Kate's 4th

Kate turned four in July and we had lots of fun celebrating. We went to the zoo the day before and had fun hanging out with Tyler during the day. On her actual birthday we took Kate out to dinner at Granny Annie's for her favorite food--pancakes! We then went home to open presents and eat chocolate cake. The next day was her party. It was her first year getting a friend party and she loved it. She wanted a Dumbo circus theme so I did my best to satisfy her.

Blowing out the candles

Party invitations

Opening presents

The bird show at the zoo

Kate's favorite: the elephants

Riding the train

Obligatory Hogle Zoo pic

Watching Dumbo while waiting for friends to arrive at the party. I was originally planning on doing the party outside but decided it was way too hot

The table

Bean bag toss

Ring toss

Group 1: Kayla, Kate, Raimana, Shem, and Grace D.

All the friends with their tickets

Pin-the-feather-on-Dumbo

Friends

Group 2: Brynlee, Ada, Grace T., Berklie, and Nixon

Ada at the photo booth. Some people were scared and didn't want to participate

Shem

Raimana

Grace

Nixon

Kayla

We blew giant bubbles since, you know, Dumbo gets drunk and blows funny bubbles

Morgan and her girls. We are indebted to Morgan, Jordan, and my mom for their help

Some preferred to play while we blew bubbles

Opening presents

Big top cupcakes, drinks, and popcorn (we forgot to bust out the ice cream)

Kate blowing out her candle

Kate hitting the elephant pinata

Berklie

Grace T.

Raimana

Shem

Brynlee

Nixon

Kayla

Grace D.

Ada

The loot

 

Grace tossing a ring

 

Nixon tossing bean bags

Categorically Speaking

Latest obsessions

Tyler: Cross Me (phone game); the Utes (always); the PAC 12; his Volt; watching football

Alison: Spider Solitaire (another phone game. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this...); the Cougs; watching football; wishing for cooler weather; thinking about politics

Ada: Watching, playing, and drawing My Little Pony (AKA The Ponies That Jack Has, since they first watched it at their friend Jack's house); drawing pictures of any and everything

Kate: My Little Pony (see Ada's obsessions); chocolate milk (and anything else chocolate); climbing on and jumping off of things

Lyla: playing with markers (lids on); Mama; throwing her cup and food on the floor; playing in the tub; other babies

Latest events

Tyler: attending Ute games; family vacations to Houston in June and Orlando in September; turning 31

Alison: playing church volleyball; family vacations; turning 31

Ada: turning six; starting first grade; starting soccer; family vacations

Kate: turning four; starting her second year of preschool; starting soccer; family vacations

Lyla: family vacations; turning 11 months

Updates

Tyler: trying to catch up at work from all the vacations; studying for an upcoming test for work; enjoying the horse head he got for his birthday

Alison: in denial about Lyla's upcoming birthday; adjusting to the new role of soccer mom; still adjusting to having three kids

Ada: she's still adjusting to waking up early and going to school all day; she can make Lyla laugh like nobody else can; she doesn't love school but she likes eating lunch there and seeing her friends

Kate: she loves preschool and wants to go every day. She has a hard time waiting for the noon start time; she wakes up ridiculously early every day and makes it difficult for me to feel well-rested (that pretty much never happens); she's getting better at drawing and will write her name if she's in the mood to

Lyla: she's getting closer to crawling. She can scoot backwards on her back or her tummy but doesn't move around much (no complaints here!); she babbles a lot and makes lots of new sounds but not really any new words; she likes to go to bed early and usually takes two good naps a day, but she also likes to wake up early. At least she goes back to sleep after I feed her; she always wants to eat what we're eating instead of baby food

Pictures 

Tyler:

Alison:

Ada:

Kate:

Lyla: