Foo Fest 2013! Aurora is a Rock Star PLUS a Special Announcement!

This was Aurora's third Foo Fest (You can read about the other times HERE and HERE). For the first time she was truly able to appreciate our little family summertime tradition! It's hard to believe that just two years ago she was a little bean who spent most of her time in a carrier just staring at the bright lights. Where has the time gone? This year we went to brunch at a new place called The Grange.
Aurora spent quite a bit of time drawing "funny faces" on the napkins.



Then we headed to Foo Fest!
The first stop was the mini makers market where we found some 3D dinosaur puzzles that Aurora loved!


Next was the musical instrument 'petting zoo' where Aurora tried her hand at guitar and drums and started an impromptu toddler band with another little girl.





Then we went to the face painting area. This was Aurora's first time getting her face painted so she had to stand and check it out for a little while first. After, she was excited to tell us that she had a 'butterfly face'!



Then my former boss treated Aurora to her first giant pretzel. You can tell by her face that she loved it:


After some more walking we ate our dinner from the roof of a double-decker bus restaurant!


Finally, Aurora played with Auntie and a new friend making more dinosaur puzzles and then we headed home. It was a great day as usual.



NOW...
Are you ready for the super exciting announcement?
Aurora is officially POTTY TRAINED!!
After introducing the potty around Christmas time and doing a few stints here and there, Aurora finally decided about a week and a half ago that she was ready! She woke up and asked to go to the potty and she's been going ever since with no daytime accidents and only two nights of waking up wet! We even made it the whole long day away from home at Foo Fest and got back totally dry!
Needless to say I'm pretty proud of my big girl!

Happy Birthday America!! -Our 4th of July!

What we've been up to lately:

Time just keeps slipping away around here. We're busy busy busy! Aurora's new buddy is still with us three days a week, which seems to be working out well for everyone. I'm still in school full time, taking THREE classes at once right now which is a little stressful. I've also started running for exercise because it's the most (actually, only) convenient option for me. In between all of that, we've been trying to get out and enjoy this new spring sunshine as much as possible! Here's some of our moments from the last few weeks:

Running errands with mama.

Snugglin and watching Sesame Street! (SO CUTE!)

My first 5k - don't laugh at how slow I am please!!

Teaching her buddy how to draw with chalk!

Longest bubble bath ever!

Aurora's first ice cream cone!! (Shhh.... don't tell her it was vegan and all -natural!)

Aurora's Totally Awesome Birthday Carnival Party!!

So, I may have gone a little overboard on Aurora's birthday party this year. I had a little extra money coming in and it seemed like every time I thought about what I was going to do, I had yet another idea that I thought would be fun. The party was carnival themed and I had a bunch of activities planned for the little ones... unfortunately most of them couldn't make it. Oh well, Aurora had enough fun for everyone! Next year I may have to tone it down a bit, but I have to admit I really liked putting everything together. It was exhausting but super fun.
As usual, the pictures speak for themselves...
Enjoy!

Presents for the birthday girl from mama.

Treat Boxes!

Decorations!

Duck Pond! (I was pretty proud of this idea!)

"Concession Stand!"

A few more highlights of my handy work and Aurora enjoying the results.

She wouldn't even keep the clown nose on long enough for a picture!

Woo-hoo, presents!!

Aura's Build-a-Bear Snowman from Auntie Rachel!

Happy Biiiiirthdaaaaay!

Mmmm.

Hanging out IN the duck pond post-party, of course.

Oh, and also.... We. Are. Dorks.

Aurora is TWO years old!!!!

My, how time has flown. I feel like just yesterday Aurora was a teeny little bean who couldn't even lift her head. Today it's hard to imagine that she's the same girl. Last week was Aurora's 2nd birthday!! We celebrated on her actual birthday (Friday) by going to the Children's Museum and then we had her carnival themed birthday party on Sunday. I'll have to make a separate post later for the party since there are a TON of pictures to sort through first. Here's a peek at our trip to the museum for now:

Still loves the giant Lite Brite!!

Our visit with Estrella the chair lady went much better this time haha!

Halloween!!!!! (Sorry so late!)

Oh boy has it been a busy few weeks. Halloween and my birthday are so close together that it always takes me awhile to recover. This year I had an amazing idea for Aurora and I to dress up together but I couldn't make it happen in time, so I'm gonna hold onto it for next year. Get ready to be blown away though! This year, I went with something a little simpler. Aurora still doesn't eat candy or sweets so trick or treating is still a long way off. I knew that our only chance to show off her costume would be our neighborhood party, so spending a ton seemed silly. Plus I wanted something I could recycle for another idea I had. Soooo..... Aurora was a rag doll this year, she was still a huge hit!!

The party we went to had a trebuchet to launch pumpkins in the air!

Ready... Set....

GO!!

Aurora saw her first police horses up close!

So curious about everyone...

Clapping for the ladies who were playing music!!

Costume parade around the park!

The one and only time I got her to sit still for a picture.

Silly face!

Oh, did I mention I was a doll too? Yeah, that happened.

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween!! <3 p="p">