sunday evening stroll

A couple of Sundays ago- we had a little family evening.  Over the past almost 3 years....we've rarely had a Sunday off together (we really haven't had many days off together at all, relatively speaking....but that's another story for another day!).  We had Chicken Express for dinner (not the healthiest of meals, but SO good!), and then the weather was really nice.  Perfect for a little stroll.  (And it didn't hurt us to work off a smidge of that dinner.)

Parker got a new bike for her birthday (she was starting to outgrow her first bike, and Grace was ready for Parker's old one....so it just worked out!)...so they wanted to go for a ride.  A lot of times I just let Geoff take the girls for a ride while I stay back with Nolan, but on this day- I wanted us to all be together.

Parker also got a new helmet and so Grace inherited Parker's old one (Poor sissy always getting the hand-me-downs....but she does not mind at all, sweet girl!)  And oh my goodness....how cute is she?

She got dressed all on her own and I couldn't help but smile when I looked at her.

Ready to go!

Big girl with her new bike!

These evening strolls have been a long time coming....and I'm looking forward to many, many more!

We went to the school parking lot for them to ride, and then played on the playground for a bit.

My whole wide world.

learning to skate

Parker got some roller skates for her birthday from my mom and Terry.  She has been asking for a while and since she turned 6....I figured she was big enough.  {sniff}

So the morning after her birthday gathering with family....we headed to the school in our neighborhood to use their big empty parking lot for her very first roller skating experience.  

She was SO excited.

Before we ever left for the school, we told her that it would take time for her to learn how to skate....and that she would probably fall during the process.  We wanted to encourage her, but wanted to be realistic, in hopes that she wouldn't become discouraged when she did fall.

Going slowly...but going!  :)

She got right back up after that first fall!

She probably skated around a good 20 minutes or so.  Falling a few times here and there.  But doing pretty well over all for her very first time.

But this fall did her in.  She was done!  Cried until we were almost home.  Bless her heart.  Good news, though, she still wants to skate!

This girl was all smiles the whole time because she was able to ride Parker's 'big girl bike'.  She's needed a bigger bike than her tricycle for a while now....so she was just riding all over.

Just growing up so fast.