I like this picture of Allie watching Todd's ball. She was fascinated by how far he would hit it.
Zachary learned about port-a-potties...
Allie got a little sleepy towards the end...
Overall, it was a really fun time for all of us. Both kids hit some balls, Zachary more than Allie of course. I know we'll have lots & lots of foursomes in the years to come!
Aunt Shell had such a nice set up for her birthday! Allie LOVED this birthday cake.
This is the face she makes when we sing to her. She loves it!
Allie hugged almost all her gifts. Such a sweetie!
The kids skyped with Mimi for Allie's birthday. They were still dressed in their playtime costumes for the day, so these pictures turned out cute. Allie is dressed as Buzz Lightyear. Love it!
Mimi made her a super cute homemade card using pictures of Allie. The one on the inside had Allie dressed in her Ballet costume. She loved it!
Later in the skype-with-Mimi time, Allie changed into her newest costume - Tinkerbell - which was a birthday gift from Mimi. These wings light up with blinking lights. So cute.
At lunchtime when Daddy came home to eat with us, we let Allie open her gifts from Zachary & us. Here he is showing her what is in the Tinkerbell backpack we got for her. He had a few minutes where it looked like he was having a tough time with Allie getting all the attention & gifts, but he did handle it well overall.
She's eating her birthday lunch:
We are so blessed with our sweet 3-year old. The day after her birthday, she asked me, "Mommy, am I still 2 years old?"
Some birthday Daddy-love:
The waitress brought a cute bowl of ice cream and wrote "Happy Birthday Allie" in chocolate. The kids loved it. I snapped this picture just as that glop of ice cream landed in her lap.
This is my girl, right here. She decided the chocolate was too good to waste, so she licked it off the plate!
Some birthday brother-love:
We took her to Build-a-Bear to pick out a new stuffed animal. She chose a monkey and immediately named it "Jo-jo"...which is very cute (but also a bit mysterious)!
She's supposed to step on the lever (?) to get the stuffing moving. Daddy was helping a little!
Checking the softness/firmness:
My kids don't enjoy loud noises. After stuffing the monkey, Allie was supposed to take it to the
Look at her beautiful curls:
Happy Ending!
Zachary entertained cousin Ari for quite awhile letting her chase him all over the hotel lobby. Both of them were laughing a lot! Zachary has always been so good with babies. He naturally knows how to get down on their level & play. I love that!
We enjoyed a fancy Tea Party baby shower for my sister Raschelle. It was really nice and dainty. Allie enjoyed being a part of the tea-drinking. However, the waitress felt that the tea was too hot for her and didn't pour any into Allie's tea cup. This is her response:
When we did get her a cooler cup of tea, she LOVED putting the sugar cubes in her tea cup. I'm pretty sure the tea-to-sugar ratio was definitely a bit skewed!
I love watching her be a little lady!
Towards the end of the party, she did get a little sleepy. Here's us with Grammy Claire (Allie's great grandma!). Such a nice day together!
This one made me laugh. He signed each card with his name. However, for this particular friend, he wanted to put "THE Zachary 4" (he told me the 4 is for his age).
And, of course, he made a Valentime (that's how they both say it) for Panda & Seal. He is so thoughtful!
Here's the final stash. Each "Valentime" has a lollipop attached.
Here's our cookie work:
I let the kids make their own icing and ice their own cookies. They were surprisingly very patient and took their time spreading the icing all over.
Then, of course, we ate a few cookies:
Aren't they pretty?!:
