Elsa's 4th Birthday!

Elsa decided on a Pinkalicious-themed party, with cupcakes just like in the book. A long time ago she had wanted a spider cake, so one of Grandma's friends decided to make one of those, too.


Look at that thing - it was huge! Very yummy, too.


Lila!


Wait, let's look at more cake. Mmmm...


The kids chased each other around with squirt guns, played in the pool, and later on filled the pool with mud and dirt.


Elsa with her traditional birthday pancake.


Elsa and Grandpa Barney try out her new T-ball set. She's pretty good!


Opening presents.


Lila and those dimps!


The girls love their new princess dress up clothes...


and lipstick! I wonder who they get that from?


Lila pointing to the coffee she spilled all over the kitchen floor. The plus side is, whenever we use our vacuum it smells like coffee.


Last week the girls played together outside and enjoyed a day of cooler weather.


Later on, the scene was much more serious. They ran to the steps and started fake crying. They're so dramatic!


One day it rained all morning, so I got out these things called Wiki Sticks, which are basically sticky wax covered rope. Elsa asked, "What do we do with these?" Reading off the package, I said, "You can use it to spell your name..." So a couple minutes later I found this:


We also made some glasses. This has to be one of my favorite photos ever.

Mud, Bees, and other stuff

A couple weeks ago we went to Fawn Doe Rosa. It was our 3rd time, and definitely the best. All of the animals were there to see, and the crazy zombie deer that follow you around were unusually somber. The kids really liked it.




My birthday dinner at my parents house. They couldn't keep their eyes off the cake! It was a banana cake and it was sooo good.


Elsa was a little freaked out by all the fire. You know you're getting old when there's so many candles that it scares the kids.


Last weekend I was in our old neighborhood so I had to drive by our old house. There it is. They painted the shutters blue! I think red was a bit more complementary to the gray/green, but of course I'm biased.


Is it just me, or does this photo look like a CD cover? Very mid-80's. Duran Duran?


Just a typical day. Lila running naked through the house yelling, "I wanna be bare butted!"


Yesterday we went to my parents house and Lila sat on a deck chair that had hornet's nest underneath it. I was in the pool, so all I could do was watch and run as fast as I could through the water (which wasn't fast at all) to get to her as she was screaming and being attacked. The poor little baby got stung FOUR times. She kept sobbing over and over,"Those big mosquitoes! They try to eat me!" It was so sad! We made a paste of baking soda and water to put on the stings and it really helped. She felt better in about 1/2 hour. I don't have photos and I'm glad. I think I was more traumatized than her.

Oh, and an update on the Big Girl stuff. Getting rid of the sippy cups totally worked! The first couple days were slightly rough, but for the most part she seemed to embrace the Big Girl status. Nighttime sleeping was immediately improved. Big score for Mama!

Today we did some outside work and the kids played in the mud. They dug up the yard, made it look like crap, got completely filthy, etc. It's the kind of thing that makes you want to shout,"Noooo!", but a second later you remember your own childhood adventures and just think, whatever. Keep digging, kids! That's what grass seed is for. Plus the look on their faces were priceless.