Candy Land Birthday Fun

Annaliese has been into playing Candy Land a lot lately and so it seemed natural to pick Candy Land as a theme for her birthday party. We had fun scouring the internet for ideas and then coming up with a few games and decorations that seemed appropriate for a 4 year old party! We had a rainbow trail winding throughout the house and our snacks included candy canes, gumdrops (they were actually Dots but close enough!) peanuts and lollipops! Party favors included a toothbrush for everyone to counteract all the sugar:)

 We invited all of her friends from school, as well as Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Thane and Auntie Kim, and Uncle Ben and Auntie Kelsey. Thankfully the sun was out and although it was a bit chilly outside, the kids had a great time playing together!

 Our Candy Land Trail

 Cupcakes...each kiddo got to decorate their own cupcake

 It was a bit windy out, so I had a hard time getting the candle lit...but Annaliese was right there to blow it out as soon as I got it!

 All the kids (back row: Haleigh, Kenan, Elias, Annaliese, Mallory. front row: John, Cheyenne, McKinley, Ella, Keziah, John)

The youngest partiers...Faith, Mallory, and Haleigh

Coloring some Candy Land themed coloring pages

 Decorating cupcakes

 Annaliese is definitely enjoying all of her gifts! We've been painting, coloring, putting together new legos, playing new games and wearing new clothes ever since Saturday! It was so much fun to have so many people together and get to watch Annaliese interact with all of her friends. It is also nice to get to know the parents of the kids in her class...after all, they could all be in the same class together for the next 10 years!

20 Months

November 7 marked Haleigh's 20 month 'birthday' and we are finally starting to feel like we have more of a toddler than a baby on our hands! Haleigh is usually full of smiles, has an incredibly adorable laugh and is generally a very happy little kiddo!

Sleeping: Haleigh still goes to bed between 7:00-7:30 and sleeps until somewhere around 7:00am. She almost always wakes up happy and I usually lay in bed for a few minutes listening to Annaliese telling Haleigh to do something and Haleigh laughing hysterically in response to whatever it is that Annaliese just said or did.  I have been trying to get her down to just one nap during the day and she does pretty well with that about 3 days a week. The days that we are home all day, though, she definitely still wants 2 naps:) It's like she's making up for the days where we are out and about all morning! The purple bunny is still an absolute necessity and without it Haleigh would never fall asleep.

Eating: This girl loves to eat! She will try just about everything but makes it very clear when she likes or dislikes something. She also likes to choose things for herself; she will open the cereal cupboard and select which cereal she wants and will through a little fit if I try to give her something different! I don't feel like there are any clear favorite foods at this time; she mostly wants whatever everyone else has!

Clothes: Clothing ranges in size from 18 months to 3T! This little purple outfit she is wearing in most of these pictures is actually a 12 month outfit! I would say the majority of her clothes are 24 mon/2T but have shrunk a bit with all the washings. New clothes that I buy are 24 months. She is wearing sz 4 shoes now. 

She likes to try and put on her own clothes and shoes!

Activities: Haleigh doesn't like to miss out on anything! She loves watching Annaliese and mimicking whatever she is doing. She is walking/running all over the place but still is like a bull in a china closet and can't always control herself:) She falls frequently and is constantly running into things. She likes cleaning up, putting toys into their proper box, coloring and reading books. She dislikes getting her diaper changed (or at least laying flat on her back!) and bathtime with mommy. (She apparently does just fine what Daddy gives her her bath!) She is also a great running partner and doesn't mind running errands with me.

See...not a fan and trying to get out!

Teeth: Haleigh has 16 teeth...we are just waiting for the last set of molars to come in and then we will be done with teething! She loves brushing her teeth and would probably do it multiple times a day if I let her! Maybe she just likes the strawberry toothpaste:)

Communication: Haleigh's vocabulary is still very limited. She can say mama, dada, yeah and a few other random words every once in awhile. She also has a sound for Grandma that I can't even replicate. Haleigh will answer just about every question with "yeah" and Annaliese has learned how to ask questions so that the 'yeah' answer is what Annaliese wants. For example, "Haleigh, are you done with your snack?" "Yeah" "See Mom, Haleigh is done with her snack so I can have the rest." 

October at a Glance

Our weeks were filled with the normalness of preschool and work. We were able to fit in a few fun weekend things, however and both the girls have been a lot of fun this month!

Annaliese has said a few funny things recently that I remembered to write down:

Driving to church, Annaliese is doing something in her carseat when all we hear is "oof-ta!" Definitely a Grandpa Glen-ism.

We were in the car last week heading to the grocery store and Annaliese said to me, "Mom, when I get big, am I going to drive too? What kind of a car are you going to get me?" (silent pause) "I want a car. And a dog. That's what I'm going to put on my birthday list."

Annaliese is into finding things to put in her treasure chest (usually dried leaves) doing art projects (mostly cutting and taping) and reading (currently the favorite book is Stellaluna.)

 A little science experiment

 Making our own lava lamp...it wasn't that impressive.

Kelsey and Mallory came up for a few days so we headed out to Silver Lake for a short walk and to check out the new playground.

 Annaliese and Elias 'skipping rocks' 

Vancouver Aquarium

This past weekend we decided to take a little trip up to Vancouver for the night. We were going to visit the zoo or the aquarium and since rain was forecasted for the entire weekend, we chose the aquarium. We headed up Friday afternoon and made it across the border without much of a wait. We went straight to our hotel, and after relaxing a short while, headed out for dinner. 

By the time we were finished eating, it was time to go back to the hotel and get the girls ready for bed. I forgot to grab the pack-n-play so we thought about letting the girls sleep together, but Haleigh wanted to play so that didn't last long! Annaliese and I ended up sleeping in one bed, and Kyle and Haleigh were in the other. And since we really wanted the girls to get a decent night sleep, everyone ended up going to bed around 8:00!

Once we were all up and dressed, we grabbed breakfast at the hotel (they had a very tasty continental breakfast!) and packed up our stuff.

We looked up directions to the aquarium before heading out since we had our phones turned off. Somehow we ended up not quite in the right spot and drove around a little while before figuring out where we needed to be...but we eventually made it to the aquarium!

(I can't remember what she's looking at!)

 Most of the aquarium was inside, but there was an outdoor area where we could see the porpoises, the sea lions and the penguins. We had to get all bundled up for this part!

 Apparently they liked the rain because they were all very playful!

 Playing with a ball

 Haleigh's not so sure about this one!

Beluga Whales

 They had an aviary with several different brightly colored, but very noisy birds. Haleigh was pretty scared by their loud calls so we didn't stay long in this area!

 We tried this pic about 10 times...

I know it's hard to see, but that's an octopus in the tank behind them!

We ended our time at the aquarium with a 4D show about the arctic...the chairs vibrated, we got splashed in the face with water and there were bubbles floating in the air to complete the 4D experience! 

The girls did great and we were able to make it through the entire aquarium without anyone falling apart! I think it's safe to say we all enjoyed it but we were all a bit tired by the end of the day...thankfully the drive home was smooth; we only waited 10 minutes to get back across the border and the girls slept most of the time! Annaliese keeps asking when we get to go to Canada again so I guess it was a success!!