Conversation of the Day

We were reading Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends last night (note to self - this book should not be read until your child is a bit older, but Brielle picks it almost nightly).  We were reading the poem about the boa constrictor that ate the kid...I know.  Poor judgement. 

At any rate, Brielle made a face and said 'that can't happen.  We have bones and stuff.  Boa constrictors can eat birds because they have hollow bones.  You know.  That's why they can fly.  Well except the ostrich.  Their bones aren't hollow.' 

Grant:  Is that why they can't fly?

Brielle:  Yes.

Me:  I think they lay really big eggs too.

Brielle:  Yes.  They have the biggest eggs in the world (imagine her eyes bugging out to emphasize just how big the eggs are).

I assumed Brielle was a bit confused about the whole hollow bones thing and it was late at night (we just got back from celebrating Grant's birthday) so I decided to nod my head and go along with it.

I was going to wrote a post about her cute, but overly confused knowledge of birds. 
Well...who needs to go back to preschool?  This girl. 
Yep.  She was right.  Birds do have hollow bones which allow them to fly.  Grant looked it up, since we have learned Brielle is hardly ever wrong.  She never gets facts mixed up.

So in the end, I learned that reading a 3 1/2 year old a poem about a boa constrictor eating a kid probably wasn't the best idea.

Or maybe I learned that my 3 1/2 year old knows way more about birds than I ever will!

You can only imagine my answer when she asked me what light was made of the other night........

Jenna's Birthday Party

Brielle was invited to her friend Jenna's birthday Hello Kitty birthday party.  What fun!

This face sums up Brielle's feelings about Jenna's awesome 4th birthday!

Decorating their own Hello Kitty cupcakes! 

Jenna opening Brielle's gift.  Love the cute chairs! 

Happy Birthday Jenna! 



Silly Girl

Royals Game

We went to our first Royals game of the season.  Unfortunately, it was during their losing streak.  Fortunately, we got to go with the Flax family!  We had a great time despite losing the game.  Brielle and Jenna watched about 3 innings and then we spent the rest of the game in the kid area.  Brielle's excited to go to another game!

Brielle once again preferred to sit by herself while Grant and I sat a few seats away.

Brielle loves the carousel!  She especially loves riding Slugger! 

Getting ready to run the bases for the first time! 

Up to bat! 

Go Brielle! 

Home run! 



Kite Festival

We went to the Longview Kite Festival with the Flax family.  It was a blast despite not having enough wind to see the giant kites.  We heard that the giant kites were able to fly in the afternoon, so we are going to try again next year.  The girls loved flying their own kites, getting to do all of the kid activities, and we loved grabbing lunch at Next Door Pizza.  We can't wait for next year! 

Bounce house fun!

Making airplanes with Jenna 

Best part of the day: Face Painting! 

Cute princess and mermaid 



Major Chop

Brielle has been wanting to get her haircut on our next 'home day' for a few weeks now.  Well, we took advantage of Easter weekend and got about 6 inches chopped off.

She loves it!  I love that she's brave and doesn't fear major change yet.  I wish I was that brave!



First Garden

Brielle and I bought seeds at Lowes the other day.  Good thing Grant actually did some research and made plans to really plant the seeds.  I was thinking about it...but let's be honest I doubt I would have actually planted an actual garden.

Brielle and Grant spent the weekend planning, digging, and planting.  We can't wait to see the progress this summer.



Easter

We were supposed to go to St. Louis and spend time with my family, but I was still sick.  Bummer.  We made the best of it!  Grant took Brielle to see the Easter Bunny.  I was finally able to leave on Sunday, so we went to church, out to eat, and to Bass Pro.  Brielle was proud to announce that "Jesus is alive!" after church.  We ate lunch at Panera - a family favorite.  Then we went to Bass Pro for an egg hunt.

Hunting for eggs at Bass Pro

Attempting a smile.... 

Surprise!  The Easter Bunny popped around the corner.  We didn't even have to wait in line.  Favorite quote: "The Easter Bunny must have a lot of energy to hop around to all the houses!" 



Easter Preparation

We spent all morning preparing for Easter.

Brielle and I made Resurrection Rolls - which were delicious!

Grant and Brielle spent the rest of the morning dying Easter eggs and making a special Easter dessert treat - Birds' Nests!  Yum!



Park Fun

We met Ashley and Paxton at Legacy Park the other day. 

It was a great afternoon!

