Kayla's Vacation - Lake Ridge RV Resort - Pt. 1

Kayla is having a blast here at Lake Ridge in Hillville, VA...She has been doing so much and has made several friends while being here with us...
Her vacation started on May 3 when we left her home in West Virginia...We drove for almost 5 hours and she did really good for the length of time...We stopped at Bob Evans for breakfast and had a good meal...It actually lasted us until we got home...
Kayla has been up in the crafts room with me, her mommom...She helps me out with guests by getting water, their brushes or just sitting at their table watching them do their craft...She has made several acquaintances with this process...Katie was a teenage girl who would let Kayla sit with her while she did her craft...Kayla would bring her craft to Katie's table and they would work together...People ask if she is my daughter and right away I say "No, she is my granddaughter"...I love saying that...It makes me so proud...

Here at Lake Ridge the pools weren't ready until Memorial Day weekend...The heaters in the pool were getting the pools warmed up...Kayla was ready to get her swimsuit on and go swimming..Her goal this year was to swim in the big pool all by herself with no help with water wings or a floatie...The slide was put at the kiddie pool last year, 2009...All the kids have enjoyed going down the slide...As you can see, Kayla is getting ready to head to the top and make her way down...She has a blast...

Splash!!!

Here's our Kayla girl getting ready to get out of the kiddie pool and go back to the slide...She did this so much that she wore herself out...Kayla did play with other kids in the kiddie pool which is rare for her...She made friends with another girl, Grace...Poppy and I know her family well...

Kayla with no swimmies on...She is such a big girl!!

Before this time of her getting in the pools, she had become friends with a little girl and her brother, Gracie & Landon...Their dad, Jason, was down at their rv for a visit waiting on their mom to show up...Gracie and Kayla became friends instantly...Kayla was sitting outside on our deck swinging her feet when Gracie & Landon came over to say HI...Ever since that evening they have been very close...So much so that Jason kept an eye on Kayla while they were at the pools...I had told Kayla that she could not go in to the big pool without Poppy or I and one day while looking out the big crafts room window, I saw her getting ready to jump in the pool...It freaked me out at first but then I saw Jason...He stayed with her the whole time...He was teaching her to use the noodle and how to swim with it...His wife, Jessica, is very nice too...Jason, Jessica, Gracie & Landon have "adopted" her...They come and get her when they are here and keep her the whole time...Kayla is having the time of her life and she needed so badly...Poppy and I got to know Jason and Jessica after a cake eating contest for Mardi Gras weekend back around June 12...Their rv is right behind ours so we know that we can keep an eye on Kayla and when I'm up in the crafts room,  I can see how she is doing...So the picture below is the very first time she has decided to get in the big pool...

This is Jason with Kayla...He stuck by her the whole time they were in the pool...I thanked him for being there and helping her...

The little guy behind Kayla and Jason is Landon...He kept up with them as if he was protecting her too..

I don't know if you can really see Kayla's face but she is pretty happy being in the big pool...

The girl with the pink noodle is her new best friend, Gracie...

This all took place around June 17th...Kayla has not been out of the kiddie pool or the adult pool since she has arrived  here...Everyday all she wants to do is go swimming...She grabs her goggles, towel, and has sunblock put on and down the steps through a secret passage to the doors that lead to the pools...I am so glad she is having a blast..

Lizzi’s 3rd Birthday – May 2

Elizabeth turned 3…I don’t know where the years have gone but they have gone by very fast…

Each year a special day comes around and some of us look forward to it while others just want it to go by…But little kids love it when it is their day…Balloons, Cake or Cupcakes, Party Favors, Drinks, Games & then the Presents…This day was no exception for our 3rd granddaughter, Elizabeth…

Brandi came up with a very good idea for a cake…Cupcakes put together with icing going across all the cupcakes…Then decorate it…Wow!  What an awesome idea and all the kids/adults liked having their own cupcake(s)…Brandi did a great job on her daughter’s cake…

Lizzi don’t realize that her “ears” are on backwards…but she had a blast taking her Princess crown ears on and off…Her Princess Mickey Ears was bought at Disney when Brianna was on vacation…We thought Lizzi was coming to Disney in March for a few days…What a better surprise than on her birthday…

Here is the little Princess spinning in her Princess dress…She looked so beautiful in her pink & black dress…It’s a wonder that her ears didn’t fall off…

One of the birthday presents that Elizabeth received was that she wanted her ears pierced…There is a friend of Brandi’s, Gary, who wanted to get her ears pierced as her present…But it turned out that the price was a bit more than we both anticipated so we joined in the present cost…It take Lizzi forever to pick out a “nice” pair of earrings…She did a wonderful job in not crying…Talk about being proud of a little girl who should have cried when the first earring went in her ear…Lizzi picked out little diamond earrings…

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Lizzi, Happy Birthday to you!!!  whoo hooo!!!!

