The Big Party

Every year we have all the fam-dam-ily over for birthday parties.  There's kids running around, singing, catching up, yummy food and smiles all around.  We did a hot dog bar this year and it was so good - I lost count of how many different ones I tried - lets just say I was beyond uncomfortably full and that was before I stuffed in some cupcakes :).

Nolee made a special request to hold her cousin Grayden - she absolutely loves babies

Here's the birthday girl blowing out her cupcake...she made sure she had the one with the most sprinkles.

Then she volunteered to hand out cupcakes to everyone else first before she even took a bite of hers.

Of course when that was all said and done she was ALL about her cupcake.

And Logan followed suit.

Nolee is our neat eater and took teeny tiny bites making sure she didn't get any on herself.

Here's Mr. Blake - he is always so bright eyed and happy.

Lilly was determined to make birthday hats for all the guests.  All.By.Herself  She did a pretty good job with just a few pipe cleaners and her imagination.

After presents it was time to pelt the birthday girl with water balloons!

And if you aren't old enough for water balloon fights...we put diapers on your head.

Don't worry Grayden I'll totally save this picture for your graduation ;).

Then it was POOL time!

Happy Happy Happy Birthday Lilly Mae!!

The Gift of Experience

Well we officially have a 5 year old in our house.  She is generous, giving, funny, caring & silly and we couldn't be prouder.  This year we decided to forgo getting Lilly something material for her big day, but instead decided to give her the gift of experience.  The gift of spending the whole day as a family doing something we've never done before and that is completly about her and fun.

We started out her birthday bright and early and hopped in the car to take her to the Impressions 5 science museum in Lansing.  Before we got there we had to stop to get a special birthday lunch.  We ate at this really neat Irish pub.  The decorations were so cool and very medieval and the food was nothing short of awesomness. 

Nolee was showing off her "look ma no hands skills with the straw".

And Lilly had a perma grin on her face all day long....which of course meant I did too :).

After our bellies were full we made a quick stop at the book store next door and each girl got to pick out 1 book.  Actually I told Lilly she could get two, but she decided that she wanted Nolee to have one too, so she only picked out one...awww :).

Then it was off to Impressions 5 and all the hands on science experiences we could handle.

The construction zone was a hit and the girls had a great time building their own little city

I have a ton more pics from the museum, but apparently they are on the other camera - doh!

After the museum (which didn't have air conditioning...and it was over 90 that day) we decided it would be a good idea to cool off.  So we headed to the Lansing Aquatic Center's spray park/pool to cool down for a bit.

Nolee was literally so excited and happy every few minutes she would stop what she was doing to squeal with joy and jump up and down.

Lilly's absolute favorite thing was the frog slide.  It was the perfect size for her and she must have gone down it at least 50 times while we were there.  She even got Nolee to do it :).

After the water park we headed back to town...and the girls took a snooze in the back.

Nolee lasted all of about 5 minutes before she fell asleep behind her book.

Lilly lasted a bit longer, but finally gave in.

Once back in town we finished off the day with a trip to Coldstone Creamery for a fantastic ice cream supper.

These pictures crack me up.  I am holding Nolee's ice cream and you can totally tell where all her attention is.

After ice cream we headed home and ended the night with a movie and some popcorn for desert.  Scott and I completely agreed it was one of our best ever family days to date.  The grin that was on Lilly's face the entire time pretty much assured us she agreed :).