Backyard BBQ

 We had a Backyard BBQ on the 4th of July.  We invited 5 families and 3 were able to make it.  It was just the perfect amount of people to have over for some controlled chaos, though in the past we have had as many as 8 it gets very crazy when its that Many.  recently Holly said she wanted to have her birthday party at home and I said we could only have 8 people, when her list got beyond 8 and all the way to 17 she said mommy we could have two parties.  Ahh.. My smart girl.  This BBQ was fun especially the time playing outside and the water.  It was nice to have an outside space for the kids to run around.  Joel made some yummy Chicken Apple Sausages, and Burgers.  At the Party was Mira, Sara, and Chloe.  Holly loves having her friends over and it was super fun to have the Daddies here too.

BBQ @ Aidan & Alley Rose's

This was a BBQ at Alley Rose and Aidan's house on Memorial Day.  Aidan is one of Holly's Classmates and we have over the past several months become better and better friends with them.  There family lives only three blocks away so it is so much fun to just walk over to there house and play.  For the BBQ I brought 25 pieces of corn, it was all BBQ'd up and it was yummy.  There were burgers, a huge Salmon, Chicken Apple Sausage and of course I brought Sorbet too.  Also at the party was Sam and Jalen from Holly's class.  Holly also loves playing with Alley Rose's Best Friend Naomi, she is in Kindergarten this year, and Holly loves following the big girls around!

BBQ @ Quinn's

Over the last several months, play dates with our Special Needs Playgroup have been hosted by Quinn and familyThese late afternoon BBQ's have been a lot of fun, and we have actually been able to attend them.Holly found so many fun toys to play with at Quinn's starting with his watering can.We knew in advance there would be a water table so we dressed prepared in a bathing suit.Nathan another friend of ours was also in attendance. Nathan just started Swim and Gym with us.There were lots of snacks and great food for us to eat.But the little ones didn't eat much or stay put for very long before they were off and playing.Holly found a tricycle to ride, she was actually able to reach the peddles on this one.And then she wanted to jumpy jump with Quinn. This trampoline didn't have a hand rail so I was a little nervous at first.But she climbed right on, fearless and gave it a whirl.She did great,, and before long her and Quinn were taking turns.It takes a lot of energy to do all of that jumping and running aroundA few snack breaks, some chalk drawings and the afternoon became early evening.The little one climbed into this swing all by herself, she even strapped herself in.What a silly little goose.

Labor Day BBQ

The day after we returned from NY there was a Labor Day BBQ Scheduled with our Parent's of Special Needs Play Group. It was our first full day with Kat. We spent the morning at the house hanging out, and then late afternoon we headed over to Caleo's place to see everyone.We played inside when we first arrived, Holly loved the stroller and dolly. She pushed it all around the Kitchen and Living room. I took a picture of the play Kitchen so we could use it for ideas on the one Joel wants to build.Holly enjoyed playing with it, and the Dollhouse. Caleo uses it as a parking garage for his cars. Here is our host playing with a little Choo Choo train. Holly also had fun dumping out all of his puzzles. A puzzle box like this one is also on our list of things to build for Holly.The BBQ was on the back porch and down two flights of stairs was an amazing back yard. First thing Holly did was run over to the swings and ask for a push. We had to switch to the baby swing and then she climbed on in.Here is Amber one of Caleo's mommies. He is hanging out on his little slide. it makes for a neat little clubhouse, up on the platform.This play set is amazing. Holly needed help climbing up to the platform. There was a latter, but she was still too little to climb that. But all she had to do when get Tanta Kat's assistance.Holly really enjoyed going down the slide. It had little waves in it that made her bounce up and down as she slide down. She enjoyed it.But more then that she enjoyed playing in the sand box below. Caleo asked for some water and before we knew it they were both splashing around in the mud. Holly was in Toddler Heaven.

This is a little dress that Holly got from her Oma while we were in NY. It didn't take long before it was soaked wet through. First it was the sand and the mud, but then she discovered the water table.Here the group hanging out and sitting in the grass. Little Samantha is sitting in the center of the group. Mostly its the parent's talking, everyone had lots of questions for Kat about her time in Azerbaijan.Here is Sarah and her little guy Quinn, he is taking a break having some water. I love the little cup it has this neat straw that comes out of the bottom.Here is Samantha and Lisa taking a break and having a snack. Another little boy from our group Griffin is sitting on Amber's lap. The food was delicious. We brought turkey burgers, and there was salmon, and brisket.Here is Holly having her snack. Her temperature runs warm, so she was OK without her dress, She was cold with it on because it was so wet, we knew she would get wet again, so we kept it off her,.Here are some of the dad's hanging out talking tech. Quinn's dad in the center, Joel on the left and on the right is Ryan. He is holding his new 1 month old baby Rowan, Teagan's little brother.Rhonda, Rowan's mom is the organizer of my other mom's group and Teagan has autism. She has been in this special needs group for months, but this is the first time they have attended an event.It was wonderful to see them and have them meet everyone in the group. It was wonderful that they were able to get out of the house with Rowan so little, but having Teagan, she needed to run and play, so they didn't have much of a choice.I think it was the first time any of us met Rowan. He was already 10 lbs, but he was so teeny. I can't believe Holly was ever so small, and I remember thinking how big she was when she hit 10lbs.Here is Teagan playing with Holly at the base of the slide. Holly loves climbing around the bottom of slides, I guess they are just a good height for climbing.Here is a close up of Ryan and Little Rowan. We had so much fun at the BBQ. I didn't get any good pictures, but Holly literally spent hours playing at the water table with Quinn, at one point she was even trying to climb into it.