Shea Casey Photography

It has been a while since I have posted anything...mainly due to the fact that this has been a VERY low-key summer, so I don't really have anything exciting to blog about! We have been laying low and trying to avoid the hellish temperatures outside.

We did take a fun week-long vacation to Branson and we had a blast! While we were there, my sister took some pictures of the girls. We went to Big Cedar Lodge one evening and Shea was able to get some amazing shots of the girls. I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am for my sister. She is SO talented and SO patient with my girls. I feel so blessed that I have such incredible VISUAL memories to look back on of my girls while they are so little. Some days, I feel like it all goes by so fast and that I will never remember ANYTHING, so I am so happy that my sister is able to capture these fleeting moments in such a beautiful way. I am so proud of the business she has created and I know all of her clients love her as much as I do!  Here are a few of the pictures :)

Riverfest

We decided to give the Wichita Riverfest a try. It was definitely a "people watching" event, but we did manage to do a couple of fun things, as well as spend about 100 bucks on greasy food! 

 The weather was gorgeous, so the girls had fun just running around!

These two little beauties are really starting to look alike! 

 Ava decided she wanted to try some of the inflatables. Harper wasn't tall enough, so she watched from the sidelines and threw a fit in classic Harper form! :)

Climbing to the top! 

Sliding down! 

We got some yummy snow cones and we couldn't stop laughing at how Scarlett mooched off of everyone the whole time! Ava referred to her as "the baby bird" :)

And finally, we ended the day by letting the girls get their faces painted! They absolutely LOVED it!

Ava sat perfectly still and obeyed all the rules quite nicely! 

Ava picked a mermaid design :)

purple lipstick

First time seeing it in the mirror. She loved it! 

Adorable! 

Harper's turn! She wanted the exact same as Ava. I was actually surprised at how well Harper did at sitting still! 

Looking at her face in the mirror! 

Sisters :)

Pretty girl!! 

Are pajamas really that bad?

My brother in law always laughs about the types of people you run into at Wal-Mart. He always jokes that the common theme seems to be people shopping in their pajama pants and slippers.

Well, I'm starting to agree with the dress code. This morning, I was trying to get dressed and look slightly presentable. I have streamlined my "getting ready" process and can usually be done in about 10-15 minutes (thanks to having curly hair). 

After emerging from my bedroom, this is what I find. MESSES, MESSES, MESSES. 

In 10 minutes.

They did all this in TEN minutes.

the classic "unravel" of the entire roll of toilet paper
Courtesy of Scarlett

Go ahead and dump the basket of toys and then never touch a single toy after said dumping.
Courtesy of Harper

Owns more clothes than a Kardashian but still can't find the right outfit.
Courtesy of Ava and Harper

Screen doors are for wimps anyways.
Courtesy of  Dexter. 

So, my conclusion is that the people at Wal-Mart might very well be genius. Or drunk. Or both. Either way, I think wearing pajamas might be my personal dress code for a while. Due to what happens during the actual process, it is my firm belief that getting dressed is overrated. :)

Botanica!

We have lived in Wichita for 2 years now and I have always heard great things about the Botanical Gardens. For some reason, we have never been there, even though we have gone to most of the other museums and children's attractions right next to it.  On Sunday, after the kids woke up from naps, we decided on a whim to go check it out! The weather was perfect and it was only slightly windy, so we packed the girls up and made a quick trip to downtown Wichita.

I am SO glad we finally gave it a try. This place is GORGEOUS and they have so many neat things for kids to do. The girls absolutely loved looking at all the different flowers and playing in the massive "tree house." If you live in Wichita or ever come for a visit, you should totally check it out!

Of course, I forgot my nice camera, so I had to take pictures with my phone. I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but hopefully you get the idea! :)

Every plant is labeled, so it was really fun to see all the varieties. 

They had these crazy tree carvings everywhere.

Scarlett was NOT a fan. 

The entrance to the tree house

Harper loved the tree house

Playing some music

Scarlett loved this fountain. The water would get on her toes and she would giggle sooo loud! 

This was probably the girls' favorite thing. It was a clubhouse with a play kitchen inside. 

Just wishing she could keep up with the big kids! 

There were so many beautiful trails and paths. Obviously, we spent most of the time trying to keep up with Ava! 

Ava picked this plant out and said "hey mom, we have these in our front yard!"  And she is right! Different variety, but we do have hostas. :)

I loved all the statues they had everywhere

They were setting up a wedding here

The rose garden. 

The butterfly house. Not many had emerged from cocoons, but we got to see all the cocoons, so it was really neat! 

Here are all the cocoons. Ava even pointed out one that was emerging from the cocoon, so we sat there and watched for a while. It was actually really interesting. 

riding the ladybugs!