Happy 4th Birthday Ashley!

Ashley's 4th Birthday was on Friday, June 22nd. It was a very busy day at the end of a very busy week. She started the day with a wrapping paper roll sword fight. 

 Next she finished off a session of swim lessons. Here she is ready to push off and swim to Spencer.

 Andrew working on his frog stroke (breaststroke I think)

The last day was fun because the class sang her happy birthday and they got to play in the waterfall. 

  Then she was off to her last day of a week long Fairy Ballet Camp. Each day she came home with a fairy craft. The last day was most exciting because the class sang her happy birthday and she came home with wings. 

Then, before we even got home from Ballet, guests were arriving for her Puppy Party! 

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Here is the invitation. When you lift the ears up all the info is there. They are silly and cute, and most importantly Dogs, so Ashley loved them. Each invite had a personalized dog tag with the child's name on it, and then I made fun envelopes too. 

I was so rushed when the party was starting that I just had time to snap a few quick pictures. We had a doggie cake, paw print cupcakes, mini corn dogs, cocoa cereal (it looks just like dog food), dog bone graham crackers, otter pups and drinks of course.

The house was decorated with Ashley's many, many dogs, puppy pictures and regular birthday fare as well. 

 It's a BDay tradition to cover a few big walls with lots of favorite pictures of the BDay kiddo. It is a fun way to see how they've grown and it makes them feel special to be showcased.

Each guest got a doggie bag with a new little doggie to take home too. They took the bags from station to station to collect little prize and keep their crafts.

 I split the kids into 3 groups to visit the stations. Just before the party I decided to move 2 of the stations into our garage and all the food inside, because it was such a windy day, and because it smelled awful outside with the big fires burning at the southwest end of the valley. The garage actually worked really well for painting crafts at one station and decorating dog bone cookies at another. I was amazed that all the kids wanted to save their cookies to take home! 

 Outside we had a dig for dog bone game and a pin the tail game. Far in the background you can see our cousin's gentle giant dog named Hawkeye who came to the party too. Ashley adores Hawkeye!

 Every party needs a pinata. 

 Then quickly on to singing to the BDay girl, eating cake, opening presents and the chaos of pick-up time. I wish I'd taken more pictures of the party activities and especially of her opening presents but, it got busy. 

Later on Ashley opened her presents from our family. 

 Andrew sure loved helping! 

Hailey slept through the entire party like an angel baby and was finally awake for family presents.

Ashley's favorite presents were her basket to put on her bike, because it can carry doggie friends along, and her ladybug helmet, because now that she has a helmet she can go with Andrew and Daddy on bike rides out of our circle. 

 Once the sun went down we started the backyard big screen movie. Ashley chose to show Lion King. We had a great turnout and all the kids, cousins, and neighborhood kids love it. Thanks to Nana we served snow cones this time, along with the regular popcorn and drinks. 

Phew! What a day! After this big day of non-stop fun the kids were exhausted and oh so ready for bed! 

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 There is so much to say about a beautiful girl like Ashley. She is spunky, funny and wild and also sweet, thoughtful and encouraging. She loves to be a part of the adventure, whatever that might be. Ashley is very social, loud and a chatter bug. Ashley works hard to make us proud. She is determined. She is tough yet very tender. Ashley loves to be held, to cuddle and has to make sure she gives and gets a hug and kiss before Dave or I ever leave. She is smart. She is way too brave. She loves books. She loves all animals endlessly. She adores all of her cousins. She loves dinosaurs. She is an artist. She is a good friend and plays so well with others and she can also keep herself entertained and play alone with great imagination. Her smile is gorgeous and her hard belly laugh is contagious. She is a kind and caring big and little sister. She is wonderful and I love her with all my heart. I can hardly believe she is already 4 years old and as always, I'm wondering how to slow it all down. 

Swimming

I love summer and I love watching my kids love summer too. Andrew and Ashley finished up 3 weeks of swim lessons. I like backyard pools with laid back teachers. The first 2 weeks were with Alexa, just around the corner. 

