Alyssa's 4!!!

Last Monday was Alyssa's 4th birthday. We started the night before by filling her room with birthday balloons after she had gone to bed. I heard her when she woke up saying, "Mommy??? There's balloons in my room!" It was too cute. :) We started her birthday off with breakfast at Joe's Farm Grill with our friends Ashley, Marcus & Evie. It was very yummy and we all had a great time hanging out together. That night we had our family over for dinner and cake...which was supposed to be a special Barbie cake that I made for her, but ended up being a 'special' Barbie cake from the grocery store bakery. ;) Then the next day we hosted play group at a gym (the same one we had Emi's b-day party at). We were going to bring the grocery store Barbie cake for everyone, but since that ended up being eaten the night before we picked up donuts on the way...kind of like cake, right?!?! ;) For her friend party we went to Mesquite Groves Aquatic Center. Nate and I had taken the girls there on Emi's birthday and Alyssa has not stopped asking to have her birthday party there since then. I didn't think we were going to be able to do a party for her this year, but it ended up working out just perfectly and I'm so glad it did because she had a great time!

She's been wanting to climb trees for a while now and we finally found one she could climb...she did great!

The Barbie cake. :(

The replacement cake. :)

Her 4yr appt. We brought Emi's baby and the dr.'s kit to play with while we were waiting for her shots.

Waiting to go into the pool.

Weekend with friends

This past weekend we went up north with our 'high school friends' (people we've been friends with since high school...some of them have been friends since preschool!).  We've gone up the past couple years and it's always such a great time.  Just relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather, eating yummy food, and playing a bunch of games!  Thanks John & Stacy for allowing us to join you at the Lodge, you put together a wonderful weekend.

Alyssa loves picking flowers and giving them to everyone. :)

Gotta have the baby, baby stroller, and all the baby supplies wherever we go. ;)

Aaron and Alyssa checking out a rainbow after a storm.

Like I said in a previous post, Alyssa has been waiting to play in the rain for months now...so when I saw that it was going to be raining off & on while we were at the lodge I packed the rain gear right away!  I'm so glad they got to use it!!!  :)

The other side of the rainbow.

I forgot why we put the girls to bed in our bed before moving them to the pack n play & sleeping bag, but we did...and they did great!  They were so cute (and I was so impressed that they fell asleep next to each other, and with out a fuss) that I had to take some pics. :)

All the kids (11 total!) had so much fun playing together.

Alyssa was so excited that she was allowed to play the piano.

Sorry, more sleeping pics. ;)

Alyssa wasn't feeling well on the way home so we pulled over for a couple minutes...she ended up being fine after a little fresh air.  PHEW!

Our Prescott getaway

This past weekend we went up to Prescott for the weekend with Nate's parents.  We've gone up to one of their friend's vacation home the past couple years and we were excited to be able to go up again this year.  We go to go to the big craft fair they have every Labor day, enjoy a beautiful thunderstorm, play lots of games, hang out at a local lake/park, and eat yummy food!  It was a very fun, restful trip.

I don't know why, but Emi LOVES to lay on the ground!  YUCK!!!

The girls (and daddy) having fun dancing to a local musician's music.

They kept up their 'princess' spinning until they both fell down!

Movie time

Beautiful view of the sunset from the balcony.

My mother-in-law got the girls these adorable princess crowns at the craft fair!

The girls loved being able to play in the grass.

More dancing

A praying mantis that the was around the house all w/e.  With 2 little girls, there was a lot of screaming going on...Nate tried very hard to make them not afraid of it, it worked on Emi until all of Alyssa's screaming finally turned Emi away screaming too.