Happy Birthday to Loo!

Great Grandma T. has a really great tradition she started for the great grandchildren when they are old enough. She paints them their very own picture! This is Angela's sweet picture. She loves it! Thanks grandma for sharing your wonderful talent! What a keepsake for many many years to come. We love you!

My LooLee bug is 4! Also known affectionately as "Loo", my baby is growing up way, way, way too fast for my taste. As cliche as it sounds, it seems like just yesterday that she became a part of our family. I was so excited to have another girl - three girls! Angela has brought so much joy and laughter to our family, I am so grateful for my little angel.
Angela's birthday "cake" came about in a round about way. The day before her birthday, we were headed to Toys R Us to get her birthday presents. Just a few minutes into the drive guess who had to go to the bathroom? Yep, Natalie's pea-sized bladder was full to the brim and ready to explode. We had to find a bathroom quick. In emergency mode, we pulled off the freeway and found a Krispy Kreme - hmmm, a potty AND donuts? I could faintly hear angels singing. After taking care of the most important part of our stop, Cedric* and I came up with a brilliant plan. We felt obligated to patronize the establishment that so graciously gave us the use of their plumbing, so we thought, "why not do birthday donuts for Angela's birthday?" Thus, Angela's birthday "cake" was serendipitous and as you can see, she was quite pleased. (Plus the mommy perk - no baking!)

One of Angela's gifts was this adorable, ruffly umbrella. Our girls get these a lot on their birthdays because they play with them and wear them out so much. Sun, rain, indoors, out, umbrellas are a big hit at our house.


This was not one of Angela's presents. This was what daddy found at Toys R Us while he was keeping Angela distracted. (So she wouldn't see what we were picking out for her.) For those of you who don't know - it's a gadget for the Wii game "Rock Band/Guitar Hero" - yeah, apparently it was calling his name. (But which name one might wonder? So mysterious - I'll never give it away, that is, unless I just forget and say it - which maybe I have already done . . .)

So anyways . . . (a tidbit for my fellow super Nacho fans)


Ahaa - now here's one of Angela's real presents from Grandma P. This little horse and carriage are so cute and just what Angela loves. It carries many a Polly Pocket around in style these days. Thanks grandma!! (o:

Natalie had this great gift idea for her sister before we even got to the toy store. A 3D sidewalk chalk set. It was very cool and we had a lovely time making designs in the shade on the driveway. Have I mentioned yet that Angela's birthday fell on the first couple days of the longest streak of days over 90 in Portland's history?

Even in the shade, we were getting pretty hot and decided that an outing to the water fountains would be a fantastic way to celebrate Angela's birthday. It was just great. The girls enjoyed getting wet, I was taking pictures, we were all laughing . . . for about 7 minutes. Then the heat stroke started setting in. Okay, that is over-exaggerating a smidge, but after just a few minutes there was NO way Cedric* and I were going to sit and watch the kids cool off without us. Since we were fully clothed and only had towels sufficient for 3 people, we hopped in the car to get our suits and towels. And we also had to race home because, a certain someone had to go pee 5 minutes after we arrived and there was no bathroom around.

We didn't return to the fountains, due to the heat of the day and the pride of the parents (I'm not running around a fountain in my swimsuit - at least I can hide the lower portion of my body in a pool.) We needed more water. We had a great time swimming in the huge outdoor pool down the street. Usually, we swim inside because we always seem to go on cooler days. Natalie went down one of the slides by herself (she didn't really like it though) and Sarah jumped off the diving board for her first time and loved it. She went several more times with daddy. Angela had fun puttering around in her lifejacket, but getting her face much wetter than she usually does. A great time was had by all.

We topped the night off with a birthday dinner at IHOP, donuts and singing and the remaining presents for Loo. Happy Birthday to Loo!

By the way, one of the things that Angela is most excited about now that she's four is that she will be five next! The day right after her birthday someone asked how old she was. She held up 5 fingers and said "I be 5 next!"