All 'Tangled' Up

Abby had been anticipating her birthday party for weeks, even months. I would be hear the frequent phrase, "Is my party today mommy?" She couldn't wait. A current obsession of hers is Rapunzel, from Tangled, so we made our best attempt at a Tangled Birthday Party. The day before her party, we were running around making cupcakes and errands. Abby kept asking with wide eyes and open mouth, "Is this for my party?! Wow! It's my birthday mommy, I'm 3." This phrase was repeated so many times, we lost track and it sounded like a broken record stuck on the same phrase. It made the time and effort worth it to see how excited this little 3 yr. old was to have a party. She couldn't wait for her big day.

The long awaited day arrived, and thanks to the awesome help from my sister, Brett, neighbors and friends, it was a success. I think the kids had a great time. It was fun to watch the chaos.

The part Abby loved the most was having her friends there to celebrate with her. She loves friends.

Pin the nose on Flynn Ryder.

Pascal Blowers

Coloring

The cake.

My sister and Brett did an AWESOME job with the cake! I must admit I was a little nervous when I left Brett to do it and saw it literally looked like a rocket. Since he is color blind, a good portion of the cake was grey and looked like it was ready to 'lift off.' What can I say, I married a very 'engineer-minded' husband. It had great potential and he really did a good job, it just needed a little 'make-up'. He had Laura do some decorating and a princess tower emerged from the rocket-ship. Brett did the structure and Laura made it look pretty. Abby loved it.

A party is not complete without FOOD.

It was a party for sure.

(We took this picture as fast as possible because they were all trying to escape. )

Some faces from the Party...

Tasty Snow White

The picture basically sums it up. Snow White had an encounter with Dobbs the Dog. We had my brother and sister in-law here for the 4th and they brought their cute dog, Dobbs. Abby had been reminded many times not to leave her toys out, but obviously she didn't translate the message. Poor Snow White.

America the Beautiful

'Sweet Land of Liberty'

We had a wonderful 4th of July celebrating America's birthday. It was fun to have family in town, which made it even better. We are blessed to live in this free country and are grateful to all those who have sacrificed their lives to defend our freedom.

Abby riding in the parade.

DC Fireworks

The Flaming Sword

How can you not just kiss this face?

Summer of Blueberries

Ah, Summer!

Sunkissed freckles, lemonade, and fresh picked blueberries. We had heard a lot about the awesome blueberries you can get in Virginia, but we had never ventured out to pick them until this year. After our experience, we want to make this a tradition. It was hot, but very worth the sweat. There is nothing like a fresh juicy blueberry right off the bush. What made the summer day complete was a cute little boy with his shirt off and a summer tan, selling lemonade on the side of the road. He was too cute to pass up so we bought a glass and he poured us each some lemonade in his reused glasses from home. Who knows how many people had used the cup.

Doctor

The girls are starting to get to the point where they play together and I love it. It may only last for a few minutes or even seconds at a time, but it does happen and it's really cute to watch. Nothing is sweeter than to see Abby come up to Kate and give her a big hug and kiss saying, "Love you Kate." Melts my heart.

A current favorite activity is to play 'peek-a-boo' together. They giggle pretty hard as Abby throws the blanket back and forth. I even caught them playing 'doctor' the other day. Apparently Kate was the patient and Abby was the doctor. As long as she had something in her mouth, she was very willing to play the part.

Sharing, on the other hand, is a whole other story...that area involves a lot of drama.