Happy Huladays!

The girls have been begging for it to be Christmas time recently (I think they want the gifts:)). We had been talking about having a party for the girls to have their friends over to play, so we came up with a summer version of Christmas. BTW- did you know we're over half way to Christmas? Anyway, we had a party for the girls' friends with the theme of HAPPY HULADAYS...it's Christmas in June! All of our Christmas decorations are packed away in the back of a storage unit, so the girls were more than happy to create all of their own decorations.

Unfortunately only ONE of their friends was in town last Saturday night, the night of the party...bummer. The girls were okay with it though because they still got to have their party and play with their friend.

We had a kiddie pool and a slip-n-slide set up in the front yard. They had a blast playing in it and trying to figure out how to slide down the slide before giving up and just hanging out in the puddle at the end.

After a yummy dinner of pizza the girls went on a scavenger hunt my incredibly awesome husband put together for them:
Clue: We all love Christmas, but it's so far away- Go to the place it takes shovels to play

the sandbox

Clue: Birds fly south when the winter is here- go to the place where they eat when they're here

the birdfeeder

Clue: A place to go back and forth that's where the next clue will be- find the place to play a silly game with three

the swingset

Clue: His hand waves every time it gets sunny- find our little friend that Daddy thinks is so funny

The garden gnome

Clue: This can be so much fun, it's like falling off a log. Go find the place where you might cook a dog.

The BBQ grill (not the chiminea like Addison thought)

Clue: You have done well so far, but there are still more clues. Go back to the place where we take off our shoes.

The backdoor

Clue: I can see now you won't be easy to fool, find the place where you sit on a stool

Timeout stool

Clue: You're all so close to your freezing reward, I hope Mrs. Hinckley has games so you won't be too bored. A yummy frozen treat will be eaten by all if you can tell me a treat that comes in tasty snow balls.

SNO-CONES!!!!!

The girls devoured their Wedding Cake flavored sno-cones before enjoying some arts and crafts and playing in Trinity and Emory's room for a little while. Before we knew it the party was over and it was time for our one, really sweet guest to head home.

Thanks for the good times!

Entertainment for the other two

I had to keep Emory and Addison entertained while Trinity was attending Cheer Camp because it completely threw off our schedule. Luckily one of Trinity's friends who was also in cheer camp and lives really close has a little sister who is one of Emory's friends. They just had a baby brother a couple of weeks ago, so we gladly had Emory's friend over to play a couple of times and that helped pass the time for us and hopefully gave their Mommy a little down time. On Thursday I took the girls to the mall to get their energy out and have some YUMMY chick-fil-a for lunch. They have a great time together! We are so lucky to have this family as our friends and we will so miss them when we move! Anyway, I got a few cute pictures of the girls playing at the mall.

Emory and Madi posing for the picture

Addison was so proud of herself for climbing up on the orange without any help!

By the end of the week I was calling each of the girls by the wrong names. We have Trinity, Emory and Addison and their friends names are Emma and Madison...seriously a total tongue twister when I would try to say any of their names!

Go Team!

Last week Trinity attended a YMCA Cheer Camp, along with two of her friends from school. They had a great time and really learned a lot. There was a football camp going on at the same time so on Friday the Cheerleaders cheered and performed at the boy's football game. Trinity did an awesome job! She was one of the few with the entire cheer and dance memorized. I got a few pictures and a video, but please pardon the quality of it all. I was trying to watch the girls, keep the camera on Trinity and keep an eye on my other two at the same time.

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All of the participants received certificates for completing the camp:

Gret job Princess! We are so proud of you! Your hard work was obvious in your performance!

Play time!

Greg and Addison were playing with the camera last night...here's the outcome...

So cute!!!!

Sleeping Beauties

Greg and I decided to take pictures of our girls while they were sleeping the other night. They looked so calm and peaceful, we just couldn't resist! I was shocked that none of them woke up with the flash in their faces! Thought I'd share the beauty of our girls sleeping...

Now only if we could get them to be this calm a little more often...nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking is there?

Ice Cream Social

The girls have found a new way to entertain themselves in the evenings (when it's a little cooler outside). They have "ice cream socials" with all their Barbies!

