Happy Birthday and Much More

A lot has been going on around the Hardister household lately! Ella Grace has been recovering from her surgery, Lucy has been working on her dance technique as well as her potty skills. We also went to Carowinds this weekend as we promised Ella Grace with our Gran Sandy and we celebrated July Birthdays! What a great birthday weekend I had! Here is a glimpse into our household over the past week! Before Ella's surgery we spent some time at Gran Sandy's pool! Lucy Anne and Ella Grace were introduced to floaties and loved jumping into the pool! Ella Grace floatin in the pool!Lucy Anne's face was pricless as she jumped into the water! Ella Grace wasn't feeling that great at the start of the week after her surgery, but was all smiles by the end of the week! Little Lu, like I said, has been working on her dance moves! You might not know exactly what she was doing, but she was using the stove as her "dance bar" as she tried to point her toes! Precious! As you can tell by the picture, Lucy has also been working extra hard on using her pink potty! How much longer do I have to sit here Mommy?Lucy is now trying to get all cleaned up, however, I must tell you she did not do one thing in that pink potty! Still working on getting all cleaned up! I guess practice makes perfect even if she hasn't yet used her potty! "A" for effort right? Finally we throw the toilet paper away! All done Mommy! Ella Grace and "Cheerilee" (her little pink pony) thought they would give Lucy Anne a little demonstration! Lucy Anne said that was enough and just wanted a cookie! I guess her reward for effort!Potty training continues, but Lucy would like everyone to know she thinks her big girl panties are fabulous!We took a break from potty training and headed to Carowinds for the day! What a fun time! Ella Grace has been wanting to go for the longest time! After she recovered from her surgery we packed up and had a fun filled day at Carowinds with Gran Sandy! Ella Grace was off to the sky when we arrived! Hey Doo Dad! Look at Me!

Still in the sky, but this time with Mommy! Next up.. A train ride with Dora! Ella Grace on the train!Lucy says, "Ride Train."Ella Grace on the swings!Of course you can't go to Carowinds without leaving with a fabulous "tacky" stuffed animal! Jay won the girls sparkley rainbow dolphins! Go Daddy! Jay and Ella Grace waiting to go on Ella's first roller coaster ride!Up they Go! Wouldn't you know Ella's first roller coaster ride would be in a pink car! Jay got them great seats on the second row! Hold on Guys!Lucy preferred the Merry Go Round! She only wanted to ride on her "pink horse" and over and over again she would ride! She was in the spirit saying "Hee Haw" as she went round and round Off in the Sporticoptors with Daddy! Ella bella peering out the window in the sporticoptor!It was really hot, but luckily we just headed over to the pool to cool off! Lucy had no worries!Ella Grace cooling off!One more ride before we left! Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion! Ella's favorite is Daphney!

Next up was the annual July birthday celebration! We celebrated Jeffery, Bubba's, and my birthday!Lovin on Bess at the birthday party! I think Bess is smiling! Lucy Anne loved Uncle Jeffery's new shirts he got for his birthday!

Playing with Uncle Jeffery

And a good time was had by all! It has been a busy and fun few weeks at our house! We have had a wonderful time playing and sharing special times with family and friends!