Ni Hao Kai-Lan birthday party

First, the details:

Carrots and ranch, wonton chips, fruit and edamame.

"Sushi" sandwiches: pb&j and ham and cheese.

Fortune cookie cupcakes and cake pops.

Rice Krispie treat sushi rolls.

And...since I'm much better on the computer than with frosting...the smash cake.

The blondies!

Lining up to play games...thanks to Maya's direction!

Nothing gets 'em excited like a good, old-fashioned Bean Bag Toss.

Pin the glasses on Ye-Ye. 

Cousins Cooper and Teagen being silly on the SuperCoupe.

Drew literally stopped opening her presents when "Ma Belle Evangeline" from The Princess and the Frog came on the iPod. She closes her eyes, sways her body and moves her arms like a conductor. Every time.

Opening her first of many super fun gifts!

It took a few tries to get those candles!

She knew what to do this year!

And so did Meghan!

Mom getting to eat a little dinner after dessert was served. 

Rockin' out with one of her favorite new toys!

Birthday Weekend...Drew is 3!

We had a big, fun weekend to celebrate Drew's 3rd birthday. Normally, we go to the OC Fair on her actual birthday, but since Auntie Kels couldn't get off work, we're postponing. After Mommy and Daddy got home from work, we opened presents.

After presents, we had dinner at Ruby's, rode the Carousel and decorated her own cupcake at the Spectrum.

Party day! Drew wanted to get in a little bed-jumping with Woody (like Andy) before swim lessons and her Ni  Hao Kai-Lan party.

...and some quality time with her new toys.

We had our friend, Beth, take "official" party photos on her camera, so more pictures will follow, but here are just a couple.

Drew and the girls from L to R: Drew, Lauren (9 mos.), Kaileigh (23 mos.), Meghan (3), Teagen (2.5) and Maya (7)....(not pictured: Taylor and Cooper and Logan)

Our best family photo of the day.

4th of July

The Morning Crew. Running a 5K at 8:40AM (or 5:40 Hawaii time, which we were still on).

Enjoying the post-race barbecue with Baby Lauren.

What a ham. 

Sparklers!

The "kids."

Playdate!

Drew and her best buddy Meghan had a little playdate this weekend.

 Toys out in every room in the house and a happy Drew = Successful playdate.

Doing a little dancing at the Royal Ball aka the game room.

Taking the longest nap either of them have taken in over a month - 8 seconds.

Toy Story Addict

And now for Drew's latest trick: reciting movie lines. Mostly from Toy Story 1, here are her regulars:

"Look, I'm a Picasso!"

"I don't get it."

"You uncultured swine!"

"What are you looking at, Hockey Puck?"

And my favorite Drew quote from Toy Story (she does both parts, quite well, I might add):

We'll work on getting video of her actually doing these quotes.

Rock Star!

This weekend Drew went to Maya's 7th Birthday Party -- a Rock Star party. She had so much fun getting her nails painted (by Gigi), and her hair (by Kendra) and makeup (by Sheena) done. Here are a few shots of the party (Lindsey did an amazing job with 21 girls 7-years-old-and-under running around!). The party ended with a runway show that Drew fully embraced. Surprise, surprise.

Taylor (3), Drew (2), Teagen (2)

Work It!

Busy Bee!

This week, I was able to go to Mommy and Me Princess Ballet Class. Not exactly the most ballet-oriented, but who can resist a little girl in a tutu??

Stretching is serious business.

Next on our list of sports to try: swimming and then gymnastics. In the winter, we'll draw straws to see who gets to (has to) do Mommy and Me Ice Skating.

Today, with mommy off work, we had a little girls date at the Discovery Cube, a kid's museum in Santa Ana.

 

We made rivers and dams in the sand and water....and had to clean ourselves up several times.

We watched 5 minutes of a 14-minute 4-D underwater movie. 

And of course we spent a little time at the hockey exhibit, checking out all the Anaheim Ducks gear and games. Maybe next time she can race Ryan Getzlaf or test the weight of Teemu's uniform and skates. She did get to drive the Zamboni though!

Trouble when left alone. Obviously.

....she found Grammy's mascara that is stashed in her car and decided to apply her own. Honestly...not a bad attempt! I think she had more success than I did with my first trial-run in high school.

She is quickly becoming an awesome swimmer, seriously. She kickboards around the pool like she's a pro-boogie-boarder, she dives for rings like she's a Cousteau and she's been experimenting with the breastroke, freestyle, the backstroke and her turnaround at the pool wall. I'm not joking, she is actually picking up these things from I-don't-know-where.