A flying we will go...

Oliver and I took a quick trip to SLC last week. We had a great time seeing my family!

Oliver & Daddy goofed around a bit in the empty space before we had to get checked in through security

Oliver did so well on the plane. This is the first time he has sat in his own seat the entire time. When we flew to SLC last December, the flight attendants allowed him to sit in my lap as he was upset about the seat belt. We had an aisle and a middle and the nice lady next to Oliver let him look out the window about half way through.

Grammy & Gramps picked us up at the airport and we headed to Sandy. They had some fun cars waiting for him, and crazy enough, neither of them made it home with us.

Oliver Clayton Royal is Thirty-Four Months old

I can hardly believe that his little guy will be three years old in just a couple of months! He has so much personality and is so inquisitive. He spends most of his days asking who, what, why, where or how and I spend most of my days answering those questions. We have even included a special question and answer session to our nighttime routine which has a definite stopping point so he can actually get settled down enough for sleep. I can't imagine stopping these months photo sessions even when he is three, so you may just keep seeing them indefinitely! :)

I had to throw this picture of him in. He was all sprawled out on the chair and ottoman relaxing while I was cleaning. So cute!

Anniversary Celebration

We had a great day celebrating our anniversary with our little guy. We spent the morning at a park and then had a yummy dinner at La Hacienda Ranch.

Here are the beautiful flowers Clayton gave me for our Anniversary. I loved the green flowers and the orange Gerber Daisy.

The cute hostess took our picture to commemorate the day.

I think that is supposed to be a tough smile on Oliver's face.

This horse bucks like crazy!

Check out the video of how fast this horse goes

Oliver enjoying the water misters...as if we don't have enough humidity

tasting the water from the misters

Oliver almost never allows us to carry him like this, so I just had to snap this photo!

Our Anniversary

Here are some of my favorite photos of this day six years ago. It doesn't seem possible that we have been married for that long; time really flies!

all done...I'm so full!

I love this little personality, he thinks he is sooo funnny...and so do we!

Friends

Oliver and I had a play date at my cute friend Heather's house this week. Jordan is six months younger than Oliver and they had a good time together. Jordan was a little hesitant about sharing his toys (but, what two year old isn't?), but he did surprisingly well. Next time, we'll have to have Oliver share his toys with Jordan.

We were trying to get them to stand next to each other for a picture and so I suggested they both do Pirate smiles. Oliver started running around galloping and Jordan quickly followed suit. Cute boys!

Big Bob Park

Oliver and I visited a new park this week on the other side of Plano. Bob Woodruff Park (or Big Bob Park in Oliver's words) has a big playground, trails and a huge pond right in the middle. We played for a while, then took a long walk around the pond where Oliver discovered Weeping Willow Trees for the first time. He has grown very fond of them and now points them out wherever we go.

He loved the little seats in the playground.

I thought this one was so cute of him gazing at the swings when we first arrived.

I also loved these of him hanging his head down with only his big floppy hat showing.

This one is my favorite!

Afterward we went to a different Walmart than we usually frequent and we found this cute little firetruck to ride. Oliver loved it!

Should anyone be this happy wearing mismatched shoes?

Oliver thought this was pretty funny and I did too!

Sweet nectar of summer

Oliver loved watermelon his first summer, not so much his second, and now finally, he is loving it again. He enjoys it so much that he even wants to drink the juice.

circle of trucks

Oliver loved this circle of trucks we built, even if it doesn't quite look like it in this photo. :)

Jollipops

Last week my cousins Robynn & Tatia brought over some yummy homemade strawberry freezer jam and a kit to make these jollipops. We loved the jam and the suckers, thanks you two! You can find out how to make these cute suckers out of Jolly Ranchers too by visiting Tatia's blog.

Happy birthday to me!

I had the most fabulous birthday. I started out with a great cycling workout at my gym, and ended it with a yummy dinner and a delicious sneaky chef cake; and I had lots of hugs, kisses, tickles, story times, laughs, giggles and birthday wishes in between! Thanks to everyone for making my day special! :)

This is our chef at Japon Steak & Sushi. It's a hibachi grill much like Benihana's. He paid lots of attention to Oliver and the restaurant even gave Oliver free ice cream. This is the same restaurant we have taken Oliver to every August for the past three years. He is much more aware of his limits now and was actually more frightened of the fire than the last two years. He recovered from his fear quickly and much preferred watching the fire from a little further away rather than right in front of his face.

This is Oliver watching the chef's every move and pretending to cook just like him. He dished his rice onto our plates all night. He loved it!

Our nice waiter took our picture

After we arrived home, we ate the yummy birthday cake Oliver helped me make. He was a great helper with the frosting. He watched everything I did very carefully and then tried to emulate it. I'm so proud of him and I feel fortunate to be his Mommy! Here is a video of his Happy Birthday song above.

I showed Oliver how to lick the frosting off the candles, he thought that was the best thing ever! Watch him digging it in the video above.

And last, the yummy cake! Seriously, it was so good!

And thanks to my wonderful hubby for making my birthday fantastic and for capturing it in these pictures. I realize I am not the most cooperative person to photograph, and I appreciate all you do to make me happy! :) I love my family!

My Little Helper

Oliver loves to help me make dinner, his favorite job is washing the vegetables. Tonight he helped me scrub the corn on the cob. I'm so lucky!