Somebody turned Four!

This was a big year for our family, taking a leap we can never go back on...the Birthday Party. Initially I wanted to start a tradition of having as many friends as years. So, four this year. But, really? It just didn't seem to work that way for us. We invited 11, and had 9 plus 9 moms, a handful of Dads, a sibling, and a cousin. Thank god for Susie, or Quinn could have run away and i wouldn't have even noticed. We had a loosely themed Strawberry Shortcake party, per Ella's request, complete with a Lemon Merangue cake for grown ups to snack on, raspberry lemonade, a strawberry cake, fruit skewers, a game of Rotten Orange (with orange scented play dough as a prize), a fruit hunt in the berry patch, face painting and balloon hats. Surprisingly our small house fit everybody in. Ella had a ball, and the rest of us survived. Now we get a year to recover!


Ella and a few of her buddies blowing out the candles.


She wasted no time in tearing into her presents once the last guests left. Can you say overstimulated? She even fell asleep in the car on our way to dinner that afternoon. Hasn't happened since a beach trip last summer.


On her real birthday we had to buy a Fred Meyer cake for singing and candle blowing. Only one tiny piece remained of the giant cake I made for her party. Greg was on call that day and sadly missed seeing his birthday girl turn four. :(. We three girls, plus Grandma and Papa had a nice morning at the Japanese Garden and lunch at Elephant's Deli, before coming home to rest (and me to finish sewing up her birthday present, typical). I'm pretty sure she had a great day and felt special.



Waking up to find her almost complete bean bag chair.



Sister love