Matching Girls Monday: beach at sundown

Beach Day matching girls kissing

Living so close to so many beaches means that just about every day can be a beach day. While we love spending whole days at the beach, we also love that we can just stop into beaches on our way home to see the sunset and let the kids play for a bit.  No swimsuit … Read more

Matching Girls Monday: back to school

Gymboree dance

Do you remember my sneak peek of my girls’ back to school outfits from Gymboree? Well, here’s the complete outfit:I admit that I fell in love with these boots first and then built the rest of the outfit around them because I love them that much. My daughter has worn Gymboree boots every year that … Read more

Get ready to rock back to school with Gymboree

Gymboree dance

I’m currently in denial that back to school is right around the corner. We had so many plans this summer and it feels like the entire two months just blew past in a blur of travel, lazy summer days, and play dates. I feel like I’ve now got a deadline looming that I might just … Read more

Matching Girls Monday: remembering the beginning

DSC05443This is my matching girls in one of my absolute favorite matching outfits they have ever owned. This was the second matching outfit set I ever bought them during a Gymboree campaign, and it's admittedly getting a little small for both, but we love it so much that we just can't retire it yet. Girls in Gymboree dresses 2

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Matching Girls Monday: my little redheads

Girls Gymboree hugIt's hard to see in pictures, but my little one has the most beautiful strawberry blonde hair. My oldest and I would love to be redheads {sadly, my red isn't au natural… I only have reddish tones in my hair}, so this spring we decided to dye our hair together. Girls Gymboree piggyback 2

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Matching Girls Monday: vacation style

My matching girls were comfortable and cute while traveling this spring. When we are traveling, I like to dress them in clothing that is comfortable to play in, sleep in, and can be layered for warmth.Family in Chelan Wapato During the day, they took off the leggings to wade in the water looking for fresh water clams, and later in the afternoon when the wind picked up, we added light coats and the outfit easily went from day to night.

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Back to school with Gymboree – Let’s Color Together

Sponsored postYou know how all kids go through various stages and it’s easier to connect with them at certain times? About two years ago my sweet girl was going through a stage that left me frazzled by the end of the day. What I realized was that we needed something for just the two of us, and it was going to be even more crucial as she started school full-time. Gymboree back to schoolThere were three main criteria I needed to address: 1) The activity had to have no rules that I needed to enforce since I was the enforcer the rest of the day. 2) It had to be something that wasn’t extra work for me so I didn’t have to plan, execute, and then deal with clean up. And 3) It had to be something we both enjoyed that allowed us to reconnect so that we could weather this stage we were both going through.

One day it hit me that the answer to reconnecting with my daughter was through art. We both love just about every type of art and we both find it relaxing, so it was the perfect solution for getting us both to enjoy each other’s company and rediscover how much fun we have together. Since that day we’ve worked side by side to draw, paint with water colors, sew, and even build together on our doll house we’re renovating… and it has been amazing for all of us. Gymboree love

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Celebrate the power of play with the Gymboree Hop ‘N’ Roll collection

Sponsored postI know play time for children is vital as it helps them learn about the world around them in ways I can’t teach them in a book, so I always make play time a priority. From unstructured playtime to working together to create a talent show, a fairy garden, or a circus, we fill our days with as much play as we possibly can. PLaying in Gymboree clothingSo, I was a little taken aback the other day when I told my kids I wanted them to wear play clothes if they were going to be out digging in our backyard and they both looked at me like I was crazy. “Do you mean dress up clothes?” my daughter asked. Clearly, they aren’t of my generation where we had two categories of clothing: play clothes and fancy. Gymboree playdateTo my kids, everything is play clothes, even if they really shouldn’t be. We’re talking fancy holiday dresses year-round at the beach and white button-up shirts and dresses while gardening. After looking through their closets it became really clear that they could both use some new “play clothes” for summer that would allow them to swing on monkey bars, skip rope, and do all the other things kids should be doing all day without worrying about restrictive clothing getting in the way.

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Cherishing the small moments with Gymboree

Sponsored post basic disclosure
Me with kiddosIn some ways, parenting is exactly the way I thought it would be, but in some ways I can’t believe how different it is than I imagined. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the never-ending to-do lists and the days that fly by, and sometimes I look at my kids and wonder how on Earth I have a five year old and a three year old. Nothing could have prepared me for how quickly my babies would grow into full-fledged kids and how much I would reminisce about days gone by.

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