another one bites the dust...

another school year that is!! it was another GREAT year filled with sweet teachers, new friends, and great memories. end of the year moments i don't want to forget...

olivia walking down the aisle right before her "end of the year music performance"...

she was so proud to see her family there to support her AND i think she likes being on the stage. ;)

a few of my favorite moments during the performance...

ms. cavanaugh and ms. ghoreshi, the best 3 year old preschool teachers in town...

they are wonderful- so encouraging, loving, creative, and patient. (sorry that o's eyes are closed, but i had to include their picture.)

ms. tammy and ms. melissa are some of jack's most favorite people in the whole wide world...

ms. tammy
ms. melissa (a.k.a. "missa")

his precious teachers loved him so much and brought smile after smile to his face all year. what a gift these ladies have for making little ones feel so special and loved!!

it was a FABULOUS year!! yay for summer fun, but i know we will all be ready for school to start again soon!!

the puppy paw-ty...

this is the year for combined birthday parties at the bowlin house and i am loving every minute of it! :0) for jack's 2nd birthday we decided to celebrate with one of his best little friends mckenzie. since mari (kenzie's mom) and i are great friends, jack and kenzie are great friends, they basically have the exact same birthday, they have several of the same friends, and they both take little gym together we decided it was the PERFECT choice to have the party together and have it at the little gym. so here is the celebration in a nutshell...

the best place ever to have a birthday party....

seriously the staff is amazing and the kids loved every minute of the party!

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tables and decorations set...

yes, we made every guest eat out of dog bowls!! it was a dog party, how could we not! :)

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a birthday boy and girl, decked out in coordinating puppy t-shirts...

thanks moonbeam!! ;)

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cupcakes...

what party is complete without cupcakes!

mommies at their birthday babies who are all precious friends...

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***controlled chaos- kids running around, giant parachute, bubbles, music, climbing, jingle bells, and even some crazy man-powered rides! followed by everyone singing happy birthday and jack and kenzie blowing out their candles.***
(my camera decided to act up and i didn't get anymore pictures of the party. :()

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some family time, pizza and opening gifts back at nana and gramps house...

jack loved all his gifts. he had a very toy story themed birthday. he loves toy story!! here he is with "slink" the slinky hot dog dog- one of his many favs from the movie.

=(equals)

one happy little birthday boy who felt so loved and so special on this very exhausting and fun day!!! :)

i think this picture represents jack's day perfectly- a little bit tired, sporting his dog bone tee, with his woody hat on, and his baseball glove and ball in hand.

balleria mice...

olivia has been taking ballet every tuesday morning (aka tutu tuesdays) since the beginning of this school year. she has been taking with her bestie and cousin, kingsley. the girls have been practicing and looking forward to the recital. the big day finally arrived and they were soooo excited to perform!! the theme of the recital was dr. suess and olivia's class danced during the ABC portion of the show. they were "M, m, many mumbling mice." and they are the cutest little ballerina mice EVER!!!

the entire day was so much fun. we began early on saturday morning with dress rehearsal.
we did hair at our house and then went to kingsley's house to put on the REAL make-up. the make-up was for sure a highlight of the experience. :)

then the girls took the stage at the magestic theater in downtown dallas for their rehearsal.

olivia and liza wiggling their mousy fingers and scrunchy up their noses!

they had a great rehearsal on the BIG stage and even posed for a few pictures afterward.

kk and o. such sweet friends!

then later that night they once again danced their hearts out and put on a great show for everyone. the WHOLE family came to cheer on olivia and kingsley. olivia LOVED all the attention and the flowers.

mommy, olivia, and daddy

gramps, olivia, chrissie, and nana (the blanchettes)

pop, olivia, and b (the bowlins)

it was a super special day. we were so proud of olivia. she did an outstanding job of getting into character, acting like a mouse, and performing her dance. it was darling! after the show the entire family went to dinner to celebrate our ballerina mice. it was a great ending to a fun day!

sea world...

a trip to san antonio is really not complete without a trip to sea world, well that is if you have a 4 year old and almost 2 year old. we had a great day enjoying the beautiful weather, spending time with the herridges, and observing lots of sea animals.

after feeding the dolphins we saw the sharks...
then we were off to our first show of the day...

the kids were excited to see the beluga whales and dolphins.

the kids were captivated by the acrobats diving into the water.

then there were some shamo sitings...

we got our picture taken with him right before the show....

and then saw him swimming in the water and doing his tricks.

i even got to ride 2 roller coasters!! brad came with me which made it more fun!!

i love roller coasters!!

and there you have the highlights of our day at sea world!! fun times!!

a little family get-a-way...

we have been trying for a while to plan a trip down to san antonio with are great friends, the herridges. we love the time we spend together in dallas or in waco, but we thought san antonio would be fun. brad and mary are both from san antonio so we were able to stay with brad's parents. it was such a treat to stay with mr. and mrs. herridge, aka mama merle and granddad. their home was beautiful and so comfortable. they had a great backyard and pool for the kids to play in. and they were the BEST babysitters so we could enjoy a little adult time. besides sea world and our trip to the kiddie park (those have to be their own post) here are some of our favorite memories from our little family get-a-way to san antonio...

jack's new bff for the weekend a 2 year old sized cookie monster. cookie was waiting in the crib at the herridges house. thank you grant for allowing jack to love on him all weekend. jack loved having him to nap and sleep with each night. it was so cute to watch him share his blanket with cookie and say "nite-nite."

swimmin' in the hot tub. literally every moment we were at the house the kids were asking to get in the hot tub OR they were in it! :)

hanging out with 'mama merle' (brad's mom). olivia LOVES mama merle and even requested some special time with just she and mama merle at one point during our stay.

a quick trip (less than 30 minutes) to the riverwalk and a picture in front of the almo. just to say we did every touristy thing we could! :)

no kids allowed dinner at the lodge. yummy food and great conversation!

for me it was the perfect balance of relaxing, doing, spending time together as a family, and then also having time to have real adult conversation over good food. it was a great get-a-way complete with the most beautiful, perfect spring weather and bluebonnets everywhere. we are so thankful for the friendships we have with the herridges and look forward to our next adventure/vacation/get-a-way together.