and outside. Good thing Sam has had all the practice she needs to find them all!She spent the day watching both her new movies, Toy Story 1 and 2 while the rest of us watched conference. We cooked 2 GREAT meals and had a very relaxing day together.

Easter Egg Hunts

Just like every year, Samantha finds her way into many, many Easter Egg Hunts. She is a pro! If only she can understand what the phrase "egg limit per child" means...she sure has a competitive edge...shocking, I know! We met up with our ward playgroup and ward picnic.Seven Meadows Neighborhood Spring Festival. Yes, Sam is scared of the turtle.Grand Lakes Neighborhood Party. I think we had a bit of overkill. Sam is ready for the main event on Sunday!