Wanted : Two Front Teeth and Cake!!

A week before the big 7, she lost her 2nd front tooth. Signs of the times... she's turning into a full-fledged kid.

While I definitely miss their cute, little baby and toddler stages, this age also has some perks. Like for instance, when I decided to make a cake for Emilia's cake decorating play date, the kiddos re-confirmed that I have no need to purchase an additional kitchen gadget, such as a Cuisinart Stand Mixer. The kids are saving me $300+.



Now, why can't the kids be this enthused to help me out normally in other areas (aka cleaning up, getting dining table ready for dinner, etc).

Emilia's BFF came over and the kids had a birthday play date where the theme was cake decorating. There were two all-white cakes from a local bakery, and I made an additional four 1-layer vegan chocolate cakes for the younger siblings & others to decorate. It was also for Liam to eat, since you know, he's still allergic to eggs.

The younger siblings.

The kids decorated with homemade buttercream frosting of 5 various colors, frosting gels, sprinkles, and gummy bears... apparently the gummy bears on cake was a big hit. Liam got to it first before the other kids, so his cake is loaded with minimal frosting, but lots of gummy bears.

Emilia's 7th...



This bday play date turned out great. It was all about having a special day with a close friend and doing special activities. She didn't, and hasn't, asked once about presents. Okay, she did ask for cake... and she got lots of it. Anyhow, at 7 years old, I'm quite happy at the little person she's become.

Put Another Candle on that Birthday Cake

...cause Liam is 4 years old!


(Vegan chocolate cupcake)

Obligatory pre-present opening photos...

And then the fun part...



Thank you Auntie Rena, Uncle Todd, Luke & Spencer for the firetruck! Liam was super excited. =)



Thanks everybody for bday wishes and presents that made his day special.

A Brick Or Treat 4th Birthday

For Liam's 4th birthday, we went to Legoland's Brick Or Treat. The excitement!!

Brick Or Treating is Legoland's Halloween event during the month of October. Kids go "brick or treating" at either candy stations or brick stations (they get lego pieces) throughout the park. Brick Or Treat requires special Brick Or Treat tickets, which grants admission into the park after normal operating hours, 4pm til 9pm. We actually didn't go brick or treating because the lines are crazy long and we didn't want to spend the whole evening waiting in lines. Instead we took advantage of the time to roam the park and ride the rides.

Kiddos in their costumes. Emilia is Princess Aurora, and Liam is the Amazing Spider man.

Legoland.. the place for everyone to be a kid (aka Ryan!).

Liam needs to use his Spidey senses to direct us to the next activity.

Most. Fun. Night. Ever!

Boat ride (aka unoffical bumper boats).

And, we couldn't leave without the kids earning their Lego driving license at the Junior Driving School.

We were a little worried that Liam couldn't drive, but after a few minutes of figuring things out, he was the most in controlled driver lapping everyone that had crashed.

End of the night, we stayed til the park closed. Emilia was ready to find her way home.

Super fun for the whole family! It was a kick seeing the kids experience centripetal force and momentum fun for the first time on these kind of amusement park rides. Also turned out to be a good break and family time from October's hectic, crazy schedules (hence the no blog updates lately).

1-2-3-4-5!! FIVE!!

Put another candle on that birthday cake...

(Another Vegan birthday cake; this time it's from Whole Foods. Liam loved this one more than the Sprinkles Vegan Red Velvet. I thought the Sprinkles Vegan was superb!)

Cause I'm another year older now!

For her birthday, we took them to what I call "Kiddie Las Vegas". Electronic games, lights, sounds, craziness.. all at the mere insert of tokens.

Ryan discovered that kids do inherit traits of their parents... Emilia drives like mama. Better let Liam go into the driver seat...

Sprinkles

To celebrate turning a big FIVE, Emilia shares with her classmates...

A Sprinkles kind of birthday treat.

Simply sweet. Just like my #growing_up #not_so_little girl.

Happy birthday!

Note: Sprinkles also has a Vegan - dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free Red Velvet cupcake for Liam to participate in the birthday cupcake yumminess!

Frozen

All the way from Erendale, Elsa made an appearance at one of Emilia's friend's birthday party. Notice how all the little kiddies can sing along to the song!



On a side note, there was a fitness challenge on Halloween... to do 10 burpees for each Elsa costume one saw. I knew better than to sign up for THAT challenge.

Emilia practicing patience while waiting for her turn to meet Elsa.

Elsa paints pretty pink snowflakes on Emilia's hand and face.

This is what Liam's doing instead of meeting Elsa.

School buddies.

The kiddos love birthday parties!

Liam's Birthday

Liam's 3rd birthday was spent hanging out with grandma - running around, exploring, laughing, and getting lots of love and attention. It was a simple day of fun.

We went to to a local pumpkin patch and since it was a weekday and early, it was nice and empty! Liam ran around and checked out the pumpkins, haystacks, and decorations. The emptiness of the place was great. It gave him lots of room to run around and chase the birds and for us to chase after him. =)

There were animals for Liam to check out.. ducks, chickens, pigs, goats, emus, peacocks and an impressively fluffed up turkey to look at.

Went for a tractor hayride which Liam enjoyed sitting with grandma.

After the pumpkin patch, we went for lunch and then to a local pond/park. There we checked out the ducks and geese and turtles.

Of course, there was more running and jumping involved. We ran around the lake 2x for ~0.5 miles. Not bad for a little guy. He could have continued, but grandma and I were done. =)

Back home for some remainder birthday cake from his birthday party...

It was a great day spent with Liam and grandma. Days like these are the best. Nothing fancy or distracting.. just simple fun and laughter time.