Vacation

This year we opted to do a "staycation" and it was probably one of our best vacations!  It was great not having to travel, sleep in a hotel, or live out of a suitcase, especially with a two-year-old.  We enjoyed splurging in the Quad Cities and coming back to the comfort of our own home at the end of the day.  It was great to be together as a family for a whole week! Here are a few pictures from the week!

 Jillian with her bubble wand

 Playing with her new sand box

 Daddy and Jillian at the zoo feeding the fish

 Jillian rode a pony for the first time at the zoo.  She kept asking Daddy to take his hand off her as she could "do it my own"

 Feeding the goats at the zoo

 Butterfly chair at the zoo

 Donuts before our hike at Scott County Park

 Jillian loved the frosting on her donut!

 Hiking at Scott County Park



We also did a few projects around the house while we were on vacation.  One of them was replacing the hallway and stairs carpet.  It was really worn down!  Paul's dad installed the carpet and did a fabulous job!  Thanks, Dave!

Before...

 Almost completed...

At the end of vacation, Abby ran in the Race for the Cure, a 5K race in Moline.  There were thousands of people but Abby still managed to spot her fan club a couple times during the race. 

 Jillian trying on Grandpa's hat

At the start line...

Good times in May!

Jillian has really enjoyed the month of May with fun visitors, creative play ideas,and many trips to the park with the nice weather. She's really becoming quite the little lady!

Jillian at the kitchen table telling Mommy she is making "coffee".  Looks like she may have already had a couple cups! :)

Jillian taking a "nap" on the back steps.  She had to try out every step to find the most comfortable one!

Jillian thought her little pig, Wilber, needed to try on her tennis shoes.

Our dear friends and neighbors while at Denver Seminary came to visit us.  The Wiens family will always be like family to us!  Jillian loved playing with Katarina and Annaka since they would do whatever she wanted and didn't mess with her toys! 

Just another day at the park.  Jillian shouts, "higher...faster...higher, Mommy!"  Then she says, "Mommy, take my picture!"

Jillian loves swinging!

Look out, kids!  I got this park thing down!

Great Grandparents

Paul had Saturday off this weekend so we decided it would be a great opportunity to go visit Abby's grandparents. We had a great time catching up and being entertained by Jillian. Wish we could visit more often!

Jillian loved playing the piano

Jillian sitting on Grandpa Dick's walker

  Jillian wanted to try sitting on all the tractors at Grandpa Gary's shop

              Jillian ready to go on a trip with Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson in their new trailer 

                         Jillian climbed this ladder multiple times with Grandpa Gary "spotting".

           Jillian loved going up and down the steps of Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's trailer.

We stopped at a park in Manchester before we headed home and Jillian displayed her fearless behavior by chosing the biggest slides and climbing right to the top.  Little Miss Independent informed Daddy as he followed her up the slide, "Daddy, you can go to another park."

Dentist

Jillian had her first trip to the dentist today! We had no idea what to expect but she did fantastic! Paul and I both had appointments today too so it was a family outing! Boy, do we go all out for family fun! Jillian got to sit on Mommy's lap and watch the nice lady use all of her fun tools in Mommy's mouth so when it was her turn, she did just fine. By far her favorite thing about the whole experience was going up and down in the chair. She kept telling the hygienist, "up and down, please!"

These next two pictures look much worse than they actually were. Just caught Jillian's curious face at an interesting moment! There were no tears or fighting. Just a curious two-year-old trying to figure out things!

Easter Dress

Since Jillian opted to sleep through the whole church service on Easter Sunday, many did not get to enjoy seeing Jillian in her Easter dress so we had a little photo shoot later! Enjoy!

Easter

Easter weekend was a full weekend! Friday and Saturday we went to Maquoketa. Saturday we had an Easter Egg hunt outside and Great Grandma Hovey helped Jillian find all of her eggs!

Easter morning we attended a sunrise service and our regular church service. Jillian was so tired she slept in Mommy's arms the whole church service! Then we headed to Clinton for the afternoon.

Pigtails and Easter Eggs

Yesterday was a big day for Jillian! She had many firsts! Mommy got ambitious and tried putting her hair up in pigtails. Jillian didn't like the process but she sure got a kick out of the finished product. We also decorated Easter eggs outside and Jillian loved it! Happy Easter, everyone!