Belated Birthday

We have now had the privilege of living with a FOUR year old for the last two weeks! Unfortunately the recognition of this milestone is coming late due to computer technical difficulties. She had been requesting a 'Belle birthday' for the entirety of her threes so hence the cake attempt in photos below. By the end of the night she was a pro at singing happy birthday [to herself] and blowing out the candles as many times as possible...

 

What a wonderful girl and such a blessing to our lives! Oh how pleased we are with her and thrilled to spend our days watching her learn and grow. Can't wait to enjoy this next year with her and looking forward to the already decided 5 year Snow White birthday.  [We'll see if that changes :)]

Pumpkin Patch 2013

Today a few moms and kiddos took our second annual trip to Williamson's Pumpkin Paradise!  The weather was perfect and we sure had a great time!  Here is the highlight reel from our outing:

 

 Climbing hay bales...

 

 

A long, bumpy pumpkin train ride...

 

The BIG tire swing...

 

Corn pit!  Best idea anyone's ever had.

 

And the animals...  Everly was so brave and found the courage to pet the calf, donkey, and goats!  They really liked the goats.

 

And more pumpkin themed photos...

Day Out With Thomas

On Friday we made our way to the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad and got to meet Thomas the Train! 

 

 

 

There was lots to see and do! While we were there she had time to color and get tattoos, jump in a bouncy house, play games and play with the trains sets.  Here's Evie after she found one of her favorites, a train named Bash!

Hello Sir Topham Hatt!

 

 Best of all, we boarded the train and Thomas took us for a ride down the tracks!

Ballet Dancer

So Monday finally came and confirmed what we all already knew...Everly is a beautiful ballerina!  She was so excited for her first class and was counting down the days (more specifically the nap times... like 5 naps to go!) when she could step into the studio.  Here she is before she left for class, getting all warmed up I suppose.

 

 

 

Got her ballet slippers all packed and we're ready to go!

 

First ballet class!

 

Farming at the Fair

Tonight we went to the Iowa State Fair! One of Everly's favorite stops was 'Little Hands on the Farm'. She got to plant and harvest veggies, feed and take care of livestock, and complete other farm chores.

 

Ralphie helped too

At the end she sold her items at the farmers' market and got a dollar to spend at their grocery store.  Hard work pays off!

Hot Air!

Last night we went to the Indianola Balloon Classic to watch the balloons come in! It was a beautiful evening!

These three balloons were inflated and took off right in from of us!

 Here they come! All of these balloons were coming in to compete and then landed in Balloon Field.

 

 

 Once they landed they stayed inflated and waited for it to get dark enough for

Nite-Glow!

Everly was excited to get up close and see them! They ended up being a bit bigger and louder than she thought... so we got up close, just from a distance :)