Audrey Kate is 18 months old!

Dear Audrey Kate, 

Today you are 18 months old.  You are so big!

And such a little model.  You're kind of a ham, little one.  And you have mastered "Cheese!!"

In fact, you talk quite a lot.  But almost never where anyone else can hear you.  Your favorite words are "dog" and "baby."  You met a dog the other day who was named "Baby" and it was like all the stars aligned in your little world.  Anything with 4 legs is a dog in Audreyland.  Except the occasional cat.

Here you are with your sweet sister, who you occasionally call "NeeNee" and sometimes call "Sssster."  She loves you so much.  She would like to hold your hand and hug you every minute of every day.

You've grown so much, and you are climbing and getting around anywhere you want to!  You're so independent and we are proud of you.  

Here you are with Mommy and sister.  The Poling girls.

You have such a funny, sweet spirit.  

I believe that you will have great discernment as you grow up.  

Your mommy and daddy love you very very much.

Yes, it IS their first rodeo!

We went to the Boys Ranch Rodeo.  We all wore our cowboy boots.  Cause we're cool like that.

They served a really nice lunch.  Under that bread is the greatest potato salad ever!

Audrey wasn't quite sure about eating on the ground.  But she eventually found a spoon and the container of apricot jam.

My picnickers!

We had some time so we walked over and found some horses.  The horse really liked Audrey.  Or the fact that she had coated herself in apricot jam.

Gen was a teensy bit nervous about the horse.  But the really nice cowboy offered to let her ride it

And she was really brave!  Look at my sweet cowgirl.... 

The rodeo was a ton of fun.  Didn't get any pictures of it, but it was neat.  We ate snow cones a-plenty and hollered for all of the riders.  

Apple time!

I saw an amazing idea on a friend's blog (Hi April!).  She took her kids to an orchard outside Lubbock!  Brilliant!  So on Saturday, we loaded up and drove to Idalou to the apple orchard.

There was a hayride tour.  A nice man gave Audrey this HUGE apple, that she proceeded to eat.  She was one sticky baby...

There was wildlife...

We picked our apples (see Audrey's holding another apple here.  She liked the availability of food...)

It was fun!  The apple trees are small dwarf trees, so you can reach the apples easily. 

After the orchard, we took the girls to eat at Freebird's.  I didn't take a picture.  I was too busy eating. 

Then, we went for cupcakes!  There's a cupcake shop by Banana Republic, and we took full advantage of it.

What a fun day as a family!

Other things we've been doing.....

Just some random shots......

Here's some stuff we've been doing this week.

Gen opened a restaurant in the living room.

We gave Daisy a new hairdo.

Don't panic.  It's washable.  It's nontoxic.  It's funny.

Audrey thought that painting the dog meant that anything goes with the markers...

Genny drew a cow.

And some ducks.

Fall activities!

Gen at gymnastics

getting ready for ballet!

demonstrating her moves

ready for Audrey's first day of school!

Genny's first day of preschool

my big girl!

Pets.

Genny came in the laundry room and announced "Mommy!  I decided I want a pet of my very own!"
To which I replied "You have Daisy."

{I'm sure all you parents out there know that wasn't going to be a sufficient answer....}

She thought about it.  "But Daisy is a FAMILY pet and I want one that's just mine."

Then I asked a dumb question.  "What kind of pet were you thinking of?"
"A little-bitty frog."
"Mommy doesn't do frogs well."  {I don't.  Really.}
Here Genny makes an ugly face at me...  and ponders.

"I know what we can get, Mommy!  A baby giraffe!"
"..."

Wonderland Night

Last night was Wonderland Park night for Rob's work.  And so we were blessed with free tickets and lots of nice fellow Zachry employees to wander around the park with!  

We didn't know how the girls would do or what they would want to ride...

Oh, Rob started the day with fancy pancakes.  That has nothing to do with Wonderland night, does it?

Right, back to Wonderland night.  Rob and Gen began our trek by checking out what they might like to ride.  

First choice?  The rocking pirate ship.  Yep.  Turns out that my arm is long enough to wrap all the way around Genny like a seatbelt since the pirate ship has none.  Good to know, right?

After pirate ship?  A Roller coaster.

Can you spot Rob?  Well, Genny's right next to him.  Yes, she wanted to ride it.  And loved it!  She rode it 3 times.

Next?  Scrambler.

Do you like my horizontal ponytail?  

Log ride!  The people riding directly in front of them decided to find out what happens when you cram WAY MORE than the allotted weight limit into a log.  {A very big splash and very very drenched people.  That's all.}

We decided to test out luck and try putting Audrey on a few rides.  She liked the carousel for about 28 seconds.  This was a fortunate picture.

My pretty girl!

And then we all rode the helicopters.  Audrey was pretty sure the goal was to exit the helicopter.  

Genny rode the frog hopper.  This was the only ride at the park that she seriously didn't like.  I'm not sure I blame her.  But look how happy the other children are!

Audrey's main ride required no tickets.

Gen rode the cars.  She had both a Steering Wheel and a Bell!  Sheer joy!