we have had quite a week around here & i'm looking back on the past few days with an exceptionally full heart! wonderful memories were made both in the walls of our home and out & about around kansas city :)

each year, jon goes on a golf trip with his dad, uncle & cousins. they play a little tournament amongst themselves in honor of jon's grandfather who died when jon was just a little guy. last weekend was the trip, so the girls & i made sure to fill our weekend days with fun!

we woke up sunday morning, headed right to breakfast followed by the aquarium at crown center. we hadn't been to the aquarium since i was pregnant with bea & all 3 of the girls LOVED it! they were so into the sights & loved every hands-on activity they could take part in. eloise particularly squealed with joy all morning long!

great gramma helen had sent the girls each a little money to spend for valentine's day [she did this last year & the beanie baby lucy chose is still a hot commodity amongst the girls], so we headed to a little toy shop at crown center afterwards & they each picked out something special. betsy picked out a pony, which we payed for, but immediately exchanged when she saw the trolls purse eloise had bought & threw an absolute conniption fit until she had one of her own... that was super fun to handle after a solo morning ;)

that night, lucy lost her second tooth & cried with pride :)

upon jon's return home, an ice storm hit kansas city & school + evening activities were cancelled tuesday-friday. i live for snow days, even though i get cabin fever & usually go insane ;) but there's something about no expectation of being anywhere + forced relaxation time that is so good for the soul. we did manage to make it to the rec center everyday to expel energy for a bit, but then always headed right home for movies, play dough, painting & barbies! matilda is the movie of choice around here these days!

the ice storm was actually very well timed for us, as lucy had her first ever dance competition on saturday! we had to be downtown at the music hall in full hair + makeup at 7am! jon woke up early with us, made us french toast for good luck, then lu, meme & i headed to the music hall for the day! i wasn't sure what exactly to expect, but we ended up having the BEST time! lucy was so caught up in all of the excitement, felt so special all day & in the end, the hard work & team mentality all of these kids have put in for months-on-end paid off- their tiny team won first place in both their age division & the broader overall category. it was so fun & so exciting! life lessons were learned & the cherry on top was their collaborative number with the big kids took first place overall. i think the #dancemom bug has officially bitten ;)

celebrating gmom's birthday tonight & i can't believe it, but friday is lucy's kindergarten round-up! we're entering the grade school years & i'm excited!

xoxo, 

-ivy