My Little Girls...How They Warm My Heart!

We had a lazy Sunday yesterday....doing a lot of nothing. The girls played together most of the day, and as we neared dinner time we decided to go grab a bite to eat. The girls usually get excited about this and most always want to get dressed up. But this time, they got REALLY dressed up. They both put on dresses, took knitted shawls and were adorned with LOTS of makeup. So much that I had to tone it down a bit before we left...Tay had Jaycie looking like a bit of a clown at first! A bit dressy for Mancino's - but who cares!

As we know, siblings don't always get along and at times they can drive me crazy when they are fighting. But when my girls are getting along and really appreciating one another...it melts my heart. I love my girls so much and want for them to have a bond that can't be broken by anyone who comes into their lives. Sometimes a sister is the only one who REALLY gets you...this I know.

Nowhere to Be...and Loving It!

Usually when we go to the beach, we seem to be packing up to head back by a certain time. This time we headed up to Silver Beach with plans to have no plans...it was wonderful! We had a relaxing day at the beach. The girls played in the sand and we did lots of wave jumping!

Then we changed clothes and headed to downtown St. Joe to enjoy the atmosphere. We shopped in several stores including a fantastic toy store! You will see the great hats we modeled below. :)

Lastly, we ate at Clementine's...HOLY ONION RINGS! Before heading home, we grabbed some ice cream at Kilwin's. The girls feel asleep on the way home...it was a long day - but one we ABSOLUTELY loved!

Happy 7th Birthday Tay Tay!

Our baby girl is 7...hard to believe. We love you Tay...you are a loving little girl who surprises us with how grown up you are more and more each day.

Chicago Getaway

We recently took the kids to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago before the summer came to an end. We took the kids last year, but this summer we did two new things. First was the butterfly exhibit...which was really neat. Second was the stingray pool...AWESOME! These small stingrays swam around this pool and we could feed them and pet them. We have been to Stingray City in Grand Cayman where you actually swim with huge stingrays, but here it is a little less intimidating for the kids. Stingrays feel like wet, soft leather and when they eat out of your hand it feels like a small vacuum...such amazing creatures!

After the zoo, we drove back to the city and took the girls to the American Girl store. Lastly, we had dinner at the Grand Luxe Cafe. The food is unbelievable here and the atmosphere is impossible to match. We had chicken quesadillas, Asian nachos, our meals and benets (sp?) for dessert. YUM!!!! Needless to say, we were a bit stuffed.

Exploring the Fair

Every year we like to take the girls to the fair...this year was a little different. We did the food and the rides, but this year Tay did a project. She made a necklace and it was on exhibit for all to see. In addition, this year was Tay's very first concert - Lady Antebellum! There was a huge crowd for this concert...many people arrived early in the morning for seats. We had tickets for track seats and enjoyed center stage views. :)



Tay and Jaycie had waffles with ice cream on top! They were delicious...of course I tried it.

Jaycie didn't warm up to the rides until later - at first she just wanted to play games.


Here we are at the Lady Antebellum concert...we went with my mom. Great concert!