Back from the beach, off to school & a birthday

Sorry that it's been so long since my last post (we won the smoothie challenge BTW). I got busy enjoying the final days of our summer break.

In fact, we've only been back a couple days from our family beach vacation, just in time for Jacob's first day of school (here's a pic of him with his Paw Paw this morning; Jacob is refusing to smile for the camera, mainly because he is adjusting to the expander he got at the orthodontist yesterday) and Hayden's birthday (she's officially 3 years old today and will be starting her preschool in a couple weeks).

Both my kids are growing up so fast, although Hayden is sitting on my lap while I type this post (she's tired from getting up early and running around with her friend at the bus stop). I guess this means I should make this fast, too (I just read this out loud, and she agreed).

Well, to speed things up, I won't be sharing any photos of us on the beach or in the pool (I prefer not to have bikini or shirtless pics of my family on my site; you never know where they could end up). However, Hayden did request that I share a few from her "Sparkles" makeover.

Yes, I know I try to keep her beauty routine natural (and for dress up only), but I couldn't resist letting Hayden get all beautified at this little shop. She got a souvenir tank top, fluffy tutu, tiara and more. She even got her hair done like a pop star (she was able to pick from four hairstyles and that was her choice).

Here she is all done up and then dancing on stage with her mommy.

Speaking of dance, she was showing off her moves to "Call Me Maybe," her favorite song at the moment. It was also the warm up song in her dance class over the summer. Here are some photos from her last class.

She matured a lot since her first class.

Don't you just love the back of her outfit?

This cute moment still makes me smile.

Nana and Daddy really know how to lift her up.

She'll always be my little girl.

Happy birthday Hayden! :-)