Attending the birthday bash were Gramms, Aunt Sarah, MJ, Keylie (I know this isn’t spelled right) & Courtney…Then there is Uncle Josh, Poppop…A pretty good family/friend gathering…

The others attending were Poppy and Mommom (the one taking the pictures), along with Mommy, Kayla & Brianna...

Some more attending the birthday bash were Gary, Brandi's friend, Gary's son Brent and Brent's friend...They traveled from Pennsylvania to be at Lizzi's party...

On the far left is Uncle Josh and on the far right is Poppy (Richard)...In the middle is Gary with his son, Brent and Brent's friend...

After singing Happy Birthday, Lizzi got her "cupcake" to eat...She truly enjoyed her chocolate cupcake...Then came the opening of the presents...Lizzi got plenty of great stuff...

Lizzi received a beautiful Princess Tiana dress with Tiana flipflops...She received a tea set, a hairdressing kit, a big erasable marker board and clothes...This little girl made out very well...What a wonderful birthday party...The kids even had bubbles to use outside...Plus a swing set in the back yard...Brandi decided to have grilled hamburgers & hot dogs, chips and drinks...

Happy Easter – 4.4.10

 

It’s Easter Morning…All the girls are up and dressed and looking beautiful..Did the Easter Bunny come to Aunt Cindy’s home??  I hope so…Did the Easter Bunny travel across the Atlantic Ocean to visit Laurianna’s home??  I hope so….Laurianna had her fun over in Sicily going on Easter egg hunts…Kayla, Brianna & Elizabeth went on Easter egg hunts at LifePoint church and at Uncle Josh’s…What fun they all had…

Kayla, Brianna & Elizabeth

Laurianna          

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Uncle Josh & Aunt Sandy’s home…Easter time fun…

Lookie….Eggs…Lizzi found one…Kayla still looking…The girls had a blast looking for those little plastic eggs filled with candy….Money, I doubt it…*LOL*

The front porch of Uncle Josh & Aunt Sandy’s home…Also sitting on the steps is our newly acquired granddaughter, Mary…

I hope all the kids had a wonderful Easter…We love you all!!!

Easter Eve – 4.3.10

Happy Easter to our granddaughters…Kayla, Brianna & Elizabeth live in West Virginia and Laurianna who lives in Sicily…The Easter Bunny had some traveling to do to get to all our girls…

Brandi was taking her daughters to her Aunt’s house for the night and while they were there, the decorating of the hard boiled eggs began…

Kayla, Brianna & Elizabeth were at a table with their Mommy, Brandi, getting ready to dye their eggs to put in their baskets…Kayla was writing her name on her egg so that she knew which one belonged to her…It looked like Brianna & Lizzi wrote their names on an egg too…The girls were having some fun…

Look at these beautiful eggs…I bet they had so much fun making those double colored eggs (with Mommy’s help, I am sure)…and they look beautiful…I sure do miss dying eggs with kids, my own or the grandkids…

Can you tell whose egg belongs to whom??  The girls did a wonderful job on their eggs…

 

Easter morning had arrived…The 3 girls are all dressed up but one of them is not happy…I don’t think she got enough sleep on Easter Eve…But how beautiful did the 3 of them look…Luckily nowadays, the girls don’t have to dress up like I had to back in the early 60’s…Fluffy dress, white gloves, patten leather shoes, a silly hat and a hairdo that was awful…Nowadays little girls can dress up very simply and look gorgeous…

 

Oh my!  The Easter Bunny came in the night…The Easter Bunny left 3 baskets full of goodies…I bet all 3 of them could not wait to tear in to their baskets, to start eating some chocolate, to see if they got a toy…

And to finish up the Easter morning at their Aunt Cindy’s house, Kayla had one final pose…Can anyone else do that???  I know I can’t but she made Poppy & I laugh very hard…It was a great way to start our Easter morning…

   Over in Sicily our littlest granddaughter, Laurianna, was getting ready to dye eggs too…but she was more interested in cracking the egg or spilling the dye…Sure do hope that dye came up or the parents were smart to put down plastic…LOL..

  Misti & Chad helped Anna with the dying of the eggs but she found the Trisket to be a better option than dying eggs…I’ll bet these eggs turned out neat looking too…

Chad and Anna dying eggs…Anna looks more comfortable in his arms and looks like she could care less about the eggs…Next year will be better…Great job, Chad…