Ella's Birthday Party

It's hard to fathom, but on Monday our first born will turn 7! How the time flies. It was so much fun to plan this party with her. For being 7 she sure has some particular ideas...wonder where she gets that? She is in love with her American Girl Doll, Ainsley. We visited the mother store while we were in MN. She had so much fun picking out the colors, a very specific game she wanted to play, helping with some of the decorations, and planning the menu. It just tickled me pink that she wanted a pink and orange party since that is what I planned for her 1st birthday celebration. We had 5 girls from school/daycare over tonight and it was so much fun! They all behaved like little ladies. Each were sad as their parents drove up. I guess two hours wasn't TOO long. We had lots of playdates to schedule before summer is over. She is blessed to have so many nice girls to play with. Here are some pictures of the festivities.

The table for the dolls

Ella and Ainsley
Hunter, Ella, Ashley, Brooke, Lola, and Ella

Playing "guess how tall Ella is" with ribbon

Brooke was so close.

The girls about to eat

The girls decorated cupcakes: big ones for themselves and minis for the "dolls"

They were into the details

The girls let their dolls have a "pretend" cupcake...yumm!

Gifts:

A fancy cell phone and dress up shoes from Brooke

A zhu zhu pet from Ashley

Carter is being SOOO patient...he was almost beside himself trying to be so good!

A favorite gift from Ryan and Carrie....a membership to American Girl...online games. Wow!
Major spoilage!

The fun "sundae dessert bar" Each of the girls wanted their own candle and of course they had to blow it out and make a wish! How precious!

With her Sundae dessert

*Note the glasses from last year.....her black pair were accidentally broken by her brother earlier this week. Hope to have the new pair by start of school.

All the fun fixings Ella handpicked...gummy bears, M&Ms, sprinkles, etc...

I was so impressed with how old she acted during her party. She was so polite and sweet. You'd never know she's been a real pain for me lately??? Ahh, just part of the joy of having a girl! She is so special and brings so much to each day! Love you honey!

Dabbling

It's been a little busy around here. Outside of the general business of enjoying being a family of five, coordinating activities to savor this most-beautiful summer, preparing to go back to school, and all the in between that fills the days, my dear friend Kelly and her husband have opened their beautiful property for a new venture.....weddings!
As many of you know, party planning and beautiful things are something I love. Kelly has been a huge help and collaborator in many of the big events in my life: our wedding, my baby showers, and all the kids birthdays. She has invited me to be part of the weddings they have hosted at their farm this summer. And when you think farm don't think stinky dairy farm think of an image straight out of Pottery Barn. We have had lots of fun dabbling in "wedding planning". Kelly and Justin have a great vision for this which I am truly amazed by. They run their own landscaping business, a CSA for their vegetables, she teaches part time, and they have 3 kids. I tend to be a busy body, but Kelly takes it to a new level. I am so honored that they would ask me to share in these wonderful experiences. They have 6 weddings booked for the summer and I just had to share some pictures from one from mid August. It was so fun and BEAUTIFUL. I look forward to the last few we'll share this month. Kelly keeps telling me this is how we can spend our summers---as a side job! ????

How beautiful is this??

Find a cozy seat outside on the patio

The tent for dining

Table assignments, drinks and hor 'dvours

The "guest book"

Wildwood Family Farms

Our First Twins Game

Customize your own picture collage

While we were in the cities, we took full advantage of our family's love of baseball and took in the Sunday afternoon Twins game. It was so fun to experience the inagural year of the new Target Center. We loved the walk downtown, taking in all the big city sights. Once we got to the field, we were amazed at how beautiful and big everything was. It was such a wonderful memory for everyone in our family....even if you did spill an entire pink lemonade down your lap, right honey?? Ahhh, the memories!

Make a digital collage

This photo collage customized with Smilebox

Como Zoo 2010

This free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

On Monday morning, we headed out for our annual trip to the Como Zoo. The kids love this place because it has a variety of animals we don't get to see at our zoo here in town. The especially loved Sparky the Seal and all his tricks along with the lions and giraffes. This year they had a new exhibit---the butterfly garden. Of course, we loved it all. It was so sweet to see the cousins enjoy it, too! Oh summer, how we love thee! We are already trying to plan the next visit with the cousins.

The Last 7 Days....

have been a wonderful adventure traveling to Minnesota to spend time with Scott's side of the family. We left in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday and made a smooth trip to the Twin Cities. Our first stop was to stop in Egan to celebrate cousin Logan's First Birthday! It was such a special treat that we could be there to celebrate the big day with everyone. We always love a party. Boy, did Ryan and Carrie host a good one. There were games, and decorations, lots of yummy food, and of course cake!
We had loads, and I mean LOADS of pictures to choose from so I will post in a variety of formats, over the course of the next week or so.

Happy First Birthday LOGAN!

Grandma and her granddaughtersGrandma and the birthday boy


Ella holding cousin Elyse (4 1/2 months old)

The Games: Waterballoon toss and

the three legged race

The presents...poor Logan-he had SO many helpers

The Cozy Coupe from Grandma and Grandpa

Maybe even a clown for entertainment???

A delicious feast

Christian was slightly excited to be reunited with his Grandma!