Saturday, February 22, 2014

Punzel Party, Part 1

We had a wonderful, Tangled themed birthday party the Sunday after her birthday.  It was chock full of purple and gold and lanterns and princesses and all things Rapunzel.  If you haven't seen the movie you may not appreciate the decorations, but trust me, they were spot on!  More pictures of the actual party to come later!


The door was my best shot at "Rapunzel, let down your hair!"


Rapunzel's things in the entryway

The floating lanterns, right?!?



Look at how much my girl has changed!

And it was...

Pascal and Max.  The stars of the movie.


Frying pan plates.  You have to see the movie.
 
Bryan was appalled that I was going to make the cake.  I think it's evident that
they probably cracked out a better Punzel cake than I would have.  Point HyVee.









Saturday, February 15, 2014

Bitty's Birthday

This was a good day.  Izzie had been telling us all week, "It's almost my birthday!"--so clearly, somewhere along the way she has caught on to Mommy's love of birthdays.  We were excited to spend the WHOLE DAY as a family, and we made the most of our time together!  (I should note that she has said "Two" when asked her age for months, and told me that she is going to be three on her birthday.  So it's a gamble what age you're going to get when you ask her.  Technically she's two, she says she's three, she acts like she's twelve.)

First, a breakfast of cinnamon rolls.  Apparently
two-year olds don't sit in high chairs anymore.

The birthday girl posing by her Rapunzel balloons.

Off to Morrill Hall for Dinosaur Days!  Could we have gotten luckier that it fell on her birthday?  
She surprisingly enjoyed the bones and fossils.

Notice the pose and smile--pointed towards the UNL lady
taking pictures for the event.  But pose for Mommy?  Nah.

Please notice her bacteria made out of pink playdoh.  It was an accomplishment.
Oh, Archie.  It was an awkward love affair.  We would follow him and reach for him,
but the second he turned around we were too shy to say hello.  It happened several
times that we kept bumping into him, and each time she cried when he left.

Why aren't these deer moving?  Weird.  A few seconds after this photo, Iz
got a significant bruise on her forehead while trying to check out a rattlesnake.

The Kids Zone!

We were hoping this would satisfy her desire for digging...

But as it turns out, she is too smart for us.  "I dig over there!"

A monster sucker from a museum lady and a $6 stuffed snake.  What a good day!

Showing off presents from Mommy and Daddy.  A
Rapunzel dress,  a princess story time book, and
a stuffed Pascal.  Score! 
And for those of you that think she's a sweetheart all the
time, this is the face that gets her into trouble...  

A Minnie Mouse bike.  She's still not quite big enough, but come May--pedestrians beware!

Enjoying a chocolate birthday cupcake... or two...

In her birthday jams.  What a big girl!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Kick-off



Isabel's birthday was on a Saturday this year, but we started the festivities off on Friday night.  Her school had it's "Eat and Explore" night, where we could go have a pizza dinner and participate in nature related activities.  She built building with bamboo, made a soybean necklace, petted a snake and a rabbit, played instruments, painted with fruits and vegetables, and made a seashell bracelet.  It was a fun night!

She opted for coloring a picture of a dog instead of hugging
the gigantic puppet version that was there to read them books.

Izzie has loved snakes for awhile, but never actually seen a real one.  So this
was the test!  She touched him twice and couldn't get enough of looking at his
face.  "He's so cute!"  So, turns out Yoda probably could have come home with us.

Loved these bells.  Any bell choirs looking for a 2-year old musician?

Her seashell bracelet.
 
The reptiles in general had her attention.  We visited and revisited
this turtle, as well as her salamander, frog, and lizard friends.
The bunny was creepier than the snake if you ask me.  Red eyes!

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Outdoors!

The last two Sundays have been nice enough to get outside, and boy did we take advantage of that.  Two Sundays ago it was 60 degrees, and this child spent most of the day outside after church.  We brought old clothes to Grammy's house, opened the door, and let her run!  She asks to go outside all the time, and when I say no she looks defeated and says, "Too cold?"  So I knew we had to take advantage of our chance to play!  Izzie and Caden fed Grammy and Popper's fish, played on the swing set, dug in the dirt, and just generally had messy and wonderful time.  When she got up from nap I told her we were going to go help Daddy work outside, and she said, "Outside ALL DAY?!?" and smiled really big.  We are looking forward to spring in this house!





At the end of the day, Daddy said, "If filth is a sign of happiness, then you should be ecstatic."  Dirt everywhere--hair face, hands, nails, clothes, boots...  Mommy LOVES it.  I think the dirtier she gets the more fun she must be having!  Daddy worries more about the mess, but Mommy says go for it!

The next Sunday was not nearly as warm, but tolerable, and when we got home from church and let the puppies outside Iz begged to follow them.  So I let her go.  She entertained herself for quite a long time by hiking through piles of leaves and throwing them into the air.  (While still wearing her dress and tights and sparkle shoes...oh well!)  We also gave the old slide a go and realized how much we've grown since last summer!  By the time she sat down her legs were almost halfway down the slide--so the ride wasn't quite as exciting.



So, just so you know Spring, if you're nervous to come to the party because you think you won't have any friends to play with, I think you have one best bud right here!