Magnificent May

May began with our little ballerina's recital. 

She loved the costume, being onstage and everything about it!

Jake agreed that she did a great job and that he was glad to go since she went to so many of his soccer games. 

After the recital, Bubba hit a home run with the gifts he brought back from his west coast trip! 

Allie's class had a very exciting field trip to Israel! I finally understand why tuition is so high! It was fantastic and Allie had the best experience with Ms. Judi and the Giraffe class. Here are just a few of the highlights from the trip!

Hearing about the safety rules on the airplane!

At the Kotel

 Making Israeli flags

Riding an Eged Bus 

Hearing from the tour guide about the activities for the day!

On kibbutz - checking out the chickens!

That next Friday, Alex picked the kids up early and randomly took them to Chuck E. Cheese! Formerly known as the 9th circle of hell, I met them after work and we had a great time and it was super fun to be together. 

Rainy Saturday morning creativity!

That afternoon, Jake headed to soccer and the end of season party with Alex. Allie and I and ten of her closest friends went to Disney on Ice! She was SO excited. It was unbelievable. 

I have to say, I got us amazing seats! Half the time I had to hold on to Allie to make sure she didn't hop on the ice herself.  

Enjoying a ridiculously expensive snow cone. Thank you, Mollie. 

She was mesmerized by Minnie and was following her moves!

So glad BFF Hailey came with us!

Best moment not captured on camera was when Jasmine skated over right to Allie. They locked eyes and Allie showed her the picture of Jasmine on her outfit and then Jasmine blew her a kiss. She turned with such excitement told me that Jasmine saw her and gave me the most amazing hug ever. #momwin

Meanwhile, on the soccer field Jake and Team Egypt celebrated the end of their season with a party. It wasn't a great season but Lonestar was a good experience and we're looking forward to it this fall. 

We celebrated Mother's Day with Bubba at brunch and then I went off to the Spa for some relaxation. And finished the day with dinner with two of my favorite families at our neighborhood spot. Great day!

Daddy took a Friday to have some kiddo time. He spent a sunny Friday morning at Shabbat with Allie and friends.

And then Daddy off to Hill for a special lunch with Jake!

Allie started swim lessons with friends Mila & Olivia. She loves it!

Months ago, Allie and Mila started talking about a bike party. Allie had a bike she hadn't touched since she got it for her birthday and it was an incentive for Mila to get the bike. Time passed and all of a sudden we started talking about the bike party so we sent out our invitations, took the bike in for a tune-up and Allie threw the cutest bike party ever! 

Sunday morning we met at the middle school track with Allie's bike, helmet, and cupcakes and coffee to share! 

Jake was so excited for me to come and watch his class perform "Ging Gong the Cat." In it Jake plays Beethoven the Bull who meets the cat on her adventure. It was super cute!

After the performance, we were invited back to their classroom to visit for a bit. Jake showed me some of his work and with his friend Charlie, they showed off their sign for market days. They have the chance to make something or hold an activity which the other students can buy or participate in. The dance-a-thon was a hit!

We were happy to celebrate sweet Kira's 1st birthday at Zilker Park on Saturday. Alex and I helped come up with her name over dinner one night and Kira and I have been BFF for a long time now. :)

While Jake and I were riding the train through the park I was reminded of the first time we were there, right after moving from DC. He indulged me to get this picture. 

On Friday afternoon we started getting texts from Brenna and Michael subtly suggesting that we should come to Dallas for Memorial Day weekend. They launched a pretty good campaign and when an amazing college-aged kid wants to hang out with his old and kid cousins....you go to Dallas!

So we decided to rearrange our schedule so we could all be together and to surprise them. We got some help from Pippi and we totally got them!

We swam, we cuddled, we had some drinks and we even left the house....twice! 

And, very happily we were able to celebrate Noonie and their good friend Karen's birthday!

We love you Noonie!

What a fun weekend and a fun month!

(Busy but) Awesome April

April is always a little crazy but thankfully this one was fun too!

Jake's class on a field trip at the Umalaf Sculpture Garden. 

We were happy to celebrate Bubba's birthday with him. 

We headed to Chez Zee for some birthday fun!

These two were more than happy to help Bubba

with his birthday desserts!

Allie gave me her Elsa bracelet to "remember me by" for while I was at my conference for work. I wore it the whole first day and got lots of compliments on it!

When I got back from my conference we had a dress rehearsal for the ballet recital. The actual recital is May 1st so you'll have to wait for the full performance!

 And a screen shot of the professional picture 

I was suckered into buying. 

From ballet to soccer. Look at that guy!

A few from the Giraffe class. I can't believe this school year is almost over. 

In the garden, letting their butterflies out into the wild.

Alex took an unscheduled trip up to Dallas to meet the new Georgia football coach, Kirby Smart. Meeting Coach Smart is pretty cool but not as cool as hanging with Jason and Leigh Ann and meeting Ellie Mann. 

And since we were so jealous that we didn't get to meet Ellie, we arranged to see her on our way to Plano for Passover. She is precious. 

Daddies & Daughters!

Within 1/2 hour of getting to the Vivier's Jake wanted to get into the pool even though it wasn't heated and not really all that warm outside. Crazy. He lasted about 2 minutes. 

I'm sure we could dedicate a whole blog to why Pippi is wearing a onesie (and the elephant sweatshirt, of course) but these two!

We had a lovely Passover that included Allie reciting the majority of the four questions, which Alex brilliantly recorded. 

Love my littles with their very sweet big cousins!

 Everyone's favorite game of "kiss me right here!"

We left early Saturday morning to make it to Jake's soccer game. We were tired but it was nice to be home and have some down time. 

Sunday morning we made matzah brie and ended up spending the whole morning outside in the backyard. I even did yoga out there while the kids and Alex played. It was awesome!

And Matzah Pizza that night for dinner!

The next weekend we had a fun night at our friends Ash & Anita's. Jake was super sweet playing with Baby Kira.

A very sweet night and a sweet month!