Kaylin is 4!

Kaylin turned 4 nearly a month ago. She seems so much older now. It's fun, yet sad. On her birthday I surprised her by taking her to her first movie in a theater, Tangled. We met her friend there.

Tickets!

Kaylin didn't know what the ticket was for and walked right past the ticket taker. Luckily I was able to get her to come back and didn't have to chase her down. When we got in the theater, she couldn't believe the size of the movie screen. She was in complete awe.

She loved the movie. When it was over, she asked if we could watch it again.

We got her a couple of Tangled presents for her birthday because I knew she'd be in love with Rapunzel after seeing the movie. And she was.

Rapunzel!

For dinner we went to Red Robin. I didn't make a cake and I knew she'd be sad, but I figured the ice cream sundae at Red Robin would make up for it. She ate about one bite of her dinner. Then they brought the ice cream and sang. Kaylin doesn't like to be put on the spot. Here was her reaction to the singing:

Yup, she's laying down in the booth while they sang.

Eric's parents came too and brought her some presents. The princess nightgown you can see in the above picture is her current favorite thing to wear to bed. A dress she can wear to bed. What could be better?

And the ice cream:

She ate the whole thing. By herself. One bite of hamburger, a little fruit, a couple of fries, and a whole ice cream sundae. That sounds like a good birthday dinner to me.

Is she trying to tell me something?

I walked by the bathroom tonight after Kaylin was in bed and found this:

Are my toilets really that dirty?

And yes, she left her tutu on the floor. At least she thinks the floors are clean.

Gig Harbor

Eric and I celebrated our 7th anniversary at the end of December. I knew before Lauren was born that I wanted to go somewhere overnight for our anniversary after Lauren's first birthday. I knew I would need a break. And I did. My fabulous parents came down and spent the night with our girls. We were gone for just over 24 hours. It was so nice to not have to do all of the regular feeding, changing, putting to bed, etc. for the girls and just worry about us.

We decided to go to a bed and breakfast in Gig Harbor, which is just under an hour from our house. We were only staying one night, so we didn't want to spend too much time driving. We explored the town, had a nice dinner out, watched a lame movie, and tried to sleep in. It was wonderful.

Here is part of our room:

I loved that you could sit in the chairs by the fire and look out at the harbor. The bed was opposite the glass doors, so you could also lie in bed and look at the harbor. The view that night was cool because everyone had their Christmas lights on.

The harbor from our doors:

This was our first time to Gig Harbor. We were surprised at how much it looked like a small lake. The opening to the harbor is fairly small, and as you can see, the entire harbor isn't very big. The water was very calm. The bed and breakfast had kayaks you could borrow, but since it was late December and freezing cold outside we didn't use them.

The city has a staircase with a nice view of the harbor:

With how busy we have been and having two small kids at home, it was so nice to get away for a day and just spend time together.

Christmas Gift Tag Party

I hosted my 3rd (almost) annual Christmas gift tag exchange party. I say *almost* because I missed last year. Something about me having a baby last December.

Here is the tag I made this year:

I love that the bells jingle!

Four other ladies were able to come exchange tags, plus one more who came to hang out with us. It was lots of fun. Everyone brought a snack and we had yummy cider and just talked. It was great to have a relaxing and fun night!

Aren't they cute?

We each went home with three of each tag.

Some action shots:

Thanks ladies! The tags were awesome! I can't wait until next year!

Christmas, round 3

The day after Christmas, my parents came down. They brought presents from my sister and brother too. Kaylin and Lauren couldn't believe their good luck. I had to post these pictures of Lauren because she was so happy and cute.

A new purse! My girls can never seem to have enough purses. They both love them.

A princess plate! Kaylin currently uses both her and Lauren's plates and loves to tell me what food needs to cover which princess.

A fridge farm! Kaylin has a good time with this one too.

Belle! Kaylin also got the Beauty and the Beast DVD for Christmas, so this was a great addition.

Lauren enjoyed crawling on my presents.

Thank you Nana and Pop-Pop for coming down! And thanks to Aunt Kelsey, Uncle Christopher, et al for the great gifts!

Christmas Morning

Kaylin woke up around 8:30 on Christmas morning. She was excited for Santa to come, but that didn't disturb her sleep. I hope she'll keep that up.

Also, please notice that she is indeed wearing the pink penguin pajamas from Christmas Eve that she refused to sleep in.

Here she is with the stockings:

Kaylin discovered Pillow Pets a few days before Christmas. She hadn't asked for much for Christmas and started asking for the ladybug pillow. Lucky for her, Santa found a great deal online and was able to get the ladybug pillow pet.

Excited to open presents from Mom and Dad.

Lauren getting in on the present opening action.

Kaylin with the princess fleece blanket I made her. I think she likes it.

We had a fun, relaxing morning. Then some of Eric's family joined us for a yummy brunch. Later in the day we went to Eric's parents' house to watch Elf. It was a great Christmas!