Daddy Daughter Valentine's Dance

A few weeks ago, I saw a bunch of pictures on Facebook of some of my Columbus friends taking their daughters to a Father/Daughter dance and thought it was just the cutest thing around.  Fortunately for us, there was one scheduled out here for last night!

Olivia was so excited to get ready for the dance.  I picked out a special Valentine's dress and she helped me pick out her daddy's outfit.  She was very particular about how she wanted her hair {straight! straight! pulled back!  a little bit of curl!}.  Oy, that girl.

We went over to our neighbor's backyard to take a few pictures before they left.  {Sweet Sydney wanted to be in the pictures too.  She had taken a bath while David and Olivia were getting ready, so she had wet hair in the pictures.}

➹ She just looks so grown up... ➹

➹ Crazy faces!!! ➹

David sent me a few pictures from the dance and I was so excited for them to come home and tell me all about it.  They got home after I put Sydney down and Olivia was talking a mile a minute about all the things they did.  She loved the DJ because he taught everyone dances and her favorite song was the Ghostbusters song.  There was a craft table and a photo booth all set up for them, so she came home with a couple goodies.  

➹ That pose with the flower!!!! ➹

I'm so thankful for David -- he is just the best dad to these girls.  I know he was all over that dance floor acting fun and goofy just for Olivia.  She is going to have these memories for the rest of her life and I'm just so grateful.

And, just in case you were worried about Sydney, let me assure you she had almost as much fun at home.  Nana and Poppy came over with some frozen yogurt and she loved being the star of the show for them!

Daddy Daughter Dates

One of David's favorite things to do with Olivia was to go to the Farmers Market in Avila on Friday nights during the summer.  Out here, those dates got replaced with trips to the playground, exploring local swimming parks and various Meet the Creature classes.  Since it's gotten a bit cooler here, the swim dates have been replaced by some beautiful daddy/daughter hikes.

Last Saturday, they explored South Mountain together.  Here are a few pictures I stole from his iPhone.

Yesterday, they explored a different trail on South Mountain.  Olivia is really into maps -- more specifically, treasure maps.  So, David pulled out the map of trails and got Olivia really excited about going on the hike.  Once they were there, he planted a few little trinkets {Snow White and the Seven Doors* figurines} for her to find.  She loved it and I know he loved spending lots of quality time with her.  Then, last night, he took both girls to the playground so that I could get a few things done around the house.  He's basically a big kid at heart, so I know they have so much fun hanging out with just him, and I love having either one-on-one time with Sydney or just some me time.

Finding Sleepy...

Happy Hikers!

Up at the top of the mountain they found Snow White's cottage...AND Snow White!

{It's kind of hard to see, but that blonde hair next to Sydney's hat is from the back of Olivia's head.  They are both in the baby swing together!}

Thanks to David for seeing the importance of spending time with each of the girls.  These are memories they will have {and love} for a lifetime!  

*Olivia thinks it's Seven Doors instead of Seven Dwarfs.  

Long Time Coming...

When we were back in California, David would go on Daddy/Daughter dates with Olivia almost every Friday.  They would go to Avila Beach to the playground, the farmers' market and the beach.  Every time he would leave, I would say, Take lots of pictures!  And, sometimes he would and sometimes he wouldn't.  But, I never {or rarely} got them to put on the blog.  Now that we are out here, he still does Daddy/Daughter dates with her, just not to the beach.  {Hello, Mr. Obvious}  

Anyway, David gave me a few pictures off of his cell phone today - some are of recent outings and some {Mr. Obvious again} are from a long time ago.

Around 8 months old...

Testing out car seats at 13 months.

Palo Alto Art Fair - 15 months maybe

Golfing...

Oh my.  I love this picture.

Thank you, David, for giving me this one.

{literally + figuratively}

Date night with Daddy and Poppa.

{So glad that mohawk is G.O.N.E.}

They grow way too fast...

A few weeks ago, we had a rainy Saturday or Sunday and David took Olivia to an indoor amusement park.  They had a blast!

Girl loves her some elephants these days.

I've even taken to Instagramming David's pictures.

Over Easter weekend, David took Olivia to a Meet the Creature class with lots of bunnies, ducks and tortoises.  

This Saturday, after swim class, David took Olivia to the rec center and saw a bunch of girls coming in dressed as princesses.  He asked what was going on and found out that there was a Princess Tea Party class getting ready to start.  He quickly signed her up, ran to the childcare "Treehouse" and grabbed her an outfit and she was ready for tea.  {This was a solo class for Olivia and when David returned he saw her covered in marker and LOVING the 0% juice, high fructose corn syrup Kool-Aid drink.}

Sad when I was more worked up over her looking like a hot mess at a tea party and not the fact that HFCS is not tea.

Thanks for the pictures, Babe.  

And more importantly, thanks for taking your daughter out on such fun dates.

Just Keep Swimming

One of the things I loved about living in the central coast was the San Luis Parent Participation classes that Olivia and I took.  I swear those classes made me a better mom.  Not that they necessarily taught me tons of things, but they gave me a social outlet, they gave Olivia socialization and play time and, yeah, they did introduce some new topics to me.  It was so wonderful having other moms and dads to bounce ideas off of and, as I've mentioned before, I made some really really wonderful friends through that program.

It was important to me that I find something like that out here for Olivia and me to do together.  And, in the future, for me and Sydney to do as well.  Well, I found that something before we even moved.  And then we came out here and the program book kept sitting on my desk, month after month after month.  You know, stuff happened.  Moving in.  Settling in.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  January.  Well, enough of all of that stuff.  I need it.  And Olivia needs it.

My wonderful husband went through the book and picked out some classes for him to do with Olivia {he needs those Daddy/Daughter dates too} and helped me find some that would work for her and I to do together.  Hip hop dance anyone?  Mmmkay, maybe not this go round.  But, I am signing us up for a class or two and David signed up for a few for them as well.  Their first class was last Saturday and if you can't tell from the title, it was a swimming class.

I stayed home with Sydney, but my dad went with them and took some great shots with my camera.  Thanks Dad!

I guess she got voted Best Dressed.

Yes!  Outdoor swim lessons.  In January!

Apparently our little water bug is too advanced for the beginner's swim class, so this Saturday she will be in the advanced class!  She loves it - look at that smile!

And, I just absolutely love my husband for taking the initiative to sign up for these classes.  He is such a wonderful father and Olivia is so lucky to have such an active and involved dad.  I have such fond memories of my dad taking me to my swim lessons when I was younger and I know Olivia will have wonderful memories of her daddy/daughter time too.