summer vacation...

amazing...

wonderful...

peaceful...

this is my favorite picture from our time at the beach

{a super big thank you to my sis for snapping the pic}

this little mermaid informed us that the water was too cold and might maker her tail chilly!

strong willed and made up her mind - no h2o!!!

and this little mermaid LOVED to pose for the camera! 

she is such a doll and I just adore this photo!!!

Avery {a.k.a. the pistachio princess}

at the carnival with auntie carleigh princess

and uncle josh with Addie on the merry-go-round

this girl loves the thrill of it all... all of the rides that is!!!

up, down, side to side, roller coaster and bumper cars... 

she loves it!!!

awe, aren't they cute!!! 

vacation looks good on these two!!!

onto disneyland... 

my dear friend KRISTIN did a post awhile back with this idea of "flat daddy" from the "flat stanley" series and for this leg of our vacation it just fit! the Avery colored in daddy's khaki shorts and Addison drew all of his facial features {great practice for the kindergarterner-to-be!} and "flat daddy" went with us to disneyland!!!

"come on daddy, let's go!!!"

 there were so many wonderful things about disneyland and most of those fabulous memories were created with the help of these wonderful people! Princess Rebecca and Prince Oscar were dubbed TEAM DISNEY for our entire trip, making the experience amazing and incredibly smooth!!! auntie carleigh princess and uncle josh kept the girls entertained and spoiled them rotten on this trip with hugs, kisses and ipad apps!!! 

we made a stop over at the bibbidi bobbidi boutique for a fairy godmother makerover...

SO SO SO SO SO SO FUN!!! 

I think carleigh, grannie annie and I had as much fun as the girls did!!! 

introducing, princess merida and princess belle!!!

quick hug before the parade starts... love her mouse ears!

and she slept through the entire parade!!! 

don't quite know how with all the polka music and cheering kiddos hollering for their favorite characters... but she did, snored a little too! 

"I love the parade mommy!!!"

 these two love birds picked up special "I'll be your Mickey, I'll be your Minnie" shirts!!!

and when it was time to take a little nap, what better way to spend that time than waiting in line to meet a princess right??? I happily, no seriously happily waited in line for just over an hour in the BRAVE line holding Avery Lynn so the girls could meet princess merida! she was darling, so very sweet with Addison and the bears even chuckled on how much Addison looked like their beloved princess!!! Oh and Addie got to shoot a bow & arrow too!!! SO FUN!!! 

We had an amazing vacation and feeling very blessed to have spent so much time together as a family before daddy had to head back east for camp. Keeping him and all the other men who reported for camp this week in our prayers. Please also pray for their loved ones as well... as crazy as camp is for the men God only knows how all the ladies are holding down the forts and for those with children soothing tears of "I miss my daddy"!!! Thank you for all your prayers and heartfelt support!!! 

And a special thank you to my mom...

words cannot begin to express how much I appreciate how she has helped me over the past few weeks and after surviving the road trip home {saving this story for another post!!!} I know that we are indeed steel magnolias!!! love you mom!!!