Birthday Parties!!

We celebrated Emma's 4th birthday this past weekend with two parties...the first Saturday morning at the Zoo with some of our good friends, and then Sunday evening at our house with family. Emma received some really cool gifts and she was so excited to see everyone!!

Annual Girls Trip

I rarely blog about things that aren't kid related but decided this deserved a post! I'm getting super excited about my upcoming vacation with my girlfriends from high school. The five of us were inseparable in high school and the friendship has continued. We promised each other when we graduated from high school that we would take an annual trip together...well one thing or another and it's ten years later and we've yet to take one trip. BUT in three weeks we will all be meeting up (flying in from all over the country) for the first of our Annual Girls Trips!! I cannot tell you where we are going yet because the location is a surprise to the other four and they won't find out until this coming weekend. We decided to take turns planning/booking the trip and keeping the location and details secret from everyone else until a couple weeks before!! I got picked to be the first "planner" and I hope the girls like what I've planned!!! We leave in less than three weeks so hopefully I'll have some really fun pictures to post soon!!

New sand box & some more soccer

Emma's team had individual and team pictures taken before their game on Saturday...even though we ordered a team picture from the photographer Patrick managed to snap a cute one of the team!!


We bought a big bag of sand toys a couple weeks ago and the kids were digging up the flower beds so we decided it was time to look at building a new sandbox. Patrick put this one together in a matter of minutes! We decided to fill it with something other than sand (as we recently discovered that most play sand has crystalline silica- the same stuff in those packets that come in shoe boxes!!) After a visit to the local feed store we decided upon the pellets that are put in horse stales...it does turn to a grainy powder when it gets wet but Patrick was smart and built a nice top for the box too!! The kids loved how it felt and Patrick and I loved that it didn't find its way into the house like sand!!!

(Umbrella not part of the box but we moved it from the table when our kids refused to put hats on while the sun was out!)

Long time no blog....

Realized the other day that it's been almost a month since I've posted to our blog...have had lots to blog about, guess that's maybe why I haven't had that time!! Here are some recent pics, Easter celebrations, Emma's soccer games, and a random one of Bryan! (Promise to get better about keeping my postings more up to date!)

Easter Egg Hunt at the park with our friends (Brigg's, Crissey's and Daley's)!

The Easter Bunny came to the Shortall's!

Getting ready for mass on Easter Sunday

Opening Easter basket's from Grandma and Grandpa before brunch at Nana and Boompas

Easter dinner at the Saba's

Hunting Eggs with the cousins

Emma's soccer

Bryan's new favorite activity and Mommy's new least favorite activity to clean up- playing with water and cups at the sink!!

New Orleans

We spent a long weekend in New Orleans last week and had such a good time!! All three of Patrick's siblings live there now and Patrick and I hadn't been there since 2004 (pre-Katerina). It was so much fun hanging out with everyone and the kids did great!! We had beautiful weather the whole time- which is good because we did lots of walking and hanging out outside!! Here are a handful of the photos we took....

Emma and Bissy waiting for the street car!

Emma LOVED the streetcar!

Hanging out on the Loyola campus, waiting for a street car after Uncle's Matthew's baseball game

Breakfast at the condo

Patrick & Elizabeth

Patrick and I got to go out on a date to restaurant August, yummy!!!

Baseball game #2

Tulane baseball team

Before the game they let the kids run out on the field for the national anthem...Emma didn't want to go but Elizabeth was such a sport and ran after Bryan!

Chris & Patrick

Sunday Brunch at Chris' restaurant- such good food!!!

Emma enjoying a "Hanna Montana" at Chris' restaurant

Outside the restaurant

Chris, Michelle and Elizabeth had found this super fun park for the kids- it was called Storyland and all the play structures were shaped like things from various children's stories- here was Peter Pan and the pirate ship

Pinocchio and the whale

The three little pigs and their houses

Emma and Chris at the top of the castle

Byran and Chris on the firetruck

Dragon slide

Emma and Elizabeth on the magical mushrooms

Cinderella's pumpkin coach

We had dinner one night at Chris, Michelle and Elizabeth's house....we did make your own pizzas on the grill and Emma loved helping roll out the dough!

We didn't get to fly the kite at the park but when the wind picked up at the house Chris climbed to the top of the roof and got the kite going so Emma could fly the kite on the porch

Bryan discovered the stash of mardi gras beads in Elizabeth's room!

Cafe Du Monde!

Swear the whole place is covered in powdered sugar and you are too once you leave!!

Emma and Grandma in the French Quarter

Patrick and I near the river

Bryan and St. Louis Cathedral in the background

Emma checking out her buys from the French Market while she sat in Jackson Square

The theater Elizabeth works at - so cool it is right in the middle of the French Quarter

Emma taking her turn on stage!!