Monday, August 29, 2011

5th Birthday, Summer Stuff, and the State Fair

On August 22, Elsa turned 5! Unbelievable.
The birthday girl and her ice cream cone cupcakes. Ice Cream Cones were the theme of the party.


All the kids at Elsa's party (minus Lila): Ashley, Gracie, Elsa, Violet, Henry, Maddy.


Birthday pancake!


Elsa wanted a pinata, so I decided to make one. Who would pay $25 for a pinata? The people who have had to make one before! :) No, it was a fun project and turned out cute, but it's very time consuming.


The b-day girl takes a swing at the pinata.


Elsa's friend Ashley got her 2 goldfish for her birthday - her first pets! The girls named them Ice Cream and Sundae. Unfortunately they didn't make it past a couple days, and neither did the replacement fish after that. We went back and picked out a Betta, which are supposed to be a heartier variety. So far it's been 1 week and he's doing well. Of course they chose a pink one, but it has cool blue and purple accents on it. They call him Strawberry Rainbow Ice Cream Sundae. Yeah... I just call him Rainbow. :)


Lila is growing up fast, too. I showed her how to write her name and she did this all on her own: LLAI


The girls on our annual summer outing to Fawn Doe Rosa in St. Croix Falls.



The kids in front of the new house...


A view from the back of the house.


We couldn't wait for camping this September, so we had a backyard bonfire with S'mores to tide the kids over.


Tim spends a lot of time working at the new house, so sometimes we bring picnics over and join him for awhile.


I love this: an action shot of the girls being goofy and cracking each other up, as they so often do.


Yesterday we went to the fair. It gets more fun every year as the kids get older.

The fam.


We stopped by the Butterfly House this year and it was a big hit. Tim tried to give Lila a butterfly, but its big spider-like legs freaked her out too much. Me too!


Elsa's butterfly.


Me and the kids with butterflies on our shirts!


Auntie Jenny and Uncle Shane live right next to the fair, so every year we meet them there. This year was Avery's first year! Elsa, Shane, Avery, Jenny, and Lila.


Auntie Jenny and Lila.


Here are a couple end-of-summer portraits. It went by too fast!
Lila, 3 yrs.


Elsa, 5 yrs.