Her party was at the Children's Museum and we chose a princess theme. I decided to make her a castle cake, and I must say, it turned out way better than I thought it would!
The museum did a great job with the party...there were crafts, a big floor puzzle to work on, games like Simon Says and Musical Chairs, playing with a big parachute, and Laura's favorite...Ring Around the Rosy!
She had a good time at her party (but you wouldn't have really been able to tell because she was very somber the whole time)! When I asked her what her favorite part was, she replied "My Fweinds!!!" And her fwiends got her lots of great presents!
After the party was over, all the kids were able to go play in the museum...and boy did they all have fun! This is Laura and one her of her best buddies, Madi, driving the fruit and vegetable truck. Laura and Madi are going to be taking ballet together this summer and they are both VERY excited!
Here are Laura and Zain playing in the grocery store...always a fun part of the museum!
Laura and Ashlyn posing on the small slide...not sure why Laura is making such a funny face!
Once we got home (and after Laura took her nap), we pulled out all the toys and played. She had a great time and especially loved the Play-Doh Ice Cream Shop and her new jewelry. She made tons of "ice freem cones" for me and Shawn!
We got Laura a basketball hoop (an unusual choice from a girl wanting a princess party!), and she has had a blast shooting hoops on the deck. I think we have a little athlete in the making!
Overall, Laura has had a great birthday week...party with friends, party at school, and soon to have a party with family. And we are having a great time watching our little Laura grow and learn new things every day!
The day before Easter, our church had a Block Party and Easter egg hunt. The weather was a little less than desirable, but we all had fun anyway.
Nana and Laura playing with the beanbag toss. Laura didn't really understand you weren't supposed to just drop the beanbag in the hole:)
A great action shot of Laura trying to hula hoop at the Block Party.
Nana, Granddad, Shawn and Laura...not too many pictures of Mommy this day because I was wearing my glasses:)
Nana, Laura and Mommy hunting Easter eggs. At first Laura wanted Nana to pick them up and put them in the basket. When we told her she just wouldn't get any eggs if she didn't pick them up herself, she got very busy running around collecting eggs!
Laura with two of her best friends...Ashlyn and Miriam. Most of the kids (and adults) from our church had on matching shirts so the people from the neighborhood knew how to identify church members.
Laura posing (with her new favorite bunny from Mema) in our front yard.
The three of us outside Nana and Granddad's house before church.
Nana, Granddad and Laura before church.
Laura and Nana (and Granddad) had a great time...
...and so did Mommy and Daddy!
She became an expert picker very quickly. She also quickly realized it was way more fun to eat the strawberries than to pick them! 
Occasionally, though, Laura's mouth got ahead of her brain and she ended up eating one that wasn't ripe or over-ripe. She usually just spit it out and picked up a new strawberry to munch on!
She's still eating...and notice that her basket is totally empty! Right before we got on the wagon to ride back to the farm, she had 3 berries in her basket, but they were all gone by the time the ride was over!
Can you tell she loves strawberries!
After the strawberry picking, we walked around the farm looking at bunnies, goats, chickens, turkeys, cows, and every other animal you can think of. Laura also bounced in an inflatable and played in a large trough filled with shelled corn. We had a delicious BBQ lunch and finished it off by sharing a strawberry milkshake three ways. It was a fabulous Mother's Day!
One fairly warm morning recently we were babysitting Laura's favorite friends Miriam and Nora (or Me-um and No-wa as Laura calls them,) The girls really wanted to play outside, so we put on their coats and out we went. I'm not sure who had more fun playing football, Shawn or the girls!
Once chasing the football got tiring, the girls had a great time on the swings. Laura and Miriam couldn't decide what swing they liked best. Often they were both riding on the see-saw, bumping heads and giggling a lot! It is so much fun to see Laura grow up and make friends. She loves playing with her little friends! 
On a really warm day last weekend, the three of us headed to Belle Isle...and island almost in Downtown Richmond. You get to walk over the James River on a huge pedestrian bridge to get there. There are walking and bike trails around the island and an area of rocks where you can walk out into the river. We decided to have our picnic on the rocks. Laura thought the whole thing was great fun!
Laura is just getting used to eating sandwiches the way they are supposed to be eaten. She likes to deconstruct the sandwich and eat it one food type at a time (for example, the bread first, and then the meat, and then the cheese). She's even done this with peanut butter and jelly! What a mess! Well, she and I both had a PB&J for lunch at our pic-pic and I kept my sandwich in the bag as I was eating it (so I didn't have to touch it with my dirty hands). Laura wanted to do the same thing..."I wanna eat wike mommy! Put my sam-wich in my bag, too!" She made a much smaller mess than normal. 
Even though the mess was smaller, she was still a little sticky after eating. She and daddy ran down to the river so she could wash her hands in the water. As she was running back to me she said, "The water is told (cold)!" Then she ate a few pieces of fruit so her hands would get sticky again so she would have to go back down to the river. "I'm ticky (sticky) Mommy! I need to wash my hands o-more-gen (again)!" We had a great time and are really looking forward to spring so we can spend even more time playing around outside!