Kenzie's Birthday Part 2

Here's the second installment of how Kenzie spent her 4th birthday: She talked to her grandparents (they're in France on an LDS mission) via the webcam. They even sang Happy Birthday with us -

- so she could blow out her big 4 candle. She didn't even wait for the song to end; about halfway through she blew it out, licked the frosting off the bottom (as she's seen her cousins do many times) and dug in.

Then we took her to the movies to see Up. For months now McKenzie has been planning her birthday to, "watch a movie on the big screen and get popcorn!" So here she is with the huge tub of buttery goodness we got. Kenzie loved the movie (in her words it was the "best movie ever" and she laughed and commented through the whole thing).

When she got home, she promptly tried out the new painting set and created several masterpieces.

Then we carried out the rest of Kenzie's birthday request: a "Happy Donald Meal" picnic in the park. Obviously today was not a day to count calories!

Parker is little French Fry Face. He must have had at least six french fries in his hand at any given time. That kid will shake his head furiously at most foods, but give him a greasy fry and he'll reach out and grab ten more! 8:28pm. Kenzie tried claiming at 8 that she still wanted to play, but once I convinced her to lay down I didn't hear another peep. It was quite the eventful birthday!

Happy Birthday McKenzie!

My little girl got right to present time this morning (she had everything opened by 8:30!)

Parker was more than interested!

Her Little People wedding set

Kenzie with all her loot (she told me, "My grandparents just know I like presents!")

Hugging her new puppy, Dibble

I love this expression as she tries to hold Parker still for a picture. He was obsessed with getting into the Little People set, though, and yelled at me until I had all the pieces out (no small task, either! There's more security on these toys than in most airports)

Then Daddy made her favorite breakfast: crepes with blueberries and powdered sugar. So far, a great day for my big 4-year-old!

Kenzie's Birthday Review

Kenzie's birthday is rapidly approaching, so I couldn't resist seeing how much she's grown up in the past few years. Is she really turning 4??

Helping herself to some of her first birthday cake

Going to town her 2nd birthday, when she really figured out the whole present idea

Cheesing it up on her 3rd birthday

And of course, the true birth-day. Happy Birthday to my sweet girl!

Check Out This Haul!

Grandma Susan has arrived for a visit, and she brought another load of toys from the attic. Here's Kenzie with a lot of my old Barbie stuff, plus my little dollhouse with some animals in it. Talk about a trip down memory lane (my personal favorite: the Barbie computer that you wind up and watch the DOS screen scroll by). And yes, those are Kenzie's birthday presents in the background, too. She is one lucky kid.

Waiting for Daddy

Okay, this window looks out into the backyard, so they're obviously not really looking for Daddy, but it's the only window Parker can stand and look out of. Chris is gone at Scout Camp until Saturday, so I've tried to keep Kenzie and Parker occupied: we've been to the park, seen a puppet show at the library, gone shopping, read piles of books, eaten our weight in chicken nuggets, taken extra long baths, etc. etc. etc. I'm doing a good job wearing them out (Kenzie and Parker both took a 4:30pm nap yesterday!) but Parker still says, "D-D?" while looking for Daddy in obvious spots (like his side of the bed in the morning), and Kenzie has probably told me 539 times, "I just probably miss Daddy at Camp Scouts!" The plan for tonight is a movie, pizza, and popcorn, so I hope that distracts them for a bit. One day to go! Now we're off to PetCo to admire the animals...

Add "Ball Return" to My Resume

We hit that 6:00 slump this evening - dinner was over, but it was too early for bathtime, and both kids missed Daddy. Luckily Mommy saved the day by setting up the bowling pins [again and again and again...]

You can see an interested little head checking out the action. Parker clapped each time Kenzie rolled the ball, and even hucked the ball at the pins a few times himself. Surprisingly he was good about leaving the upright pins alone. He was just content to sit and cheer his sister on.

Quality Control and IT Departments

Tonight we had dinner with some friends, and I made some chocolate cream cheese cupcakes to bring. Of course McKenzie was clamoring for one, so we all "tested" a cupcake to see how they were. Apparently they were okay, because here's how Parker looked! The chocolate was so caked into his hair that after scrubbing his head for a few minutes I just gave up and stuck both kids in the bath. (They both thought it was hilarious to take a bath at 3:30 in the afternoon, so it worked out well!)

After his bath, Parker went straight to Kenzie's computer to do a little playing. I love how he knows just what to do (of course, if you want to get picky, the mouse is backwards, but he still has the right idea). He's turned on the voice-over thing, too, so I'm always creeped out hearing that computerized voice saying, "Close menu," as I walk by.

Princess "Festi-bull"

This morning Daddy took McKenzie to the Princess Festival in Lindon. I'll let her tell about it. "I was sitting on the thing." This should be informative!

"I don't know what I was doing!"

"We were going to the castle."

"I was sliding down the slide."

"I was looking at Rapunzel. Her hair was too short for the prince. I helped her in the tower."

"That's Cinderella! She was sweeping the floor."

"I was walking down the stairs."

"That's the blue fairy! With her magic sparkly wand!"

"I was with the lion. The statue lion is pretend; it didn't scare me. I think they're for sitting on."

"I was sitting in the carriage! It's Cinderella's."

"I was sleeping in my sleeping bag in my Cinderella dress. Daddy was tired." I think she summed it up pretty well!

Washcloth Ice Cream

Just some random pictures from today:

Here's what happens when I'm changing my sheets - I can't! Kenzie wastes no time turning my bed into a stuffed animal bazaar.

Parker just being his usual self.

We were about ready to leave, and I'd sent Kenzie to use the bathroom. She'd been in there for way too long, though, so I braced myself and went to investigate. She had these little plastic cups all lined up, filled with wet washcloths. "Mom, it's just washcloth ice cream!" she told me. I had to laugh, because they did sort of resemble ice cream cones.

Zoo-pendous

It had been a long time since we'd gone to the zoo, so I decided it would be a good birthday activity. It drizzled on and off, but thankfully the real rain started up as we left!I got a kick out of Parker hanging on to the sides of the wagon.

Parker played with his sippy cup most of the time, but he did actually notice a few animals. He talked to them, pointed, and yelled a few times (mostly at the giraffe).

Watching the elephants eat a snack

Can't you just see the wheels turning here? Parker really was trying to figure out those elephants!

Daddy and his little girl in the aviary (although I think I managed to not get a single bird in this shot!)

Kenzie riding the zebra on the carousel. She was so excited about the zebra! I pointed out all the other animals as we waited (my personal favorite: the panda eating bamboo. I told Chris, "That's my kind of animal; it's even eating on the carousel ride!"), but Kenzie was pretty adamant about that zebra.

A little blurry from being in motion, but you can just sense the happiness! Kenzie laughed the entire ride, saying, "This is so much fun!" She even patted the zebra and thanked him for the ride when it was over. All in all, a great birthday, but I sure must be getting older because I was exhausted afterwards!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I am 26! I thought this picture turned out sweet.

I almost like this one more, though! It's just too funny, and I love Parker's munchkin-face!

Kenzie opened my presents for me. Daddy tried to say, "Let Mommy do it," but Kenzie informed him, "I can do it all by myself!"

I did sort of get to help with the last present, though.

Kenzie wanted to take a picture, too. Here's my two cute guys. Chris took the day off, so I got some extra sleep this morning and also took my shower without Parker opening the curtain on me! That right there makes for a good birthday!