Happy 4th Birthday D!

Well this marks a year of blogging. I think I read that I've posted 39 posts? Always wishing there was more time to blog, but I do my best to get on here and let you folks know what has been going on here. I know it has been a year because my first post was D's 3rd birthday. Now, she's 4! What a big girl! We've been celebrating all week long. Her birthday was on Tuesday, we brought cupcakes to school on Wednesday and celebrated with friends on Saturday. I'm worn out!

D's birthday morning started out with her favorite breakfast- pancakes and orange juice. Then, it was time for a birthday surprise! We met a few friends at The Beach House indoor playcenter. I made D wear a blindfold and she only learned where we were once we walked in the door and our friends yelled, "Surprise!" She was thrilled! The Beach House is a great place. All the kids loved the race track.

C isn't quite big enough to get the hang of the cars yet, so he jogged a few laps!

On to one of the play areas. Kids love ball pits. And C, Finn, and Ollie are no exception!The under 3's area was great fun for C and Finn. Cars to drive, another ball pit, all kinds of things that are just the right size.

We had lunch at the cafe a then, on to the disco. Everyone was ready to boogie!

Tuesday night was cheeseburgers and mac n' cheese for dinner, blue Jello-o, and gifts from family. I think her doll house is nearly complete and she got some lovely rain boots and a matching umbrella, so she's all set for the Australian winter.

On Wednesday, C and I paid a visit to D's classroom bearing cupcakes. D chose "Go fly a kite" cupcakes from our cupcake cookbook. A bit labor intensive, but thank goodness D was able to sort the M&Ms by color for me, freeing me up to do all the baking, cracker cutting, icing, and decorating. They seemed to go over well. D brought home 2 happy birthday stickers and a lovely birthday certificate. Happy girl.

Things settled down a bit for a couple of days and then it was time to host the birthday party! We chose to have the party mid-day at our neighborhood park and playground. I reserved it for a couple of hours and we rolled the BBQ down the street to grill some sausages. It was an absolutely beautiful day for a party in the park.
So many thanks to our friends Maggie, Gareth, and Kelly for helping with set-up. The balloon chandeliers were stunning! I arrived with our 2 kids and the place was all set up! More friends arrived and the party got started.

Our first game was a dinosaur dig in the sand. Prizes for the boy and girl with the most dinos!

Then a caterpillar relay. So cute!
Finally, a water relay. Began as a bit of a challenge, but they got the hang of it!
Prizes for everyone!!T sizzled the sausages and everyone filled their bellies.
Then, CAKE TIME! D wanted a Barbie cake. I like doing ice cream cakes. So, we combined the two. D got her Barbie cake- vanilla cake with strawberry ice cream, and I made a chocolate cake with neopolitan ice cream. We ate every last piece! And, I was mindful of not setting Barbie's hair on fire, but her fingers were right in the way! Not much damage though.

It was a great day! Thanks to all our friends for their help and for coming to celebrate with us! And, to friends and family back home-thanks for the cards, gifts, and calls. Perhaps we'll be in the US next year to celebrate D's 5th!