Happy Birthday to Kate! 4 Years of Fun!

I can't believe I'm sitting here writing about Kate's 4TH birthday!  I vividly remember the day she was born.  She had to be the cutest baby girl ever with her perfect round face and wide open eyes.  I just remember thinking she was so perfect.  And oh what joy she has brought to our family!  Anyone who knows Kate or even remotely follows me on any social media, knows just how funny this girl is. From following her mannequin love pictures, to her dog bone fascination, to her love of frogs and just about any animal, this girl is a hoot and full of life.  Each day can guarantee smiles thanks to Kate and I love that about her.  She has a mind of her own for sure.  This year she became the middle child for our family and has taken it with stride.  She LOVES Bryce and looks forward to loving on him every day.  This year she also became our little ball player starting her first season of soccer.  I can't wait for more to come and maybe some more sports too!  She recently finished her first year of swimming lessons and it is amazing how much she learned and what she can do.  Mrs. Jamie definitely did a great job with her.
Our sweet Kate wanted a Dora party this year and had this in her mind since just after she turned 3.  She has always loved Dora so we went with it.  Most kids have a list a mile long for wishes and wants on their birthday but Kate had not named anything and was happy to tell us she just wanted us to pick.  Her birthday fell on a Thursday and we started the day with a pancake breakfast for her...her choice!  She loved having her pancakes with candles in them.
I always take one last picture before bedtime on the night before their birthdays.  One last picture with mama and her 3 year old.  (sniff sniff)

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Dawn & I planned to go shopping at Toys R Us and then to take the kids to eat lunch at Chic-Fil-A.  I knew Kate would find some birthday wishes at Toys R Us and I was very right.  She found the Animal Planet section and soon had so many things she wanted!  It is so funny because instead of wanting dolls and girlie things, she wanted a farm animal set, a backpack of dinosaurs, and a shark, whale and scuba diver set.  She loves her water table and all of these animals would make perfect toys for it.  Since several family members needed ideas it worked out great.  We finished our shopping and then headed for a birthday lunch.  I know she really enjoyed her day.  When we got home both girls went to play with Keyes & Elliott and got to ride 4 wheelers.  Dawn sent me these pics of them riding.  I got a kick that Cohen was in her dance costume!  I mean what else is better 4-wheeler riding attire?!

That night I cooked one of Kate's favorites, bunny rabbit soup aka chicken & rice.  Suzy & Denny came by and later that night Sug & Pop stopped by.  They had gifts from Grannie, Papa, Aunt Vicki, & Aunt Danette, along with the presents we had bought earlier from them.  She got a new pool just in time to play in for her birthday party on Friday.  Sug & Pop had found a bug vacuum and box and she started using that immediately.  Nothing is more fun than finding a bug to suck up.  Love her!

Bug Sucker!  Perfect for Kate!

Friday night was Kate's Dora party.  Each year we have let the kids have fun in the sprinklers and little blow up pools.  It has always been a blast for them so we continued with that this year too.  We also planned a little obstacle course and drew a map of course since that is what Dora always uses.  Kelly had cut a maze in the field beside our house, they "crossed the river" walking across a pool on a plank, climbed up the playhouse & slid down and finished by finding jewels in the pool and sliding down the big slip-n-slide.  The rest of the night everyone was on the slip-n-slide.  That is always the best and nothing beats black plastic, water, and dish soap!  Kate and Nolan decided they would keep the pool to themselves along with all 500 animals that Kate put in there.  When it was time for cake and presents Kate blew out her candles (which took a few blows) and then immediately picked up each candle and licked the icing.  Never gave it a second thought.  Her cake was so pretty!  Shannon Dean did her cake and had did Cohen's earlier this year.  Both were beautiful and tasted so good!  I highly recommend her.

starting through the maze

there go the big kids

After cake we did presents.  I got the biggest kick out of Kate and Nolan.  He would help her open her present and then she would say, "which one do you want me to get next Nolan?"  He would go pick her one out and give it to her.  She would wait for him each time.  Lol!  I was having flashbacks to last summer when he would hold a potato chip out and she would come bite it.  A true gentleman!  I love them!

she loved her book bag from Sug & Pop

Kate had a great birthday.  Thank you to everyone who made it special for her.  The next day before cleaning up the slip n slide we let the girls and Bryce have one more day of fun.  I think Bryce enjoyed his first slide!

 After slip-n-sliding we put Bryce in a safe place, his monkey pool.  At least we thought it was safe from Kate but soon after this picture she had crawled in there with him and was "gently" holding on to him.