For reasons unknown, I decided that it would be fun to find a bike and trailer and use that to get around with the girls this summer. So Adam and I headed to the local bike store's used bike sale, where we found (in his words) a really sweet bike for me. Then after scouring Craigslist for a couple of weeks, we found a nice trailer. It all came together last week, and I was able to take the girls for our very first ride.
We just went for a quick ride around the neighborhood, but it went pretty well (i.e. I didn't feel like I was going to die), so on Sunday afternoon we took a family bike ride out to Morrissey Park.
Getting ready to go - the girls are pretty excited about wearing their helmets
We made it! The girls were happy to get out and play, and I was happy to take a rest. I was feeling the burn!
Ah, those girls just love to climb!
After they played for awhile and we had a snack, it was time to head home. I'll admit, I wimped out and had Adam pull the trailer home. But it was a great start to what will hopefully be many family bike rides!
Abby and Kristin had a princess party to attend today, so Nora and I got to spend a few hours together. We haven't had nearly as many 'father daughter' bonding opportunities so I wasn't sure how it would go. But, after Nora got over demanding Mom come back we had a great time; and unusually Nora posed well for several pictures.
First we cleaned the porch together, and then enjoyed some reading in the fresh air.
After that we took a good walk which ended in several tricycle rides around the drive way and some sidewalk chalk coloring.
(Pink is Mom and Dad, Green is Abby, Purple is Nora)
Finally, I introduced Nora to the twin childhood joys of corn-dogs and swiss rolls.
(For someone who's never tasted a corn-dog before in her life she looks pretty excited.)
By the end I don't think she was too sad about missing the party.
After almost a month, we're finished celebrating Abby's fourth birthday. With two grandparent visits, a party, her actual birthday, and then her turn to be the birthday girl at school, it was pretty spread out this year, which of course she loved! It's been a little bit of a letdown to know that it's a whole year until she gets to be the birthday girl again.
We started two weeks before her birthday when Grandma and Grandpa VanDuyne came to celebrate. As a not-very-appreciated birthday gift, Grandpa and Dad put up the ceiling in the hallway upstairs and stairwell. As a much-more-appreciated birthday gift, Grandma and Grandpa gave Abby a carriage for the Disney princesses that make up the majority of the girls' play these days and a recordable storybook which they recorded for her. She sure loves listening to Grandma and Grandpa read her a story even when they're not here anymore!
The next weekend was Easter, and Grandma and Papa came to celebrate - more on that later - and we also celebrated Abby's birthday. Much to Abby's disappointment, her present needs to wait for warmer weather to be really used - a water table to play with outside. Luckily for her, it's supposed to be in the 80s all next week, so we might be able to break it out.
The following weekend was the big princess party! I was a little nervous, just because of Abby's history of getting overwhelmed in new situations, but she had such a great time! She helped me with the planning - choosing games, setting the menu, handing out invitations - which helped a lot to let her know what was coming and what she could expect. She invited 5 friends, who all came, so we had 7 little princesses total.
We put up some pink and purple decorations to make our house look like a princess castle.
Abby and Nora wore their Easter dresses, the fanciest dresses they have.
As the girls arrived, we had crowns for them to decorate with glitter markers, stickers, and rhinestones, because no princess is complete without her crown!
Then we played a few princess games. First up was Pin the Fin on Ariel. We didn't get any great pictures of that one, but you can see it in the background on this one.
Next up was Snow White's Pass the Poisoned Apple. This one didn't work out quite like I had anticipated - the passing of the apple went pretty well, but no one wanted to fall asleep when they "bit" the apple. (Alison made a valiant effort at convincing the kids to fall asleep - you can see her in the background - but they didn't go for it.) So we just passed it around for awhile and then gave everyone their wake-up kisses anyway. Everything can be solved with chocolate!
The next game was Jasmine's Musical Flying Carpets. This was another one where the girls were supposed to get out and didn't want to, so we just ended up dancing for awhile and sitting on the carpets a few times and calling it a day.
Next we moved on to Belle's Banquet, featuring crown sandwiches, some of Abby's favorite fruits and vegetables, and Cheeto Puffs because those just seem like party food to me.
After they ate the real food, it was time for cake! My first attempt at a castle cake was not a success, but luckily for me Mom let me borrow her castle bundt pan just in case, so I was able to pull off a decent castle cake at the last minute.
Then, after opening her presents and playing with her new toys with her friends, it was time to say goodbye to her princess friends. All in all, it was a great party!
The next day was her actual birthday, which happened to fall on a Sunday this year. Since we always have pancakes on Sunday morning, Adam made them special by making them supersized.
After church, we took a picnic out to Allerton Park. The girls enjoyed crown a special birthday treat - pudding!
Then we walked through the gardens for a little while and the girls picked bouquets of wildflowers. Abby was particularly excited to see the Fu Dog Garden where Adam and I got married (she's still pretty into weddings!)
The last birthday hurrah came during preschool. Abby got to bring cupcakes to share with all her friends (with pink frosting and purple sprinkles, of course!) and her favorite part was that she got to wear her birthday crown. It didn't hurt when everyone sang happy birthday to her, either. She was a little disappointed to find out that she had to go to the same class even though she was 4, but with all the fun of being the birthday girl she decided that it was worth it after all.
