Birthday Parties & a Strawberry Festival

It has been birthday season!!!  The joy of having lots of little friends nearly the exact same age also means doing a lot of celebrating on the weekends.  Below are some pics of the fun!

Blake's pedicures and butterflies party toward the end of April!

Maelee loved getting her first pedicure and chose her favorite color- blue!

Pretty little butterflies with painted toes:)

Then it's time to celebrate twin's Perri & Peyton's 3rd birthday in a Painting Party in Central Park the last weekend of April!

Highlight of the party- getting a hug from big bro Cooper, Maelee's 1st crush

Then it's Giovanna's gym-time party in early May!

And finally, Wesley's "camo" party in Central Park the last weekend of May:

With Leo's 1st birthday in Carl Schurz (two in one day!) later that afternoon:

Slideshow of more party fun:

Then a highlight of the month, Maelee and I enjoyed a very special trip to DE while Steve was in Chicago for an ad board during the middle weekend of May.  Not only were we able to see Too-Dad & Too-Mom, but Nana & Pop-Pop came up for the visit, Susan was in town from Scotland, and Sam, Kim, and Mason and Tom & Viv were also able to come over for an evening!  We had a great time.

It was a beautiful day the Friday we came down and we both loved just being outside.  

Maelee especially liked helping Too-Mom feed the birds!

Showing love to "cousin" Mason that evening... :)

On Saturday, we went to Fifer Orchards to take in their Strawberry Festival.  We had a blast!

Maelee loved the real and pretend animals, all the "rides," and the strawberry treats!  It was a great time.  We especially loved the sweet times with family...

It was an awesome weekend.  :)

And here's more!

All in a year!

Well, it's already been over a month now since our little girl's birthday and we still can't believe she's 3!  Maelee really did turn into a little girl this past year with no semblance of a toddler left... sigh.  Her conversations with us, her friends, and her toys both amaze us and crack us up at the same time and she is definitely little Miss Independent with an "I know what I want!" attitude.  Whew!  Yes, it has been a little exhausting over this past year and sometimes all we can do is just shake our heads at her stubborn defiance.

Or laugh...  Like when she yells out "What are you doing, weirdo? Have a rotten day!"  as those are two sayings from her books/toys that she knows aren't kind and she wants to say something mean to us.  Really hard to just put her in the "naughty corner" and not simply crack up hysterically!  Admittedly, it has been a trying year.  But even with the strong will and occasional crazed fits, her sweet, joyful spirit could soften our frustration in a heart beat.  She is quite an outgoing, happy gal who can make family & friends, and even strangers smile.  We praise God for her daily and look forward to another year with this sweet child!

And now a trip down memory lane with some of our favorite pics & memories over the last year...

Two Year "Photo Shoot"

 

 

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

 

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

 

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

 

April 2013

 

And the THREE Year "Photo Shoot!"

 

It's always so hard to choose a small handful of photos to represent a whole year! (Couldn't help myself with all the ones from the most recent "photo shoot," though!)  It has been quite a year.  Lots of special times with family and friends enjoying our city, and enjoying each other.  We are so thankful for another great year with our Maelee-Mae!