Amelia's 3rd birthday

April 1st was Amelia's 3rd birthday. We were lucky enough to have out of town visitors, Oma and Opa, to celebrate her big day, which always makes the festivities more memorable. She enjoyed presents, cake, balloons, crowns, and lots of special birthday fun. My favorite memory from the weekend includes Amelia waking up on her birthday, walking into Audrey's room, where I am feeding Audrey, holding her "Hello Kitty" happy birthday balloons, in her p.j.s with crazy bed head, and looking at me with a very serious, straight face and saying "I'm 3.".....priceless.

James's Birthday Party

Avery and Amelia attended James's birthday party a couple of weeks ago. James is a boy we have regular play dates with, and attending his Fiesta Fun Party was a treat for the month of February.

"So BIG"

Avery and Amelia were treated to a fun pony ride. Consequently, Amelia wants a horse for her birthday, a purple horse.

Here Amelia is taking a swing at the monster truck pinata.

Notice all the blue frosting on the lips?

Nothing is more fun than hanging out with our friends and farm animals.

Shane's 35th Birthday

This past Sunday was Shane's 35th birthday. He enjoyed a birthday cake with family and lunch at El Mirasol. Shane and the kiddos.
Mimi and Shane.
Mimi and the kiddos.

Aunt Vicky with the kiddos.

The family.

The Cake

We decided to make a cupcake birthday cake for Avery instead of a fondant birthday cake, based on taste. Fondant cakes look pretty but don't taste great. Kids love cupcakes so making this cake for Avery and his friends was an easy choice.

Amelia and Aunt Vicky.

Amelia eating LOTS of frosting.

Big Boy Bike!

Avery wanted a "big boy bike" since riding a friends two wheel bike with training wheels this past May. We told Avery if he could master the "Strider", a pedal-less balance bike, we would buy him a "big boy bike". He worked hard from May until September proving he was ready for a two wheel bike. We were impressed with his perseverance and how well he was able to balance on his Strider. Our initially plan was to buy him a 2 wheel bike for Christmas, but decided due to his hard work he deserved a "big boy bike" for his birthday. All his hard work paid off, because after several attempts at riding his new bike he had the "balance thing" down flat. Dad helped him practice all weekend on starting, stopping, and following some safety rules. Shane definitely got a good workout and has been excited to take Avery for neighborhood rides/jogs.

Shane is one proud dad!
Amelia has happily inherited Avery's tricycle.

Shane getting a work out and Avery riding faster and faster.

The faster Shane ran the faster Avery would pedal.

Avery's Bday

This past Friday was Avery's 4th birthday, September 25th. We celebrated at home on Friday and had a birthday party with friends on Saturday. Mimi and Aunt Vicky (Mimi's twin sister) came down for a visit to help us celebrate. Avery had a great time!
Avery and his friend William from school.
Amelia enjoying a birthday cupcake.

Party friends.

Patiently waiting for a cupcake.

When do we get the party boxes?

Avery's school friend, James.

Opening birthday presents on Friday evening.

Bogie Froggie.

Avery's birthday was a little difficult for Amelia. Luckily she received a few presents of her own from family members.

A big boy bike! Avery was sooo excited to take the bike for a spin.

A new sleeping bag. Time for a camp out.

I love looking at myself in the camera after someone takes a picture of me!

My birthday party cake.

Birthday Bash

This past Saturday, Avery and Amelia were invited to a friends house for a birthday party. We were excited because the invitation gave us instructions to bring our swimsuits; water was involved. Avery was delighted to find out a "blow-up water park", as he calls it, was the main attraction. The boys had a blast and the girls cowered in the corner, steering clear of those with large amounts of testosterone pumping through their veins.

Avery spent most of his time doing everything but slide down the slide. Here he is rolling down on his side.

This time he decided to roll down head first.


Hanging out at the bottom of the slide.

Amelia did a good job of hanging with the boys until she got hurt and then she was "all done".

Birthday

This past Wednesday was my birthday. However, Shane left on Tuesday for a conference at UC Davis, in Sacramento. Therefore, the kids and Shane planned a quick celebration this past Monday. We all enjoyed a tasty red velvet cake along with some ice cream. However, I've taken a rain check on a belated birthday date-night, which I will be cashing upon Shane's return;)

Singing Happy Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Amelia.

Cats, Barbies, and New Clothes

Amelia is an April Fools' baby and this year her birthday fell on a Wednesday. We celebrated with neighbors and friends the previous Saturday, but not celebrating on the actual birth date would have been a serious infraction in the "Parents Guide to Raising a Well Adjusted Child"; if such a guide existed. Thus, a family birthday party on April 1st was mandatory. Lucky for us the "icing on the cake" came with a special visit from Oma and Opa, literally. Every year I look forward to making my children a special fondant cake, but when the actual task arrives the completion of the cake can be a daunting assignment. I've been luck enough in the past to have help on all my cakes. Otherwise, the actual completion of these cakes might have been compromised by my mental sanity. These cakes tend to be time consuming and tedious, even though the author, Debbie Brown titles her book, "50 Easy Party Cakes". This year the cake selection involved a cat sitting on a ball of yarn. As good fortune would have it, Opa is excellent at rolling long pieces of pink fondant frosting into yarn, Shane is good at creating pieces of a cat, and Oma is good at the crowning finishing touches. It took team work but for another birthday "the cake" was successfully completed.