Alexa is super sweet and fun. They look forward to the end of the session because they get to go the diving board and slide on the last day.

Hailey is mostly bored and difficult during lessons but, sometimes she takes a break to cheer on the swimmers. She also loves to throw any left out pool toys back in the pool. One day she really clocked Ashley in the head; beware.

Hailey really loves the swings hanging from the big tree in the front yard. 

The big kids like that part too. 

The next week was with Spencer, which is about a 2 minute drive up the street. Ashley loves and trusts Spencer very much and began swimming even more bravely. Spencer was in shock when he learned that Ashley was only 3, turning 4. He said she could do some things that some of his 7 year-olds can't. She can swim alone a very short distance, to the arms of someone she trusts. I am very proud of her! Ashley's favorite friends are boys, she really loves her daddy, and though she does great with her female teachers, she seems happiest when she has a male teacher in swimming, primary, etc. It's very interesting if nothing else. 

Andrew loves Spencer because his lessons are so laid back and Andrew gets to swim all over the pool when it's someone else's turn. I love that too. Spencer plays a lot of games and without knowing it, Andrew was really challenged to keep up with the 2 8-year olds we shared a class with. Andrew is swimming very well and it's so fun to watch. Most of my swim pictures of him look just like this one. 

Loving the Diving Board

If only we had our own pool! 

Early June Happenings

FATHER'S AND CHILDREN CAMPOUT

Andrew and Ashley looked forward to the Ward Father's and Children's camp out for weeks! They went to Crystal Hot Springs and had a great time. 

 The kids loved swimming in the warm/hot water and especially loved the water slides. Dave's dad was nice enough to go too so that everyone could really enjoy the water and slides. A & A were so happy that they both got to do all the slides, and without Papa there that wouldn't have worked out. 

While they were away, Hailey and I had a quiet night home alone. It made me realize that most of the time she doesn't get nearly as much individual attention as her big brother and sister. We both had a great time together! She also got worn out much earlier from all her one on one time. I think that when she gets fussy and whiny it's mostly just because she needs more time from me. 

SEVEN PEAKS 

 Do you remember Raging Waters from when we were young? Going there is like stepping back in time! Almost everything is exactly the same, except the name. We got a steal of a deal on season passes to Seven Peaks, and hopefully we'll use them a lot.  

My kids are not content to play in the kids area for very long. They crave the thrills of the big slides! But, that means they have to be with an adult. It's a whole lot easier if we have other adults with us to help, since I'm busy holding Hailey plus prego and because Andrew and Ashley go nutty waiting for one another to have a turn going down a big slide with Dave. Luckily Nana and Papa were willing to come with us for our first visit. 

THE ZOO

We met Dave at the zoo one night after work and that is the way to do it! It wasn't at all hot or crowded even though it was the first week of the new exhibits! The kids loved seeing the new Eagles, Otters, Seal Lions and Bears but we were sad that the Polar Bear was hiding. 

 The carousel is always the favorite. The kids have gotten to the point where they don't care who they sit by, or if they sit by anyone at all, so long as they get their animal of choice for the day. 

 Hailey is our little miss accessory! She brought the sunglasses from home and wore them the entire time we were there. She has never been a binky baby but she sure loves that ring pop! 

 And of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without the playground. 

Summer time new-do and swimming

So what do you do when your ballet performance is over? Chop that beautiful, long hair off and start swim lessons, of course! Ashley's long hair is thick, shiny and so gorgeous but, it was getting so, so long and hard to brush through. She isn't a girl that cares about stuff like that but, she was excited to have fewer snarls so, once we didn't need long hair for her bun, we headed for short haircuts. I'm still a little sad except that it does look darling, and it does grow fast. Andrew's is practically a buzz but, not quite. 

Andrew and Ashley started swim lessons this past week. Is there anything better than summer? Nope! Andrew was swimming alone just great last summer and now after a week of lessons is just about back to where he was. Ashley is having lots of fun learning and is doing great. 

 I love this picture below of Ashley. This is one of her 'faces' and it cracks me up.