Birthday Extravaganza

You thought that the post that chronicled Elaina's actual birthday was it but oh no, think again my friend.  After her actual birthday, the week went on and the celebration continued.  Seriously, this kid is rotten but we think she' pretty special so what the hay... why not?!?!  Friday after her birthday (July 8th) the celebration continued at my mom's with dinner, cake pops, and swimming afterwards.... (I am just going to warn you - this post is long, sorry).

On the way there, we stopped to show someone Erik's car that he is selling (sold).  While were were outside the car talking, Elaina had gotten my camera and was doing this....

I did not know she had done this so as you can imagine as I was scrolling through my camera later this same night looking at pictures and saw this, I cracked up....

My sister, Kate, made these darling cake pops...  They are incredibly adorable and probably one of the greatest things I have ever tasted.

And, of course, there were presents.....  Showing off some of her princess stuff she got from Granny

The whole gang.....

The next day was Elaina's princess party - with her friends.  I had 10 girls at my house all dressed up like princesses.  At the party, we:
-decorated tiaras
-did makeup, hair, and nails
-accessorized with gloves, boas, shoes, hair clips
-played games
-decorated cookies and wooden letters
-ate cake / drank tea (apple juice)
-were merry
It was a blast....

Here is the princess cake our friends Carl and Sabrina made for Elaina... so incredibly beautiful.

The best part - Erik was the "butler" in blue jeans....  He is such a good sport.  Made a great addition to the party.

My friend Tonja and her daughter Christine were a HUGE help - they did all the girls makeup/hair/nails/etc. The girls loved it.

Tonja in action

Princess Caitlin

Princess Addie

Princess Elaina

Princess Addie and Princess Elaina

Princess Riley

Princess Laurel

Princess Liana - they all decorated wooden letters of their first initial and got to take them home to put on their wall.

All the Princesses

And finally, Sunday my dad came up for a visit and brought presents, a cookie cake, and we celebrated with him.  Seriously, the kid is rotten.  But, again, fun times.

I mentioned presents... yes, she was excited about more present (of course)

Singing happy birthday (again).  Can you tell she loved every minute of her attention all weekend long??

My dad bought her a slip and slide - oh yeah... fun times ahead.  We tested it out that day.

Check out this cool shot Erik caught of her going down the slip and slide

And one more...

The week/weekend was fun.  And, now it's over.  Sad for Elaina but, admittedly, kind of happy for mom and dad.  She is a very special little girl though.  We are so very blessed to have her.

And since this blog is long, why not one more shot for smiles.  This is her in her new Hello Kitty outfit that Tonja and Christine got her...  She wore it to school the Monday after she got it.  She loves it (in case you couldn't tell)

Thanks for hanging in there for that whole post.....

Happy 4th Birthday Elaina!!

On Wednesday, Elaina turned 4.  You could have fooled her.  She has told everyone she was 4 for at least a week now.  So, the day was just another day for her.  Erik and I took the day off to spend with her.  We wanted her to decide what we were going to be doing.  Well, turns out, not very much.  She did say she wanted to eat breakfast at Chick-fil-A (same as last year).  Then we went to Toys R Us to pick her out a gift.  Then she said she wanted to come home.  I think the poor girl was tired from the weekend so we enjoyed the day at home.  We didn't mind obliging her request.

In the afternoon, we went to her school to take cupcakes for her class friends.  That was fun... 

And now...as usual... pics from the day:

Of course, after she ate, she wanted to play on the play thing at Chick-fil-A

At home, we opened up her new Lite Brite the her aunt Melinda got for her and played with it.  She loved it and secretly so did I.  I used to love mine as a kid so it brought back a lot of memories.  It's cool to do the kind of stuff that you did when you were little with your children. Good times.

At her school - here are the girls eating cupcakes

And the boys....

Anna Grace, Katherine, and Elaina.... they are big buddies.

It was a fantastic day.  We can't believe it's been 4 years.  They have flown by so quickly and I know the rest is sure to come even quicker.  We are so blessed with this little wee one.  We love you, Elaina!

4th of July

This fourth of July was great.  Full of family, friends, food, and fun... and fourth!!! (lame, I know).  Anyway, to recap, the weekend started out with a play date with Elaina's friends Olivia and Isaac.  We love hanging out with them so much.  Tami (the mom) is pregnant again with a boy and we were discussing baby names.  I think she needs to name it an "A" name so we could have combined kids that start with A,E,I,O.  The next baby can be a "U" name.  Not sure that's gonna happen.  Anyway, I think it's a great idea.  Not sure Tami is on board but we'll see.



Olivia, Elaina, and Isaac




Saturday we went over to Erik's parents house in the early afternoon to celebrate.  They normally conduct a very crazy firework war but this year they opted out of it (I am VERY thankful for that).  Instead, we filled the day with games, laughs, and good food.  For the kids- a slip and slide which literally kept them occupied for hours.  Above is Elaina prepping for her first slide.




Cornhole... always a good time.




Here is Elaina on the slip and slide.  This was her first time on one - she liked it and did relatively well.  She slid on her knees most of the time but she did not seem to mind.  Ouch, is all I can say.




A post slide pose....




For dinner - low country boil!!! Oh yeah!!!  Delish!!




Kelsey, Liana, and Elaina eating their grub....




Kevin and Erik making their plates




We also had a quick b-day celebration for Elaina who will be 4 on the 6th.  Here she is blowing out her candles.  Because she had her party early, she is convinced she is already 4.  She can't grasp that her actual birthday is not here yet.  Oh well, we'll go with it.




Then, the adult (boys) had a try at the slip and slide.  Needless to say, this brought on a few good laughs.  Here is Erik on one of his slides.




Brandon




And the other Brandon - the family currently has 2 Brandon's.  One niece is married to a Brandon, her sister is dating another.  Makes it nice and confusing.  We also have Elaina and Liana (which can get confusing) and Erin (me) and my nephew, Aaron.  Sheesh! 

 Next on to the 3rd of July...

First the three of us went to our neighborhood pool.  We had fun.  We always take Elaina in the wagon.  She was pretty tired so on the way back, she rode like this......I thought she would fall asleep.  She did not.

After a great nap, we celebrated at our church's 4th event.  It was fun - lots to do for the kids, free food, free entertainment, and free blistering hot sun.  No, it wasn't that terrible but it was hot.  We had a good time hanging with our small group friends.  The only downside was that it was SO crowded.  Elaina only got to do a few blow up things.  She wanted cotton candy SO bad so we waited in line for 35 minutes for cotton candy.  She waited so patiently with me.  I was amazed - just stood quietly waiting.  I kept asking her if she wanted something else as a way to get out of waiting but she wanted some that bad.  The things you do for you kid....



Dancing to the music



Playing with her friend Olivia (a different one)

 Then, finally on to the 4th. We celebrated with our usual Farragut 4th of July parade.  My niece, Alexandra, marched in it again this year.  So, we like to go see her.  Elaina was pretty tired from the weekend's activities so she was very chill during it.  She sat in the chair most of the time.  So, we headed back to my mom's a bit early to let her rest.  Afterwards, mom and Gale made BBQ for the neighborhood and we helped with that - and got some pretty delicious food too.

Waiting on the parade... in her shades



With her granny...





Alexandra



The rest of the day was relaxing at home... Whew!  Good weekend but busy.  We were going to go swimming but a storm rolled in.  Secretly, I was glad.  It gave a good excuse to stay in and relax.  We hope your 4th was a good one too!