No More Training Wheels!

Today was a fantastic day for Grace!  Andrew took the training wheels off of her bike and followed (at times ran) as she began to ride without training wheels!  After about 5 minutes, Grace was riding by herself and requesting that daddy stay back to watch.  She wanted to ride all by herself!  Of course, Andrew chose to remain near her the entire time.  Good call daddy!  Grace was thrilled with this accomplishment, as was her little sister.  As soon as Grace began to ride by herself, Kaitlyn chased after her yelling "I knew you do it, GRACE!!!"   Good job Grace!  We are all SO proud of you!  You are definitely our determined little girl!  Another childhood milestone met, just shy of turning 5 years old!  

A little story about Grace's progress.....A few weeks ago, Uncle Phil sent Grace and Kaitlyn a new bike called the Kazam.   It is a pink bike without pedals.  The goal of the bike is to teach children how to balance properly while on a bike.  Less than two weeks later, Grace has accomplished the task of learning to ride her bike without training wheels!  Now time to teach Kaitlyn how to ride!  HA!  Just kidding.  Maybe next year!  Thanks for the bike, Uncle Phil.  It sure has been a hit!

Some Favorite moments from April through Photos!

The month of April was SO much FUN that we had to share a few more photos reflecting all that we did!

We made a trip to the Children's Museum with our friends, Abby, Regan and Tatum in April.  It was a fun day for everyone.  In the above picture, Kaitlyn is weighing her vegetables at the store from Egypt at the Children's Museum.

The "Sand Table" what every child LOVES to play with at the museum!

Kaitlyn having a snack while Grace and her friend Reagan play in the under ground mines.

Grace and Reagan playing with food from the grocery store in Egypt.

At Papa Miners posing for a picture in his flower garden.  I wonder what she is thinking about.

My beautiful Grace.

Quincy turned 8 on April 17th!  We celebrated by singing "Happy Birthday" to him and presenting him with wet dog food for dinner.  Kaitlyn wanted to make sure she had a picture with him.  We sure do love our Quincy Boy!

Kaitlyn's First Hockey Game!

On April 13th, Kaitlyn experienced her first hockey game!  We took the girls to see the Indianapolis Ice play at the Bankers life Fieldhouse.    They played the Waterloo Black Hawks and ended up losing in double overtime!  Even though the Ice were not victorious, the girls still had a great time!

Kaitlyn listening to daddy talk about the hockey game.  She was a good sport during the LONG game (did I mention it went into double overtime?!?!) , but would often become bored.  Thankfully, there were plenty of open seats by us allowing her room to move around.  

Something exciting must be happening! 

Grace and Kaitlyn smiling after the game.  

A new baby "boy" cousin!

On April 5th, my sister Ashley had a precious baby boy!  I was BLESSED to be an aunt again!  Yes, the Miners finally have a boy around!  With four daughters and two granddaughters, my dad was thrilled to finally have a grandson.  :-)  Papa Miner, Grace, Kaitlyn, and I all headed to Rochester, MN to meet this little man the day he was born.   After 10 long hours of riding in the car, we finally made it.  Papa Miner was SO excited to meet Xavier that he left the girls and I alone to fend for ourselves in the hospital parking garage (meaning I had to get the girls presentable and direct all three of us through the Methodist Hospital - Mayo Clinc area!)  No big deal, Right?  

Thankfully, we were all able to stay about a week in MN and help Aunt Ashley out with Xavier.  Grace enjoyed cuddling with Xavier and making sure is paci remained in his mouth at all times!  We really enjoyed our time in MN and are SO happy that Xavier and Ashley now live in Terre Haute.  We love having them SO close to us.  Grace and Kailtyn are very much in LOVE with their baby cousin.  Welcome Xavier Douglas!  We are SO excited you are a part of our family!

Grace holding little Xavier at the hospital.  She loved holding her little cousin!

Isn't he such a cutie!  We love having a little boy on the Miner side.

Following in Grace and Kaitlyn's footsteps, Xavier LOVES his paci too!

Papa Miner with Xavier.

Of course I had to get a photo taken with this adorable little boy!