Paxton is too cute and he's walking!  Brielle kept telling all of her teachers that she was going to the park to play with babies.  She said she was going to help them not eat sand.  However, at the park she did some minimal playing with Paxton.  She was very sweet to him when they were together! 



Thanks Cinderella!

Cinderella got Brielle the right gift!  We don't sleep without it!



Field Trip

I was able to go with Brielle and her class to the Nature Center.  We explored a nature trail and looked for footprints and animals along the way.  Brielle started with her girlfriends and then was racing to be at the head of the trail with all of the boys.  Then we went inside and saw all kinds of neat animals - owls, possums, snakes, lizards, rabbits, etc. 

Brielle and her best friends Ellie and Sophie.  They are so cute!

Vinny and Brielle put on a puppet show. 

Haley, Ellie, and Brielle checking out the neat antlers, snake skin, and fur.  We saw all of the animals on our sheet except a turkey. 

Maybe next time.   



Birthday Celebrations

Brielle was invited to a lot of birthday parties during the last month - Isaac, Clara, Gus, Henry, and Vinny!

Here's a few pics from her friend (occasionally we hear the word boyfriend - yikes) Vinny's awesome gymnastics party!

Happy Birthday Vinny!



Reading

I came home from class the other night to hear Brielle reading.  She knows all of her sounds and is starting to put them together at school.  It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced!

She was reading Bob books, and really working at it!  Yeah Little Miss!

Brielle has her own ring of words at school.  I believe she adds new words every day.  She told me she added the word nut the other day.  "It has three sounds Mommy. n...u....t...nut!"  Nice!

Here's a sample of the Bob books:

Disney World

Day 6 - AKA Last Day

Thanks to Aunt Jill again, we had breakfast reservations to Chef Mickey.  It was a delicious buffet and we got to see some of our favorite characters!

Brielle could have played on these cushions for hours.  She was modeling her Minnie Mouse dress I made her ironed together for the trip.  I think it will be a one-time wear dress, but is was cute while it lasted. 

Here's the back of the dress.  Brielle got to wave her napkin for the special Chef Mickey song! 

We ended our trip at Downtown Disney.  We stopped in the Lego store.  Brielle found some pink legos she wants for her birthday.  We shall see! 

Can you find Brielle? 

Sadly our Disney vacation had to come to an end.  I was worried about this trip being a total disaster, but we are for sure going back in a few years!



Disney World

Day 5

This day started and ended with princesses at Magic Kingdom!  We got in line to see Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty.  Belle was so nice and sweet to Brielle.  As soon as we rounded the corner, she walked up to Brielle and asked her name.  From then on she called her Princess Brielle.  Brielle was wearing a Belle dress, shoes, and crown that we had brought from home (thanks to the advice from a Disney expert friend), so that's why Belle made the connection with Brielle right away.  The princesses spend more time with each guest than the characters.  Cinderella asked Brielle lots of questions which we couldn't hear, but it looked like they were having an in-depth conversation.  Belle even kissed Brielle's autograph book.

Conversation with Cinderella

Sweet Belle 

Sleeping Beauty giving Brielle a twirl. 

Belle came right to us in line.  How special!

Cinderella's Castle 

Next stop:  Cinderella's castle for breakfast.  Yum! Thanks for Aunt Jill for making reservations a long time ago! 

We got to see more princesses! 

Every princess got a magic wand and a wishing star.  Brielle learned how to wish upon a star and participate in the magic wand dance. 

The breakfast was delicious! 

Later we got to see the Little Mermaid and Prince Eric.  Grant gave them Brielle's new Little Mermaid bank to sign.  She started collecting money for her own Minnie Mouse suitcase on the trip.  The Little Mermaid got a kick out of the fact there were already coins in her bank.  :)

The Disney camera guy took a picture of the "paparazzi"!   

After visiting the Laugh Factory and riding the People Mover, we stopped to see Buzz. 

We caught a little of the Disney Parade! 

Trapped! 

The carousel was a fun time.  We also got to go on the Peter Pan ride. 

Getting ready to ride the People Mover.  Brielle loved Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride and the spinning tea cups! 

We couldn't leave the park without playing in the games outside of the Pooh Bear ride.  We had fast passes for the Winnie the Pooh ride so Brielle didn't get to play on the pumpkin bongos or touch the wacky honey screen the first time around.  She thought she would really be sticking her hand in honey.  After she found out it wasn't real, she was over the virtual honey wall.