New Friends

My friend Panama was in town from PA this weekend. We haven't seen each other in roughly 10 years or so and I had never met her 2 girls. So, we got together Friday night for a local church's BBQ bike night and Saturday we went to the water park. Sydney and her girls became fast friends. Wheeeeeeee!

Bouncing in the bounce house!

awwwwww!

Getting her face painted.

At the water park the next day

They had a good time, although Sydney had to be coerced to go down the water slides and ultimately decided she didn't like it. It went too fast she said. Next time I'll know to rent a double tube so we can go down together.

So, now we'll be planning a trip to see Panama next time. Sydney wanted to take Aaliyah home with her as her new sister, she just adored them.

Sassy

My friend Holly (a former co-worker who moved back to Bowling Green), was in town for the weekend and met up with us for breakfast at I-HOP. This is the group shot that Sydney took. I am impressed, at 5 years old, that she is able to take a picture and get everyone in the shot, and hold still enough that it's not a blur. I'm thinking photography is in her future! And there's Darrell, true to form, being Wilson. You're only allowed to see his eyes. The rest is a mystery.

Group shot at the table.

We had to wait quite a while to get a table for 11, so Sydney passed the time "braiding" Angie's hair.

And this is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. After breakfast, we went to Wal-Mart to shop for Father's Day and Sydney was trying on the nightgowns and dancing. Just watch.

Because I'm a Slacker

It's been too long since my last post and I do apologize. So, here are a few recent pics.

My future recording artist, singing in mom and dad's basement. She likes to make up songs as she goes and sing while my dad plays the guitar. The songs are so random, it's hard not to laugh.

My grandparents (my dad's mom and dad) were recently in town from Florida for about 2 weeks. Sydney was SO excited to see her Nana and Papa (or just plain grandpa sometimes). They bought her that dog she's holding, which is a Webkinz she named Sarah, after my brother's stepdaughter. I bet you can't tell she idolizes them.

Bad news is, grandma and grandpa had to head back home to Florida. Good news is, while they were here, they bought a house in Greenville. So, in October, they'll be back for an extended stay!

More water pics and stuff

Sydney got a little lawn sprinkler thing for her birthday and we got it out this weekend. Can't really see it here, but it really does put out a lot of water.

We had a couple of my friends from work over, and one brought her two girls, with which Sydney was totally delighted. Here they are playing on the playground and in the tugboat pool.

They would take turns splashing water on the slide and going down it

One of Sydney's finer pictures she took.

And this. Ok, so it's sideways. Oops. Anway, it's a bird nest made on the ground. It's on our hill on the other side of our driveway. Chris remembers seeing the mother bird last year acting like she was gimped up to draw your attention to her and away from this nest. She's back at it again this year. I'm hoping to check on them one day and see little babies.

Sydney fun day!

Chris decided that today should be Sydney fun day.

The day started with lunch and games at Chuck E. Cheese's

That boy next to her had some game! He got several high shots while I was standing there and had a line of tickets coming out of the machine a mile long.

Here we are at the water park. She LOVED it!!

Water + slide= superfast!

Then it was time for a sno cone break. mmmm!

She rode her bike around the park

Flags on the lawn to honor the Veterans

Fussy baby. She was tired of riding her bike and she said her kneepads were too tight. She was getting worn out by this point, I think.

Nothing that a little dip in the fountain can't fix

Sitting in the waterfall. After this ,we rode back to the playground by the car and she played some more. She napped in the car for a very short period of time while we drove around town looking for a couple houses we'd seen on line. By then it was time to eat again and to get some ice cream. So, all in all, it was a very big, fun filled day.

New bike

For Sydney's birthday, we wanted to get her a bike. She had asked for one and we thought she was really past due. So, here we are in the store picking out a bike. Unfortunately, she was more interested in going to pick out a barbie than a bike, so we decided on the cheapest one.

With some birthday money from my grandmother (her Nana), she picked out a new barbie (which she absolutely does not need!) and this Barbie swimming pool. She already had the car and when we got home, she put on her boots and started setting up. Ah, those boots. Necessary for nearly any outdoor task.

Her cool girl pose with her new bike, and helmet and kneepads she got with some other birthday money from my aunt and Chris's grandpa. Disney princess of course.

More posing. What a ham.

All ready to go. However, the gravel is harder to ride on that I had anticipated and she gets frustrated pretty quickly, so it hasn't gotten much use. That's one thing I'm looking forward to in our next house, a paved driveway and possibly sidewalks to ride on. I really thought the idea of pedaling a bike would come naturally, but as it turns out, it requires more practice than I had thought. I'm sure she'll get the hang of it though.

And here she is, learning the art of taking pictures of herself. Look at those two new teeth at the bottom. So cute! So big!

So, this is what the kitchen looks like from her height. Interesting.

On another note, Sydney loves to play make believe and she makes up names for herself or her babies, or her friends, whatever. Sometimes she picks up the phone and pretend talks. She'll say "oh Nancy, how are you?" Who is Nancy? We don't know anyone named Nancy, so where she came up with that I don't know. Usually, her name of choice for herself or whomever (bug pets included) is Kurla. She just made it up. I don't like it. It's weird, but anyway, it's her. So, today I asked her what her name was and she told me Livard. Livard? Where is she coming up with this stuff? She always makes me laugh, I love to hear her talk in her little sweet voice and she is so thoughtful and helpful (most of the time). And when she does something good, or she knows it makes me happy, she puts her little hands up and flaps them. It's adorable.

Sydney's birthday party

We had Sydney's party this past weekend at the park. It was really touch and go with the weather, but the rain held off just long enough.

This is a really good pic I got of her while we were there. I'm going to take out the part of the table in the background and probably print some wallets. Ta da, her 5 year pictures.

Her cake. Those are ladybugs on the cake, which was our theme this year. The bakery at JayC rocks. They didn't have a kit for ladybugs, but said they would do whatever they could anyway. Wal-Mart wouldn't do anything they didn't have a kit for. I guess thinking outside the box is too painful for them. Whatever, I'm a JayC girl from now on. Everyone said the cake was yummy. I wouldn't know, there was NONE left!

One of Sydney's favorite presents. She got a lot of clothes. Which she wasn't really happy about. When someone commented that she needed clothes, she said "yeah, but not this much clothes."

Ah, the love of flip flops. A girl after my own heart.

And this was another fave. A barbie bathroom. Seriously, who comes up with these things?

We had a good time, the weather worked out nicely. And a friend of mine brought all her bubble supplies and toys for the kids to play with and they loved it. Sydney was exhausted by the time it was over and fell asleep on the way home. Her actual birthday isn't until Saturday and Chris and I are going to take her to the store and let her pick out a bike.