We have a really cool (and now very weathered) pony swing in our front yard which is where the party guests sit to be served

Here is Emory, showing off her masterpiece

Those of you who know our princess will recognize this face, it's the one you get from her when she's in a good mood and doesn't really want to do what you're asking her to do (sometimes when she's embarrassed). I couldn't resist sharing it!

Summertime at the zoo

A couple of weeks ago we made our first visit of the summer to the zoo. We have a membership so we go quite often. We all had a great time visiting with our favorite animals. There's one gorilla (who's name I have forgotten) that is so great! He LOVES kids and will stare at them and play with them for hours! When he saw the girls walking up to the window he walked up to his window and just hung out with us for quite sometime. He would watch Addison everywhere she went! Once we got up to leave the window (the girls didn't think it was as cool as I did) he started playing chase with some of the rabbits who live in his forest.

I only got pictures of playing in the creek in the children's zoo. The girls all had a blast and it's their favorite part about every visit! The Dallas zoo has a great Children's Zoo! There's enough in that little area alone for a whole days visit, or at least as much time as you can squeeze in before naps.

Trinity couldn't wait to get in the creek to make "water angels"

Don't have any idea what the reason for this face was, but she's still pretty cute in my book:)

Addison was avoiding the water with all she had...at first

Maybe her big sister splashing like this had something to do with that

"Oh, wait a minute, I can blow bubbles in this thing...I'm so in!!!"

This spider web is a new addition to the zoo this summer and the girls thought it was pretty cool!

Last weekend

I'm really far behind on my blog posts and am trying to catch up so bear with me:)

Last weekend we had a blast! We started off Friday afternoon with brief visit to Club Libby Lu for some nail polish and sparkly stickers, then we met Daddy at The American Girl Doll Store at the Galleria. We didn't tell the girls we were going and they were so excited when they saw it! We had a blast looking at all of the (ridiculously expensive) really neat things you can buy for your doll and learning the history of several of the dolls we weren't very familiar with. Trinity got to take her doll, "Sally" to the salon for a new hairstyle and also got to get new t-shirts for the two of them for the new American Girl movie coming out. Emory made a list as big as Texas of all the stuff she wants for her Baby and all the other dolls she wants. She got a new outfit for her "baby Nana" and it is quite beautiful! The only picture I managed to take was while we were waiting on Sally to finish in the salon:

Saturday we went to a wedding of a good friend of mine from childhood. Even the girls were invited and thought they were so grown up! They spent almost as much time getting ready for it as I did!

A couple of things from the wedding I hope I don't forget:

~When the bride's mom (one of my mom's very best friends in the world) walked in, Emory said, "What kind of shoes is she wearing?" Trinity responded, "Silver high heels". Emory came back with, "hey, I have some of those, except mine make more noise than hers do".

~Addison was dying for some of the yummy cake! She had grabbed a fork and was reaching for them, but I knew she couldn't quite make it so I let her keep reaching. Next thing I know, I turn around and her fork is sticking into the bride's cake and taking a chunk out of it...the room erupts into cheers! I had no idea anyone, much less everyone was watching her!

~Every time the bride and groom kissed Trinity would say, "Ewwww!!!" at the top of her lungs, even during the ceremony!

~Trinity proclaimed she will wear underwear on her head instead of a veil and will smash the cake all over her husband's face when she gets married! I told her she can do whatever she wants on her wedding day!

Addison did finally get her very own slice of cake. They weren't serving them yet, although she felt the fact that they were sliced and sitting on the table gave her permission to walk up and start eating them. We quickly grabbed one and took it to the table where her Gommy fed her.

After the wedding my parents took the girls to their house for the evening and night while Greg and I went gallivanting around town. Okay so we actually just grabbed a quick bite of dinner and I was asleep in our hotel by 8 because I had a wicked headache...but we can pretend:)

The next day was Father's Day. We took it easy at the hotel then went and picked up the girls and visited with my parents for a while. After wishing Pappy a Happy Father's Day we headed to Greg's Dad's house and spent the day playing with their whole crew. We had a great time swimming and eating and playing with everyone! I know there wasn't much special on Greg's special day so we tried to carry the Father's Day theme through out the week. We did do some fun stuff for him almost every day!

