Birthday and Lake Fun!

For Memorial Day Weekend, we all went to the lake to have Laura's last birthday celebration and to enjoy the unofficial start to summer. Enjoy the pictures!

Laura, Nana, and Granddad blowing out the candles on Laura's "Dora da Efflorer (exlporer)" cake.
Opening Laura's present from Nana and Granddad...a really cool new bike.

Trying out the new bike...she got the hang of it really quickly and has had a blast on it!

Nana and Laura posing on the boat.

Visiting Goat Island. There is a random island in the middle of the lake with 5 goats on it. It is a highlight of every boat trip for Laura when she spots the goats. She can even identify the island now from pretty far away.

Laura helping Granddad drive the boat...this is moments before she climbed in Nana's lap and took a 2 hour nap. Doesn't she look exhausted!?!

Nana and Laura feeding the fish at the marina. If you look closely, you can see the shadows of the fish in the water. They are huge!!

We had a great weekend and have been down several times since. Laura is absolutely loving the water this year. We even joined a pool so that she could get more time learning to swim. Check back tomorrow for pictures of Laura and her friend at their first ballet class!

Happy 3rd Birthday Laura!

Yesterday was Laura's birthday...I can't believe that she is 3 already. Time is just flying! We had her party last Saturday for her friends and we are having her family party this weekend at the lake. I'll post those pictures when we get back. For now, though, here are the first party pictures:

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!

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend, full of activities. Shawn, Laura and I had a fun time dying Easter eggs. This was Laura's first year doing this and she thought it was pretty neat. There was a little uncertainty as to whether I had cooked the eggs long enough, so Shawn broke one open. Fortunately, the yolk was cooked!

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.

Easter morning we went to church with my parents...but snapped a few pictures at our house before we left.
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.

After a scrumptious lunch prepared by Nana, we went downtown to people watch at Easter on Parade (a local tradition where they close down a street and everyone "parades" down it in their Easter finest). There are also lots of dogs dressed up in crazy costumes.
Laura and Nana (and Granddad) had a great time......and so did Mommy and Daddy!

Happy Mother's Day!

It has been really, really long since I last posted, but my goal is to catch up this week. I'm going to do the holiday's first and then a few random posts...so check back often this week!

So today is Mother's Day, a very happy day indeed! We decided to do things a little differently this year and had a very casual day. I was given my gifts in bed this morning and then Shawn cooked a delicious breakfast of pancakes and bacon. After the weather cleared up, we decided to head to the Berry Farm to pick strawberries and have lunch. The following pictures tell the story:

Once we arrived at the farm, we took a hayride out to the fields. Laura had a great time looking at all the animals and strawberries as we passed.

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!