4 Whole People Ago.....

We had dinner recently with our good friends that we met during law school.  Brannon & Brian took almost all their classes together and we were pretty inseparable during those days.  We took a law school graduation trip to Mexico with them and had an awesome time.  So, at dinner we were reminiscing on how long it had been since that trip, and we realized it had been almost five years ago.  We almost couldn't believe it had been that long, but then I said, well, it was 4 whole people ago!  We have added 4 humans to the world since that trip - doubled our footprint.  Wow.  And now three out of four of them can sit at a table and feed themselves, HA!

Where has the Time GONE????

Seriously, how have we gone from this:

To this, so quickly??? Oh how I love these three little best buds!

Zoo Trip with Friends

About a week ago, we went to the zoo with some friends, enjoying some of this beautiful, early spring weather. Thinkin' about getting a zoo pass this year.......

Mackenz and her buds

Keelyn still enjoys a good ride in the carrier

Keelyn thought she was big stuff riding this see-saw with the big girls!

Our Budding Photographers

The other night, I let Mackenzie & Mady Kay use my little point and click camera (well, truth be told, they grabbed it out of my bag & started using it before I knew it, but I let it continue) while we were out to dinner. They had a lot of fun taking some 'real' photos of each other.

Diva Mady Kay posing for Mackenzie

Check out this pose Mackenz did for Mads!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

A girl and her buds after dance class. So sweet to know that she'll remember these days with her little first friends. I still remember (sort of) taking dance around this age with my buds. So, I think she will always remember these days.

Stair Steps

This weekend we went to visit our good friends, the Gardiners, who just had their second baby, little Hayden. We have been alternating having babies for the past 3 years! Now, we have quite the little crew when we get together & they are perfectly stair stepped between our two families - Mackenzie, 3, Jackson, 2, Keelyn, 1, and Hayden 0 (well 2 weeks). Mackenzie enjoyed getting hold baby Hayden - the first time she's shown much interest in holding a newborn, but then, this is our first close friend to have one that is a girl :)

Bustin' Outta the House!

So, we've been stuck at home basically since Sunday with pink eye, so today was our first day that we were clear to go out and hang out with friends. So, we called our friends, Holt & Sophia, who also have had pink eye to meet us at our favorite food joint, Chick-Fil-A. I was glad to bring my camera along and continue my new years resolution b/c I have so few pictures this past year with their friends. It's sad, Keelyn has almost none with her friends like Kenz did! But when she was little, the camera was just one more thing to carry and I didn't have the arms for it then! But now that they're a little more manageable, I can now bring it along :)

Keelyn & Holt - one of her many boyfriends.....seems all of Mackenzie's little friends have baby brothers, meaning Keelyn has mostly (only?) boy friends!

Mackenzie & Sophia - enjoying the slide

Cagle Dairy Farm

Our next fall adventure was to a local dairy farm with our MOPS group. It's not an actual working dairy anymore, but they have a few cows to demonstrate milking a cow and then we got to see some of the farm animals, go on a hayride, and finish up on their big bouncing area. So fun!

This was my view - two cuties on the hayride! It was pretty cool - they stopped on the ride to show a herding dog herd some sheep and then had some cows graze right next to the tractor!






















Feeding a goat - she wasn't scared at all to let it eat right outta her hand :)














Pumpkin, huh? What is this thing, anyways?? It's all over my clothes too!





















Three cuties














Big girls checking out the animals





















Little one checking out the animals too!





















Keelyn found this old tricycle and loved pushing it around the eating area





















Sliding down the bounce thingy (really not sure what this thing was called but it was a big bouncy area like a balloon in the ground)














Catchin' some good air up on the bounce thingy

We're Multiplying!

As I was reviewing pictures for that last post, I ran across another photo from Sophia's birthday party. A photo of Mackenz & her two buds & younger siblings being held by their mommies. It made me remember a photo from Sophia's first birthday party where we were holding our first (& only) little girls! We are quite the crew these days.....

August 2009
















August 2011

Fun Times with Friends

Some recent photos of us hangin' with some of our friends:

Keelyn with the big girls (eating Sugar Daddy's!) on a trip to Serenbe Farms while their daddies were at trial in DC














Playing on the cool in-ground trampoline at the farms with Hailey & Harrison.














Mackenz with her buds Sophia & Mady Kay at Sophia's birthday. They're all three now. Hard to believe.
















One of my college besties moved back to Atlanta recently. Her little boy Liam & Mackenzie get to hang out now! He so kindly brought cupcakes to their first playdate. That is enough to win over my little girls heart!
















One of my childhood besties visited recently and got to meet Keelyn for the first time. Can't wait to meet her littlest one in a couple weeks!

Puttin' out Fires

Well, not really. But our MOPs group had a playdate a couple weeks ago at the local fire station. Mackenzie was a bit young to understand what the firefighters were talking about, and was too scared to pose inside the truck, but she thoroughly enjoyed looking around at the truck and the fire house. Keelyn, meanwhile, enjoyed being my little monkey (as her daddy calls her) in her little pouch on my back! She conked out for about half of the tour!

She wouldn't get in the truck, but she sure did pose in front of it!





















A demonstration where the firefighter put on all of his gear














I think the demonstration put this sweet little guy to sleep!














Um, that's not quite right silly little ladies.....





















There, that's better!














We are quite a crew, our MOPs group has gotten so big! Those poor firemen had no idea what they were getting themselves into!












A family photo

Up Early

Gone are the days of sleeping in when at the beach..... Here's some pics when I was the first one up with the girls one morning at the beach. I miss my sleep, for sure. But mornings are fun when no one is tired yet & everyone starts off the day so fresh :) Good memories!

A little hair brushing (with a toy shovel!) in the princess nightgowns :)














Keelyn mesmerized by the big girls :)





















I got MK to smile at me, but Mackenz just wants to watch her!














Now Mackenz is looking at the camera, but MK is checking her out!














Still watching the big girls! Although she managed to pull the towel on top of herself!





















Mady Kay LOVES Keelyn! Almost as much as she loves the first McKay offspring!

Couldn't Resist.....

One more set of beach pics.....last year & this year with the best little buds, M & MK..... (And we thought they were SOOO big last year! Now I look at those photos and think they look like little babies still!).

Memorial Day Weekend 2010





















Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Memorial Day Pics

We couldn't resist a few pictures of the girls in their red, white and blue outfits on Memorial Day :)

We tried for a picture of three smiling girls. Didn't quite happen.....














Not bad, but Keelyn is on the verge of tears :P














So, we settled for a good pictures of the two best buds!














Wow, what a difference a year makes.....

Beach Pics Day 2

Day 2 was just as much fun as day 1. Don't think I mentioned this yet, but the weather was amazing! Warm but not blazing hot. No clouds. Slight breeze. And the water, cool, but not cold. Perfect. Both days. Just what we needed before life got all kinds of crazy busy when we got home (and it was crazy busy before we left!).... More pics:

What mommy enjoyed so much this year......independent play! Hours of it :)














Keelyn got another couple hours nap in the ergo carrier.....this time on daddy :)














The closeup





















Mommy & Keelyn (and a little photo bomber in the background splashing & having a marvelous time!)














Keelyn was a little less neutral on day 2. Here she is crying with a death grip on me, basically begging me to pick her up! Notice our photo bomber again!














The girls & Ali enjoying the waves














Doesn't that look like a kid who's having a grand time??





















Keelyn's first dip in a pool. She was not the biggest fan. Tolerated it as long as she could hold on with a tight grip to mommy! The floatie was a no-go.














I loved this picture of Brian & Mady Kay. Brian had created a little shade for himself with the baby floatie.