Daddys

This is one of my favorite pictures ever! The girls sure do love their daddy! We didn't pose them, they just loved on him, and it was perfect!

Last Sunday was a very important day, it was the day we celebrate people who are very important to us and making who we are/have become. We celebrated the greatness of DADDYS!!!! I am blessed to have given my little girls the most amazing Daddy! He is wonderful with the girls and very helpful to me. He silly every chance he gets and has a great time playing with the girls, just like they do with him. He is serious and stern when the situation calls for it. Because of him our girls will grow up to be happy, intelligent, silly, confident (without arrogance), and have a great appreciation for music and sports! I remember the first time Greg realized he was going to be a daddy, he was so excited to have a baby and have the opportunity to guide a child through all the trials and tribulations as well as all the good time in life, but he was also terrified he wouldn't be good enough. I think that fear is a huge part of what makes him an amazing father! He constantly looks for ways to be even better than he already is and is always open to guidance and constructive criticism from others.

This was our very first picture as the Hinckley Family

Greg always finds time to teach the girls how to have fun and look for the joy in the world!

Even as a third time daddy he was just as proud and in love as the first time!

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Thank you Greg for all you do to be an amazing Daddy to our girls! We are all incredibly lucky to have you! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

Now...for my Dad (aka Pappy, Big Nerd, Goober, Pappa Bear...). I am so glad to have the dad that I do! He was always there when I needed him. He was always supportive, caring, protective, and was a great teacher at being silly. I have always considered myself to be a Daddy's girl and I'm sure I always will. I'm glad my girls have the opportunity to spend so much time with Pappy and have so much fun with him. He spoils them rotten and always drives all the way to our house to help out if we/they need him to. He wouldn't miss a second of his grandaughters' lives for anything! The girls constantly talk about their Pappy and how he can fix anything and how silly he is. When Trinity was barely two years old she said she was going to have to "Throw Pappy in the trashcan and pretend he's trash because he's so silly". That has stuck and has moved on through her sisters too! Thanks Pappy for bein an incredible Dad and Pappy to all your girls! We hope you have an incredible Father's Day!!!!!

Pappy always finds room in his heart, time in his day and change in his pocket for his little girls!

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And last but not least, Greg's Dad (aka Pops). Allthough I didn't grow up with him as my dad he has always been more than willing to give me fatherly advice when I ask, always leading me in the right direction. He is full of wisdom and insight and knows the answer to any and every question we have every come up with (of course being the King of Google doesn't hurt). He is always around for a laugh or a serious conversation whenever we need him. I am so grateful to have you as my father-in-law and a grandfather to my little girls! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

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Pops loves to share his things with our girls! He has taught them many new things and I know it will make them better people for having had the opportunity to learn from Pops!

To all the rest of you daddys out there, I hope you had a wonderful day full of love from all around you!

Generous hearts, beautiful girls

I am so lucky to have two little girls that fit both of those descriptions!

We went for summer hair cuts today and Trinity decided she was going to get enough cut off so she could donate it to little girls who needed it. She got eight inches cut off! She has a ton of hair, so that will go a long way in making a wig for people in need!



Emory wanted to follow in suit with her sister and wanted to donate her hair too. Although her hair isn't nearly as long we were able to gather two little pony tails and trim them off to send in along with Trinity's hair. It won't be enough for Locks of Love to use in their wigs, but it will they should be able to sell it to offset a little of their costs.



I am so proud of my little girls and how generous they are! They both look precious with their new hair cuts and much older too! Trinity looks like she's at least 8 years old! Emory looks like she's 5! I guess being incredibly tall for their ages doesn't hurt either:)



Here are the before an after pictures of my little girls:

Emory and Trinity before haircuts

(we had just taken both of their hair out of french braids, it's not normally this wavy/frizzy)

Trinity after:

it's hard to see how short her hair is, but you can see how much she got cut off.

It looks great!

Emory after:

The pigtails aren't huge or long, but it's the thought that counts anyway! We had let it air dry while running around, so it's quite full of body:)

Just in case I haven't said it lately, I love my girls...all three of them! They are such amazing kids! Addison was a great sport and very well behaved the whole time!