Family reunion

Yesterday was the annual Leader family reunion. This reunion has been happening for as long as I can remember, it is always on a Sunday afternoon in June at Ben Butterworth Parkway in Moline. It has been a few years since I had gone, so we decided we would load up the car and go for the afternoon. When we left after church it was just starting to rain, it poured pretty much the whole way to Moline, stopping about 10 minutes before we got to the park. By the time we got unloaded at the park the sun was out and it was a perfect day for a picnic. All of my dad's siblings were there, and several cousins, as well as other relatives. It was a great afternoon of catching up and playing with the girls. And what post is not complete without pictures--

Payton preventing papa from eating his lunch.

Emily catching bugs. When we pulled up in the parking lot, Em saw the playground and said "Wow, that is the coolest playground I have ever seen in the whole world!" She was super excited, until we discovered that it was covered with mayflies. So we didn't get much play time, but she still had fun!

The mayflies seemed to like the slide the best. Gross!!

Emily loved looking out at the river. Papa taught her all sorts of interesting things--the difference between a dock and a pier, different types of boats and all sorts of interesting things about the Campbell's island. He apparently lived in a renovated garage on the island when he was younger.

Feeding bread to the ducks.

Just being cute :)

Both girls looked like this before we got to the interstate on the way home. I'd say that's the sign of a great day!

Great Family Day!

Today was a fabulously fun day for the Hilman's. We had several people strongly encourage us to check out Heritage Day's today...so we did. I'm not entirely sure what we are celebrating, but it was a great time. We started with the parade this morning...Em kept saying she didn't want to go to the parade, but once we got there she was excited. She was even more excited when we found a friend from school to sit with.

Emily's parade wave....she apparently thinks she is a princess already!

Next up was the carnival. They blocked off the street by the park and had about 8 inflatables, for $8 you got a bracelet for unlimited play for the day. We spent about an hour playing, came home for naps and then went back for more! Emily's favorite was the giant slide. She went down it probably 50 times over the course of our time there.





This was another one of the inflatables. It was kind of an obstacle course. You were supposed to go down the slide and then end up in the ball pit. Em found this method much more enjoyable.  The launch......

And the landing......

Payton didn't get to partake in the intflatables, but had fun watching. Chuck also snuck her her first bite of funnel cake. She enjoyed it immensly and had several more bites after the first!

After the inflatables we ordered pizza, while waiting we stopped at the park to fill time.

Playing Peekaboo!

Emily as a mountain goat...

More peekaboo!

Father's Day

This is a little late, mainly because we were at camp the week before Father's Day and then came home and had sick kids all week, but better late than never!
Emily's thoughts on Chuck-

My daddy's name is -Chuck
How old is daddy -14
My daddy is great at -watching me on the bouncers
When my daddy was my age she liked to - play
My favorite thing to do with daddy is -play
I love my daddy because -because I liked him
When daddy is bored she likes to -be a baby (???)
Daddy's favorite color is -green
My favorite food daddy makes is -pizza

And sadly, cause I am a bad mommy, Chuck didn't get a present from Emily (his "big" present was his new ipad last month) but Payton's teachers were on the ball, so he got a hand print plate and some fabulous pictures from Payton before we left from camp. He did however get not 1 but 2 ice cream cakes at camp....cause they are his favorite :)

Happy Birthday Payton!

Payton turned 1 yesterday, I can't believe it has been a whole year since she came into our life! It has been a crazy year, but wouldn't change a thing! First a Payton update, then pictures!
One year old Payton--
*has been walking since the end of Jan.
*can say-mama, dada, uhoh, and ball
*waves hi and bye and is ecstatic when she sees mommy or daddy
*loves playing with her friends at school
*eats pretty much anything she can feed herself, she refuses to be spoon fed except on rare occasions on her terms
*is finally sleeping through the night (knock on wood!)
*drinks a bottle before nap and bedtime but all other beverages are from sippy cups. Loves her milk!
*loves playing with her big sister, again on her terms!
*loves Keeno and the kitties--her favorite is to smash her face into their fur
*makes her mmmm face and looks like a duck (impossible to catch on camera thus far)

And now some pictures--1st her family party-
We gave her 250 balls to fill her sandbox with--she loves the ball pit at gymnastics class and like we expected this was a major highlight of the day! The other highlight of the day was the water squirters Chuck and Uncle Nick bought (I think Em enjoyed these the most!) Payton was very not interested in her cake--Em on the other hand thought it was fabulous and was more than willing to help her out with it!

