Some Days Off + Annie Meets Dora

I took a personal day this past Thursday, so that along with my regular scheduled 3 day weekend gave me a little mini vacation.  I have so enjoyed spending the days with my sweet girl.  I feel like summer is going by so fast and I want Anniston to get to enjoy it before the cold days of fall and winter set in.

Thursday morning Allie and I dressed Annie up and headed down to the Collierville Square for another one of our "themed" photo shoots.  I cannot express how much I love that my sister is a photographer.  I have so many sweet photos of Anniston and our family because of her.  Pictures of the shoot will be coming soon!  I think it turned out really cute!

Afterwards, we took Anniston to Kid's Play here in Germantown.  It was our first time going and Annie loved it! They have toddler days on Tuesdays and Thursdays so it was nice not to have to worry about any big kids running over her.

Friday morning was spent swimming and running errands.  I quickly found out that Anniston would much rather have her Daddy in the pool with her than me.  She did ok, but she is much more adventurous and not as timid when he is there with her.  We still had fun though.  We cleaned up and headed to Hobby Lobby afterwards to pick up a print that I had framed.  I scored this fabulous piece of art at my work's new store grand opening back in March.  A local artist was there giving away signed prints of his work.  I love that it's of Memphis and the colors work perfectly in our playroom.  I waited until Hobby Lobby was doing 50% off custom framing so it didn't cost me much money.

Friday night we had tickets to the special character dinner at Kid's Play.  Every month they do a different character and this month was Dora.  I was beyond excited to take Anniston!  We had a couple of friends and their kids going too, so it was really fun for us, too.  I think Annie had the best time playing with all the kids.  When Dora first came out she stared at her and said "wow."   I pointed at her backpack and Annie replied by pointing to it and saying "There's map!"  (She had the map stuck into her backpack.) All the kids got to go up and meet her and have their picture taken with her.  When it was our turn, Annie didn't want me to put her down, so I ended up holding her for her picture.  She buried her head in my neck but would peek out occasionally to look at Dora.  She never cried but sometimes characters dressed all out can be a little overwhelming.  After that, we got to eat pizza and watch the kids play.  Annie wore herself out!  We got to take some balloons home, which she loved.  She called them "boons" and was intent on holding them all the way home.

Saturday morning all 3 of us got out in the pool.  Anniston did so much better since Brandon was out there with us.  I think she must really feel safe and secure with him- which is a great thing!  Later that night, Brandon and I enjoyed a date night while Annie went to spend some time with Bebe and Papa.

Sunday morning we went to church.  This was the first time we left Anniston in the church nursery and it was a little traumatic.  She did fine when we dropped her off but was having a major breakdown when we went back to get her.  The service ran late, which I didn't realize until after the sermon was over.  It was past time for her lunch (I had her snacks packed, though) and it was nearing her naptime.  This church doesn't have an early service, or we definitely would have gone to that one!  The nursery workers were different than the ones that were there when I dropped her off (and told that she had snacks in her bag.)  They said she had been playing really well until about 5 minutes before we came back.  She was sobbing and looked so pitiful.  She clung to me and continued sobbing into my chest.  I was so upset- I was fighting to hold back tears, too, but I didn't want to upset her more.  When we walked outside, I asked her if she was hungry and she said, "Mommy hungry" in the most pitiful little voice.  I checked her bag when we got in the care and all of her snacks were left untouched.  Granted, she can go 1.5 hours without a snack, but not when it's nearing or past her lunchtime.  She was stuffing crackers in her mouth the entire way home.  I felt like the worst mother ever.  She was fine by the time we got home, but it took me longer.  I think I was just as traumatized!  Lesson learned going forward!

Here is her walking into church:

Sunday afternoon my parents came in town to swim with us and Anniston.  We all had a really fun time hanging out by the pool.

It's back to work today but I'm so glad I got so much time off work to hang out with my family!