AnLi's 5th Birthday

I've got a lot of catching up to do, and since this is our family scrapbook, I need to make sure I get everything posted. So, everyone is just going to have to bear with me as I try to make up a month's worth of posts, including birthday and Halloween. :)

Since Brian was going to be out of town on AnLi's birthday, we had her little party a couple of days earlier. Nana, Papa and Aunt Beth came for the festivities of presents and cake.






AnLi was insistent that Carli sit with her while she opened presents.


AnLi got lots of great gifts, and there wasn't even a hint of jealousy during the gift-opening portion of the day.




Since spring AnLi has been asking for a Touch 'n Brush. Oh, that's ALL she wanted, along with anything princess. As soon as she opened it, she said "I need suction cups!" We assured her they were in the box. The next day when she was installing it, she was reciting the commercial verbatim. She got it put up all by herself, too. Maybe she watches too much TV?


Then they both got to open a little gift.


Microphones!


Aunt Beth introduced them to Silly String. And it was a hit! I'm not sure we have all laughed so much. Everyone was running around screaming, hiding, and loving it!


Carli...maybe not so much. :)






Aunt Beth and the girls


The girls put on quite a show for us. The $1 microphones were the best gift, of course. They would take turns singing. AnLi would introduce them by saying, "Put your hands together for AnLi and Carli!!!!" And she let us know if we liked their signing, we were supposed to clap. LOL!






Cake and singing was next.


And just like last year, this is when Carli had a little tinge of jealousy.




On AnLi's actual birthday, it was a girls' day at the mall. We did Build-A-Bear first, which the girls really enjoyed. Then it was the time for AnLi's ear piercing. She wanted to do it soooo badly, but she got a little nervous beforehand and had a million questions.


There was only one girl working, so she had to have it done one ear at a time. After the first ear, AnLi kept saying, "Please, no more staples! Please! Please!" The young gal kind of tricked her into getting the second ear done. I was sure we were going to walk out with just one ear pierced.


Five minutes later, over burger and fries, she was all smiles and couldn't wait to show off her "diamonds".


Thanks for all of the birthday presents, cards and well wishes. AnLi had a great "5 birthday" and is already talking about her "6 birthday."

Happy 5th Birthday, AnLi!!

I can't believe my little girl is now 5 years old! She had a great birthday and loved every minute of it. I'm having trouble uploading my photos (and there are a ton of them) but here's a little sneak preview.

Loving everyone singing "Happy Birthday"

And she got to do this!

Where the Wild Things Are...

...in our backyard! (no, this isn't about the movie!)

We decided to take advantage of what would probably be our last beautiful fall day and paint our pumpkins. It started off innocently enough.







And then it was, "Come on, Car-wee, I won't hurt you."


and it turned into this...


and this...


and then the little Picassos turned their paintbrushes on daddy...


and a little kiss to tell him "it's okay"


"I won't hurt you."


but you can sure see the joy in her eyes


this is better than makeup!!






and then they went back to quietly painting their pumpkins

And the answer...

Yes, Colleen is the big winner! Aunt Beth handed down their trampoline to the girls. Colleen, sorry, no prize, just a hearty GOOD GUESS! Pretty good guesses by everyone.

The girls have really enjoyed the trampoline. It's just too bad that we haven't really had a fall season to enjoy it. Six inches of snow last Saturday! We still have to get a net and the edge cover for the trampoline, but that hasn't stopped the fun. They laugh and giggle and play lots of silly games. Mostly, though, it is considered their own personal gigantic stage, complete with lots of shows. AnLi is always introducing the next act: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please welcome Carli the singer", or Carli the dancer or ballerina or magician. They perform and then we are instructed to clap as they take a bow.

This week AnLi has been really sick. Temp of 104 last Sunday. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were high temp days also, but they have finally subsided. She's not 100%, but has started to eat a little more and getting up and moving around. She gets worn out pretty quickly, though. Thankfully Carli hasn't gotten anything. Keeping those two apart was almost impossible, especially since daddy was gone all week. One night after I was done cleaning up after dinner, they were laying in our bed and Carli was reading a book to AnLi. It was so cute to listen to them talking about the pictures in the book. Carli is a such a lover, so of course she was wanting to take care of AnLi.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Aunt Beth gave us a REALLY big suprise. Any guesses?

Adventureland

We made our annual trek to Adventureland. Something the girls have been looking forward to all summer. It was a beautiful weekend, great weather and no crowds! We basically had the hotel swimming pool to ourselves, and there were no lines at the amusement park. No heat, no humidity. Just a perfect weekend!!

As soon as we got to the pool, they both took off swimming.








Mmmm!! They LOVE a Shirley Temple.

One funny - While we were in the pool, AnLi slipped off an underwater bench.
I said, "Are you okay?"
AnLi said, "Yeah, I'm okay. I didn't lose my memory. I still know who you are, Mom."
Where she comes up with this stuff, I have NO idea!




Carli LOVES the rides. Always has. She laughs and giggles and just has a great time.


Last year you might remember AnLi didn't have such a great time (HERE). This year was much different. They were both upset that they weren't tall enough to ride the roller coaster.
Next year for sure!!


The bumper cars were hilarious. They were laughing and screaming through the whole thing. I love this pic, tho, because AnLi sees Papa coming right at them. I rode with Carli and she was just beside herself with laughter. I'm not sure she even took a breath.



I think they rode this three or four times. Another favorite.



Waiting in line - patiently. :)


Brian and I rode this first. I loved it so much I wanted to go again, so Frank was a willing victim. Brian and I love rides as much as the girls, but the older we get, the harder the circle/merry-go-round type rides are. After the first two, we steered clear of those or momma wasn't going to make it through the day.


And of course there are the games. We were so shocked when they both sank a ball. (Daddy didn't even do that.)




We had a great time and everyone was asleep before we got to the parking lot!