Happy 29th Birthday, Daddy!

Yesterday was Daddy's 29th Birthday! We had a great weekend celebrating with him. On Friday, while he was at work, we baked his favorite birthday cake - angel food cake with chocolate mint frosting. Gabby did a good job icing the cake (and she took a few licks here and there, too!)

It takes great concentration.

Adriana watched us while having a snack.

Adriana now will put up her arms whenever you ask her "How big is Adriana?" After she signals with her arms, we say "So big!" It's so cute and it didn't take long for her to learn this "trick."

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Saturday morning we all got up bright and early (courtesy of our "roosters" - Gabriella and Adriana). Daddy opened up his birthday gifts from us - workout clothes, dress shirts and a casual shirt. Gabby surprised him with a special painting she made for him, which she said was a scooter.

Opening up his Cinderella card from the girls.

Gabby helping Daddy open up his card from Mommy while Adriana eyed the gifts.

Gabby telling Daddy all about her painting.

Adriana doesn't sit still much these days now.

Saturday night Mommy and Daddy went out to dinner to celebrate Daddy's birthday, while Aunt Bridget watched the girls. After dinner, we came home to have cake. The girls were in their pajamas and ready for bed at this point.

Singing "Happy Birthday!"

Blowing out his candles.

Yummy cake.

Daddy and his girls.

Our family.

Mommy and Daddy before heading to a movie later Saturday night.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! We hope you had a special day. We love you!

Our Fun and Busy Week

This passed week was full of fun happenings. On Monday, Adriana turned 10 months old! It's so hard to believe! She is crawling like a speed demon around the house. She is pulling up on everything and loves table food. She is saying her first words "Dada," "Mama" and "Baba" (for Gabby). About 6 months ago, we noticed that Gabby had two nicknames for Adriana - "Adriani" (she has called her this since Adriana was days old) and a new one, "Baba." It looks like Adriana has picked up on "Baba" and now uses it to call Gabby. It's really adorable.

Adriana loves to crawl and climb on Gabby and Gabby loves it. They sort of wrestle on the carpet together. It never really gets out of hand. We hear all sorts of laughing and squealing when they do this - really funny! They are already becoming very close.

I love the look on Adriana's face. Priceless!

About to take off!

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Tuesday was Gabby's first day of preschool. She will go two full days each week. She was so glad to return to her school and see her friends. They spent an hour that morning at the local wading pool so she had a great first day back. We still can't believe she's an official preschooler.

Her cool new backpack! She loves it and carries it around all the time.

Adriana wasn't excited for the early morning photo shoot.

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On Saturday, we headed to Manhattan to visit family. Daddy was with friends for the weekend on a "Guys Trip" so the ladies loaded the car and headed West. We spent the afternoon with Nana doing fun indoors and outdoors activities and then Gabby and I went to one of my friend's wedding in the evening.

Art project time with Nana.

Having fun with the hose. Gabby watered Nana's flowers and garden and hosed Nana, too. Gabby enjoyed playing with the water on such a hot day!

Look who caught the bouquet at the wedding....

That's right....Gabriella! With a little help from the other bachelorettes and the bride, Gabby walked away with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Let's hope she isn't the next to marry. We certainly aren't ready for that one. Mommy and Daddy are having a hard enough time adjusting to the fact she is in preschool! But in all seriousness, Gabby loves princesses, weddings and all that goes along with it. We think it's the Disney influence because we don't really talk to her about such things. It's safe to say she is all GIRL... she loves dresses, painted fingernails and toenails, jewelry, hair bows, etc. She is a lot of fun! (Sorry about the picture's quality - I took it with my Blackberry.)

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On Sunday, Grandpa brought us to the Country Club for lunch. David arrived in town in the early afternoon so the girls, David and Grandpa swam in the pool for a little bit. It was another hot day!

Daddy and Adriana.

Gabby and Grandpa.

Our Visit to Hutch!

On Saturday we made the spontaneous decision during lunch to drive to Hutchinson, Kansas to visit Uncle Tommy and Aunt Danielle. After the girls woke up from their naps we hit the road and about 3 hours later we were there. We are so happy we made the quick decision to go because we had a great time!

About 2 months ago, after completing his master's degree, Uncle Tommy began his first full-time coaching job with the Hutch Community College Football Program as the assistant coach of quarterbacks and wide receivers. We are so excited for him and looking forward to the football season. After dinner on Saturday, they brought us to HCC to see the football facilities.

Go Blue Dragons!

The girls with "Unc" in his office.

Gabby sporting a Hutch jersey and indicating "Number 1!"

Aren't they the cutest female football players you've ever seen?!

They loved playing around on the field. We took Gabby's photo on the "G" in the "Blue Dragon" end zone and Adriana's on the "A."

The stands and press box.

On the 50 yard line sitting on the "H."

Family photo outside of the stadium.

On Sunday we visited Hutch's zoo. It only took us an hour to walk through and the girls enjoyed seeing the animals. It was another hot day but we still had a fun time.

Checking out the animals.

Gabby walking with some geese.

"Looking" for dinosaur fossils.

"Milking" a cow. Actually, it was a cow statue with water in the utters but it was still fun for Gabby and the adults.

Adriana liked watching the reptiles.

Uncle Tommy and Aunt Danielle, thanks for a fun time in Hutch! We can't wait to visit again and attend football games this fall!