BBQ's and Parties

We've already had an awesome start to summer with lots of grilling and parties with family and friends. BBQ's are probably one of my favorite parts of summer. You get yummy food, Chad loves grilling so I don't have to cook, and we don't end up using the oven so the house doesn't get as hot. Win, win, win. Here are some pictures of a few of the BBQ parties we've been to/thrown. I can't wait to have more this summer!

The whole Higgins family got together for a BBQ/party at Aunt Ronda's house. Lots of yummy food, fun people, a cool house for babies to nap in, and endless entertainment for the kids. We all had a blast!

This is how Cayden literally spent the entire night. Soaking wet. We had to pry him away to eat dinner. Even with his favorite food available he couldn't wait to get back to the water guns.

 Laura spent most of her time on the swings. Swings are seriously her new favorite thing.

She also rode the seesaw with Aunt Krysta...

...and by herself.

Jan and Bruce brought their cotton candy machine. It was a huge hit. I love that Eric is waiting in line with all the little kids. :) Much to his dismay, Cayden was too caught up in playing to even go get cotton candy. Chad and I tried to get him to eat some, but he was just too busy. After we got home he was quite upset that he didn't get any cotton candy. Apparently you can never win as a parent.

Laura's first taste of cotton candy. Poor girl had never had it before. She liked it so much she tried to shove the entire wadded up ball into her mouth. (Chad did encourage this behavior.)

Of course, gagging ensued. Thankfully, cotton candy disintegrates pretty quickly so no vomiting happened.

Cute little girls convinced someone to give them a never ending ride in the wagon.

For Memorial Day we had all of Chad's family that was in town (Carlic and Steven) over for grilling and swimming. Cayden was still a little hesitant near the water, but not nearly as bad as he was last year. Laura and Grace seem to be little fishies and just love being in the water.

Cayden in the floatie that he never left. It helps him feel comfortable in the water so I guess that's all that matters. I seriously need to get this boy in swim lessons this summer.

Swimming with daddy. Laura is a little klepto and stole that inflatable fish from a little girl. She wasn't too happy when we left and she had to give it back.

Swimming with Steven.

That girl had a death grip on the fish. She didn't even let go when being thrown into the air. I love the picture of Laura midair between Steven and Chad.

This is how Grace started out swimming. She was so interested in the water that near the end we put her in.

Success! This girl loves the water! Look at those huge grins!

Chomping on some keys and relaxing while everyone else got dried off.

Cute Girlies

While it is definitely hard at times, it is so fun having girls 20 months apart. Grace is finally starting to play and interact more and while she loves Cayden, she absolutely adores Laura. If both Cayden and Laura are sitting by each other on the floor, Grace will grab at, laugh at, and do everything she can to get Laura's attention. It is so cute to watch. I can't wait for Grace to get to the point where she and Laura go off and play with each other. I'll try to take pictures of this sometime, but for now you'll just have  to enjoy some other pictures of my cute girlies.

My Gracie girl learning to sit up.

More learning to sit up. She loves it, but is still pretty wobbly.

And more attempted sitting! Notice the adorable dress she is wearing. My friend Kenzi gave it to her and I love it. It's probably my favorite dress that she owns. :)

Showing off her new shoes from my mom's friend.

Laura's sitting too! This girl is 100% potty trained with pee, naps, and bedtime. We're still working on number two... (This could totally be an advertisement for the Friend. That is if they ever did such a thing.)

One night this little babe stayed up way past her bedtime. I kept thinking she would fall asleep any minute, but instead she decided to play cute. She laughed and giggled and it was so hard to not play with her.

Proof that she does indeed sleep. Every time I look at this picture I just want to snuggle her!

 Laura has become my little workout buddy. She tries to do everything I do and is surprisingly good at it!

Gracie wants to eat absolutely everything we eat. Today at lunch she was doing everything she could to get her hands on Cayden's veggies. I love the determined look on her face here. Must. Get. Veggies.

My Little Artist

"I colored on Grace!" Laura was so proud of herself all I could do was laugh.

Laura had a little on her forehead, but Grace got the worst of it. I still can't figure out why Grace wasn't screaming while Laura was coloring on her. Thankfully it was highlighter and not permanent marker. And thankfully it scrubbed off pretty well. Goofy girls.

Kid Update (In Pictures!)

 The kids got chocolate bunnies in their Easter package from Grandma Bird. This is what Laura looked like after eating hers. Holy chocolate face!

We signed Cayden up for soccer this spring. He absolutely loves practice. His coach is so good with the kids and plays all sorts of fun games with them. Cayden isn't the most aggressive kid, but with each game we have seen improvement in his understanding of what is going on and what he should be doing. I absolutely love this action shot of him that Chad caught.

This is what Laura does during the games since she is mad that she can't run out on the field after the ball.

A messy Laura after eating one of the leftover soccer treats. It was everywhere!

Cayden's very first soccer meet and greet happened to be on the same morning that the Lowe's Build and Grow clinic was. I took Cayden to soccer and Chad took Laura to build her recycling truck. She had a blast and even brought one home for Cayden to make. 

Grace has been growing and getting bigger. It is so fun to see all the new things she does even though I've already had two other kids do the same things. I guess it never gets old. :)

Enjoying big girl baths in her bumbo. She loves sitting up and trying to grab the water as the tub fills up.

Sitting at the table like a big girl at Grandma's house.

Chewing on her fingers. There isn't any sign of a tooth yet, but Grace chews on everything like crazy. I wouldn't be surprised if we see one in the near future.

So proud of herself! This little roly poly rolled all the way across the floor to get to the tablet. I have no idea what she planned on doing with it, but she was pretty excited when she got there.

Aunt Carly made Grace some beaded socks. I think they are adorable. And those chunky legs are to die for too!

Our local grocery store got some new shopping carts and we love them! I can fit both Cayden and Laura in the top and they can't get out and run around. Unfortunately, I think everyone else really likes these carts too because they are really hard to find.

When we visited my family last month we discovered that Laura fits in one of Colleen's old dresses. Laura loves the dress and each time she wears it she pulls it up to her belly button and tells everyone what a cute dress she has. I love how sweet and innocent she looks here. (Btw, Laura calls her belly button a 'bee butt' or at least that's how it comes out. Silly kid.)

Cayden and Grandpa outside playing. Notice that they are talking on the phone to each other. :)

The kids' new favorite game is to play superheros. They put capes on, stick their arms out in front, and fly around saying "zoom!"

Grace loves playing with Elmo, though she is usually ferociously eating and growling at him. No idea what that's about.

Chad and Steven took Cayden to watch some RC car races a few weeks ago. They honestly didn't get to see much because it ended up raining, but Cayden still had a blast and frequently talks about wanting to go again.

Passed out on the way to the races.

Having so much fun even though it was raining and cold.

The track that the cars (and Cayden) raced on.

Cayden decided he wanted to run around on the race track like an RC car. Steven is in the background pretending to control him.

Lucky boy got a Frosty on the way home.