Harper turns 5!

Harper's birthday celebration began last weekend with a one-night stay at our favorite local campground. We reserved two sites, so Steve/Ali/Maisie also spent Friday night there, and then Pops and Grann showed up with a delicious breakfast for us the next morning! Harper got to open some presents, and then later in the day we sang to her and had carrot cake. (I cheated and bought it at a local farmer's market--we've had it before, and it's the closest to Grann's recipe that we've found. Yum!) We filled the day with nature walks and playground visits, and it was a lot of fun!

Ryder was pretending to be asleep on the tree.

Ryder had borrowed a non-fiction book about Teddy Roosevelt from school, and he decided to read it by the campfire. Ha!

Harper and Maisie opted for a princess hidden pictures book.

our little fire-starter!

Harper's bug kit from Pops and Grann was a hit! There are enough pieces that all three kiddos could each have something as we took our walk.

The cute camper in the background is the newest addition to the family. Pops, Grann, Steve, and Ali bought it together to take turns camping in. They already have it pretty well stocked!

a new shirt and overalls from Ali

Ryder loves a flannel shirt!

looking for bugs

This girl is on a mission!

taking notes in her "field journal"

Ryder caught a butterfly! I joked that he's like Mr. Miagi catching flies with chopsticks.

love this one! 😍

Pops, Grann, and their grands

We've learned that Garcia is not really an outside dog. He settled for the shade but would much rather be inside on a couch or bed!

a competitive game of checkers

Andrew wants it to be known that Pops did not win a single game. 😜

cartwheeling...

dancing...

leaping!

On our way home Saturday afternoon, Harper was out like a light! This just screams, "I'm EXHAUSTED from such a good time!"

Harper had a second celebration while we were in the mountains over Thanksgiving. More on that in an upcoming blog post!

Today, on her actual birthday, we were all back to work and school after having a wonderful week of vacation. It was hard to wake up and get back in our usual routine, but it helped that we had Harper's birthday to celebrate...again. Ha! She came running out of her room this morning with a big smile on her face, ready for her morning hugs. I sang happy birthday to her, and she told me she felt taller and her hair was longer now that she is 5. It was adorable because she was so serious! I let her open one present from Grandma and Grandpa first thing this morning, and that helped her get motivated for the day. After school she helped me run a few errands, including buying some birthday balloons and ingredients for the spaghetti she requested for her birthday dinner. Pops and Grann came over after dinner with ice cream to accompany yet another carrot cake that we had pulled out of the freezer. Harper opened two more gifts from Grandma and Grandpa and visited with Pops and Grann before calling it a night. Whew! My baby girl is officially 5, and the celebrations are complete!

Harper loves her new Cabbage Patch, "Joy"

Heading to school! After dropping Ryder off, we always cut through Pops and Grann's neighborhood on our way to the interstate. Occasionally we will see Grann driving to work, and it happened today! Grann was able to drive up next to us and yell happy birthday out the window, but we decided to follow her into the parking lot so Harper could get a quick hug and kiss from her before continuing on our way. It was very sweet, and I know it made Harper's morning!

Ryder and Harper received a surprise package from Uncle Dave and Aunt Jenny today--"a chocolate a day" advent calendars. They can't wait until Friday when the countdown can begin!

Molly the purple kitten

my beautiful birthday girl! 😘😘

Chalk Festival 2017

This weekend is the 10th annual chalk festival right here in Venice, held at the fairgrounds by the airport. We hear about it every year, but for some reason we hadn't been! After a nice big breakfast and lazy morning at home, we headed over to the festival around lunchtime to see what it was all about. Boy, were we impressed! Artists come from around the world to participate, and they have three days to complete their chosen picture. We grabbed some lunch and listened to the live band before walking the huge loop to view all of the artwork. I think Andrew and I could have stayed all afternoon, but the kiddos were starting to complain that their legs were tired. It was well worth the visit, and I definitely want to go back next year!

Right inside the entrance there was a huge chalkboard wall where anyone could sign their name or draw a picture. Ryder and Harper both left their mark. :)

There was a special section for the 3D art. Arrows on the ground indicated where to stand so that when you took a picture it would appear to be three-dimensional. Amazing!

I love this old Superman! Or super old man? 😜

Doesn't the frog's head look like it's popping out of the pavement??

Most of the drawings on the "circuit" were flat, but there were a few 2D/3D ones.

The colors were so vivid that I had to remind myself they were using chalk, not paint!

Ryder liked the colors in this one.

Harper especially liked this ice cream one!

I wish the artist's shadow wasn't across the dog's face, but I didn't exactly feel like I could ask her to move while she worked on the other half of her picture. Ha!

This one was super impressive because it was so big and looked cool from any direction.

This miniature Statue of Liberty sculpture was in the tent at the entrance/exit. As I went to take the picture Harper said, "Mom, you know that's not the real one, right? She is really in New York." Smart little bugger!