Summer Fun

There is a great splash pad close to our house the kids love to play in. You turn a large red wheel to get the water going.. and Nora seems to think this wheel is the most fun of all.

There are also swings close by.. it's a hard place to resist.

Ains sitting in the shade enjoying some apple slices

Other than water parks, we've also been getting indoors to escape the heat.
We went to the Discovery Kids Museum at the Gateway with my friend Ann and her adorable little girl Clara.

Hangin' out with her buddy Clara

And to finish up, here's a silly video of my little girl who loves to put things away...

whether she is putting them where they go, does not seem to matter to her. :)

Nora's Turn for a Birthday

It's hard to believe it's been a year since our family was joined by our funny little Nora.

One Day Old

One Year Old

Nora's first birthday was a very casual affair.
She opened presents.. though very reluctantly I might add.
I'd gotten a couple balloons and all she wanted to do was play with those!
Though she did eventually get down to it and enjoy her gifts.

Grandma Baba and Uncle Andrew were there.

and Aunt Roxanne of course

The next day we had a family BBQ.

Nora spent her time chillin' in her jumper in the shade.

the kids made their own shade too.
(Evan, Adam, Kaysen, Jake, Sadie, Ainsley, Addi)

And Nora got her birthday cake.
Thanks Janell!
the kids enjoyed watching her

she was quite enjoying her cake, and then the popsicles came out..
and she had to have one of those too

She had a fun weekend long birthday celebration and we wore her out.
Goodnight Sleepy Girl. We love you!

4 yr old Portraits

Ainsley Hazel turns 4! Part 3

And then there was the party :) This year we decided to go to the Red Butte Children's Garden. This is an amazing little place I'd never been to before. I thought it was beautiful, whimsical and fun. We got a membership and are definitely going back.

It had all these great little places for the kids.
Including a fun maze I wish I'd gotten a picture of.

And they have a great little room where they teach classes and have parties :)

Currently the two things Ainsley is most interested in is plants and painting, so this was the perfect party for her. They started by painting a pot.

Love this picture! ^
(fyi - Half the pictures in this post are taken by my sister in law, the fabulous photographer Anna..
can you tell which?? lol)

This is Ains cute friend Zoe.
(I met her mom at my very first birth class when we were both pregnant.. so they were friends in utero, hehe)

Ainsley has some amazingly dedicated friends. Zack and his family put off leaving for a family vacation so he could come. And this picture is Meira's Grandma and her little sister Reagan. Meira was staying with her grandma while her parents were out of town and she drove her down from Cache Valley to come to the party! Thanks Meira's Grandma!!)

After they finished with the painting they had a scavenger hunt around the garden. They gave them hints about certain creatures and they would run around until they found it.

By the time the scavenger hunt was over the painted pots were dry and each they all got to plant something in their own.

GrandmaBaba got there during the party.
We were thrilled she was able to visit that weekend.
Nora was extra thrilled because Grandma always wears great necklaces to play with.

Grandpa Thom even stopped by!
He happened to be in town for a law thing and so he came up to see us before driving home.

After planting it was food time!
and you can't forget the gorgeous flower cupcakes!
Thanks to the One Sweet Slice Shoppe
My cute birthday girl was so excited to blow out her candle..
and even more to eat her pink cupcake.
Nora enjoyed this part as well.

And of course we can't forget presents!
Zoe gave her some cute unicorn stickers and a unicorn necklace
Ains really loved the necklace.
This is them hugging while she is still looking at it.

And here she is with more stickers and paints from Meira.
(Some of her other presents included a purple light saber and an M&M dispenser.)

We had a great group of kids to help celebrate our little girls special day.

up top we have Zack, Meira, Ains Brooklyn and Zoe

and underneath her two great cousins Adam and Jake

The girls got silly

I'm so glad Ainsley has such amazing friends