We had an amazing…no glorious…no I really can’t even think of a word to describe what a wonderful family vacation we just returned from! We went to Big Sky, Montana and visited Yellowstone and stayed with my family in an amazing home – and it was just perfect. Really. I didn’t want to leave. I could have stayed for at least another month. This is not how I normally feel at the end of a vacation. Normally I am ready to go home, even if it is a lovely trip after 7 days…I hope we get to do it again someday. Bella was a champ – she hiked some steep hikes and asked for more and more. She played with cousins, swam daily, and was a generally happy kiddo. Audrey was along for the ride in the Ergo, and slept fairly good and I think the mountain air and hangin with family did us all a little good. As a sidenote, when people ask Bella if she had a good vacation and where she went, she says, “I don’t know where we were, but we had fun…and my favorite thing was the tooting mud (artist’s paint pots in Yellowstone)..”

I have a bazillion photos to go through, but I will post soon.

We came back to our birthdays – Bella decided she would like a party, so the day after our return, we invited a couple neighbors over for birthday cake and grabbed some Dora decor and a pinata from Party City. She had a blast. Her requirements (as she said to me the night before) were “Mom, I’d like a party…you know with cake, balloons and presents. Owen and Desi can be my guests.” It was very simple and easy going and she was totally happy. Phil took the kids to his house for a dip in the jacuzzi to top the day off! It was lovely.

Bella had her 4 year appointment the next day and she is 36 lbs and 40.5 in. Right in the 65ish% for both. She sure is growing. When she does something good right now, and I praise her she will say, “I know..that is because I am four!” She cracks me up as always.

Audrey is growing too. Today she had a doc appt, and she weighs 15 lbs 8 oz – so she has finally reached the 20%..yea!! I guess feeding her 3 times a day is working finally…she is a pretty picky eater – only likes oatmeal, prunes and orange foods so far…but I plan to keep trying to expand her palette. She is crawling all over now – and has finally learned to sit up. She is already trying to pull up too – she wants to be where her sister is at all times.

No photos today, just wanted to write down some notes. Will go through them all soon!