These pictures are from her actual birthday--we had several friends from Geneseo down for the weekend to celebrate--we tried cake again, still not interested! More pictures of the big kid visit will have to follow in another post cause they haven't made it to my computer yet!

Payton's first* trip to the zoo....

*This was actually Payton's 2nd trip to the zoo...we went in St Louis last summer, but somehow there were no pictures to document that trip. We definitely made up for it this trip!

Papa and Payton checking out a peacock

Emily feeding a giraffe-the giraffes are her favorite animal so this just about put her over the edge with excitement!

Payton checking out something--she seemed to like it whatever it was!

Emily showing us where the fox was hiding.

Emily's "growth" chart--every year when we go to the zoo we check out how big her "wing" span is.
*Last year's http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2134921145780039881#editor/target=post;postID=426015373538766655

Emily showing Payton where the gibbons were.

Payton's 1st growth chart picture.

Payton and Em hanging out on the butterfly seats.

Payton walking with purpose!

Payton was very interested in the goats in the petting zoo.

Payton's 1st train ride! We waited in line forever for this train ride...but I wasn't about to leave the zoo without riding the train!

Another obligatory Emily picture--every time we go she has to ride the lion on the way out!

Em and her papa walking to the car. Payton got to walk with Gma back to the house and ended up asleep before we got there!

An update via Facebook

Payton is very quickly approaching age 1, and I have done a horrible job posting updates. But then I realized I have oodles of updates on facebook...so I figured why not condence them and put them in one place for posterity sake--so here is the last several months of Payton's life--via facebook!

Dec. 18-

"P is both crawling and pulling up to standing....she is moving up to the "movers" room at school, her teachers are convinced she will be walking soon....I'm pretty sure it is just survival, she has figured out the faster she moves the faster she can get away from her sister!"

Dec. 19-

"Why is it that p sleeps like a super star all weekend and come Mon morning thinks 4:30 is a good wake up time?"

Dec. 22-

"P slept until 430, ate and is still asleep at 815, I'm calling night 1 of no rock and play a success!"

Jan. 15-

"I daresay we are making sleep progress in the Hilman house....P went down at 10 (after a 2 hour nap in the car ) and slept until 7:30....in her crib!!"

Jan. 31-

"We've seen it twice and they saw it at school today so I guess it is official....Payton is taking steps! Our baby is growing up too fast!"

Feb. 15-

"Went to bed at 8 last night, expecting to be up multiple times with a sick baby....didn't get up once! That means 10 hours of sleep for me and hopefully a baby that is feeling much better today!"

Feb. 19-

"Payton and I are in disagreement as to whether or not 6 am is a good wake up time on a Sunday....hopefully I can convince her 8 is much more acceptable!"

Just a touch of what has been going on...I noticed a sad pattern in Payton posts--they are all about sleep!! I'm really hoping that becomes a less defining part of our relationship soon!

A fun mother's day post

I found this on pinterest as a father's day activity, but thought it would be fun to do as a mother's day activity as well--
Emily's answers to questions about mommy-
My mommy's name is -Hilman? (with a shrug of the shoulders)
How old is mommy -5
My mommy is great at -changing colors
When my mommy was my age she liked to -make a birthday cake
My favorite thing to do with mommy is -to play toys
I love my mommy because -because I love my mommy
When mommy is bored she likes to -I don't know
Mommy's favorite color is -pink
My favorite food mommy makes is -casserole or fruit

And now we are off to attempt a pinterest mother's day project for the grandma's...it involves paint so this could get interesting....and I'm guessing it won't look anything like the pinterest picture, but it will be fun :)