Flashback Friday - Redbud.

My parents have a beautiful redbud tree in their front yard. Elena was looking at it this weekend so I decided to put her on a low branch for a closer view. I snapped a couple of pictures of her and it reminded me of how much I used to love this tree and climb and play in it. So I thought I would share~

$3 Thursday.

Today was a $3 Thursday at Botanica, admission into the gardens was only $3 and they were open until 8. My mom and I have been wanting to go and check out the tulips while they were in bloom (which is only for a very short time for those of you who didn't know) so we thought this was a perfect excuse to go. The tulips did not disappoint!

Elena liked them too, she had fun naming all the different colors.

Here are a few more pictures of Elena checking out the gardens ~

Smelling the lilacs - my Grandpa would have loved bringing her here. He really loved flowers and gardening.

Elena ran all over the place. She took off around this building and we realized she could escape so Grandma had to chase her down! :)

I had to show Elena the spot were Mommy and Daddy got married - which will be 3 years ago later this month!

She had a slight obsession with the fountains tonight. She kept yelling "In!" and trying to climb into them and play with the water!

What a beautiful night to enjoy some beautiful gardens!

Handy Manny strikes again.

This time the project was a play set for Elena. Robert looked at all the kits at Home Depot and Lowe's but refused to buy one when he knew he could design his own. So, he bought some wood and got to work. I took pictures of his progress along the way. This whole project was amazingly finished in just 4 days (even with him changing his mind about the design over and over and over again)!

Elena was Daddy's little helper, she wanted to help and see what was going on constantly. I think she knew it was being built for her!

Testing out the slide~

Time to attach the swing and monkey bars.

More testing~

Climbing wall~

Time to put down the mulch.

More mulching and testing of the sandbox. Isn't it amazing the day before she was in shorts and a tank top? Crazy Kansas weather!!

Now for some railing around the platform~

Ta-Da!!

A few extra screws for stability and we are good to go!

Elena helping again, of course!

I think she is pretty happy with her new play set! She loves it and plays on it several times during the day!

And with a new play set came her first scraped knee - not too bad but she did cry a little, then she went right back to playing! There will be many more of these to come! :)

What a lucky little girl to have such a talented Daddy!

New Fence.

This weekend Robert helped my dad repair part of his fence. We headed over there on Saturday and the boys got to work.

Elena enjoyed the view with an ice cold drink!

Day one came to an end and instead of heading home to turn around and come right back in the morning we decided to have a slumber party with Grandma and Grandpa! Aren't Elena's new jammies just too adorable?

Giving Grandpa an Eskimo kiss - her new favorite thing to do. :)

Looking at old pictures with Daddy.

Day 2 started after a yummy breakfast at Town and Country.

While the boys got to work, my mom and I decided to head to the Zoo with Elena because the weather was amazing! What I love about the zoo is that even though you always see most of the same animals they are always doing something different so it is such a different experience each time. This time all the animals all seemed to be feeling really lazy and just relaxing. The lion, gorilla and black bear were all just laying around. Elena was roar-ing at the lions this time - so funny!

We always have to check and see which penguin size she is up to! She has finally reached the tallest one so I guess we won't need to check anymore! :(

Here is a pretty cool picture of the bald eagles~

I know you have seen these guys before but the flamingos were completely white this time! How strange is that? There were no signs explaining this so does anybody out there know why? Just curious...

Grandma and Elena having fun~

Getting tired and ready to head home for a nap!

When we got back the boys were finishing up the gate.

Very nice - and as my Mom kept saying, "It sure is a darn sight better!" :)

Elena checking out the finished product after her 3 hour nap (gotta love running around the zoo!) ~ I think she approves!

Elena had a blast hanging out with her Mammo and Poppo (as she likes to call them) this weekend! (notice that my Dad has his seat belt on while they are playing in the car~she made him put it on! ha ha!)

Hope you all had a fun and productive weekend like we did!