Elle's Third Birthday

Sarah wanted to begin this week by writing one more thing about her trip to NY.  Patrick and the kids came inside the airport to greet Sarah near the baggage claim area.  Sarah figured that Elle would be excited with all of the planes and activity to really say hello and that Jay would be so happy to snuggle up next to mommy.  When Sarah came within view of the kids, Jay smiled, but then just wanted to get down on the ground to walk and explore.  Elle, on the other hand, gave Sarah the longest hug that Sarah has ever received from her.  It was just such a sweet and touching moment that we had to share.

Speaking of Elle, this week she celebrated her third birthday!  She's becoming quite the little lady, or shall we say princess.  She had quite a princess-filled birthday with lots of wonderful cards and gifts from everyone--thank you!  We started the birthday celebration by taking Elle out to dinner last Sunday at T-Rex because you know how much she loves the dinosaurs.  Both kids had a blast watching all of the animation in the restaurant.  Because Elle was going to be at daycare on her birthday, we wanted to make a treat for her to share with her friends.  All of us pitched in and made cupcakes.  We filled up a tupperware container of cupcakes and packaged up those that didn't fit.  After Patrick dropped off Elle at daycare he returned to the house to find that Guinness had decided he wanted to celebrate Elle's birthday, too-- he had polished off every last one of the remaining cupcakes!

On Elle's birthday we had a grand dinner of non other than fried chicken.  It was mmm-mmm-good.  Both kids gobbled up the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese from KFC.  For us, KFC is a splurge- something we love, but very rarely have.  I think the last time we had it was on one of Sarah's birthdays.  Because the rest of the cupcakes were in Guinness' tummy, we picked up a Jayhawk ice cream cake from DQ.  Then, Elle opened all of her fun presents.  It was quite a fun birthday!

This Saturday we attended the helmet fair, which was held in the parking lot of Memorial Stadium.  Our intention was to get a helmet for Jay that he can wear when in the bike trailer.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any that small, so we got one for Elle and I guess Jay will have to wear her smaller, flower-covered helmet.  As Patrick said, real men wear flowers.  The Hamburgerler from McDonalds was at the helmet fair, as was the State Farm bear.  Jay just loved the State Farm bear, chasing after it and shreaking happily.

  

Because it was so nice on Saturday, we headed out to Vinland Valley Nursery that afternoon to purchase some plants.  We picked out a number of plants that butterflies like in an attempt to eventually create a butterfly garden.  We weren't able to finish planting everything on Saturday, so the planting had to continue into rainy Easter Sunday.