Cousin Gavin Turns 4!

On July 18, Gavin turned 4! We had his party the following Sunday which was also the day we got back from camping (yet another post I'm behind on). He chose to have a Bob the Builder themed birthday party. Ever since his party Layla has been asking to watch Bob and Gibson likes it too a little bit--mainly when they sing (he's finally getting a LITTLE more into tv, not that I want him to love it, but at least for a little bit here and there it'd be nice, normally he just likes shows when they sing and dance since he LOVES to dance just like his big sis). Her favorite shows are still Mickey, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, sometimes Little Einsteins, sometime Handy Manny, sometimes Olivia or Backyardigans, and for some reason, rarely Dora or Diego anymore.

It's hard to believe that Gavin is 4 already!! I hardly remember him being this small! I always think that with my own kids too. I was looking at some newborn clothing the other day and to me now it looks like preemie stuff it seems so tiny!

Enjoying appetizers...

Then enjoying some time on the swing set...

Gibson sporting his Bob the Builder tie...

Present time!

A little sleepy from the big camping weekend--Layla that is, well, maybe Joe too:)...

Trying to get the excavators untied off of our gift:)...

A Mickey pillow case was one thing we got him, but we only were able to give him half of his gift b/c I couldn't find the main thing I bought him! I swear I know where I stuck it, but it's not there. I'm pretty sure an intruder must have taken it:). No, really, apparently I'm losing my mind! I never ended up finding it so we got him some Playmobile sets to go with the Police Station he got from his parents for his birthday.

Gibs liked the construction hats, just not wearing them properly on his head:)...

Opening more gifts...

His yummy cake made by the same girl that did Layla's this year...

Layla Turns 3!

On June 5 (the day after her birthday) Layla celebrated her 3rd birthday with our families! She had been talking for months about how she wanted a Dora and Diego party, so that's what she got!

I forgot to get a pic of all the food, but here was the set up...

Appetizers...

She loves Mexican (well, actually she just really loves all different kinds of food:D) so we had a Mexican themed meal of green sauce chicken enchiladas, red sauce chicken enchiladas and beef burritos...

Gavin brought his Jeep along since he knew what Layla would be getting for a gift...

We had a game for the kids (mainly just for Gavin and Layla, Gibs didn't really participate:D) where they had to follow a map just like Dora always does. The starting stop was at the grill.

One of their stops was the shed. Layla was really excited about the game and loved following her map--she pretends things are treasure maps all the time.

The point of the game was to rescue the stars at the end...if you've watched Dora with your kid before, that might make more sense:). I found star shaped marshmallows that were out for the 4th of July, so those were the stars they were saving and therefore got to eat. They were also on Em's fruit pizza, but I forgot to get a pic of it:(.

Diego, Dora and Diego posing at the end of the game:). The masks are a bit creepy but were just too funny to pass up:).

She followed the map a second time around she loved it so much:)...

Here's the cute map Joe made. Layla loved saying "Where we goin' next? To the grill (or whatever stop they were on)!" Again, you'll only get that too if you've seen Dora:).

Enjoying their meals...

Present time! She's opening Grampy and Gigi's gifts here...

Cousin love:)...

A big girl bike from Grandpa and Grandma!!

Opening her (and Gibs') gift from Gigi and Grampy partly from Christmas and part from Gibs' birthday...

A Gator!

Swimming time!

We probably should have gotten out our slightly bigger pool, but they didn't seem to mind squishing in the turtle:)...

Her cute and delicious cake made by the same girl that made Gibs' birthday cake...

Family picture attempt...

Guys and Dolls

Boys can play with dolls too, right? :)

Vacation Bible School

Layla went for her first time to VBS last week. I was a little nervous of how it would go especially since she didn't know anyone at that church (it's near our church and a lady helping out works with my MIL so that's how we knew about it) and it was a very new experience for her. It was for four days in a row from 9am to 11:15. I was a little concerned with getting us out of the door on time in the morning, but for some reason the kids were up early every day last week (otherwise Layla often sleeps until 9) so we made it on time (or close to:D) every morning. And it was worth rushing out of the house in the morning since it was good for Layla and because she really liked it!

Gibs and I then just ran errands every morning. We were going to pick blueberries one morning, but then with how hot it was last week, we ended up just picking them up already picked. That worked much easier:). We also thought we'd have plenty of time to clean the toys in nursery at church too but went after running some errands one morning and after organizing some paperwork, ran out of time to finish cleaning the toys. It was nice having one on one time with Gibs though. I get a lot more alone time with Layla, so it was nice to have time with him (weird though to not have someone along that will answer me and ask me questions:D).

The pics are out of order, but I don't feel like moving them. This is after her last day. She was proud of her pencil box (well, actually it had crayons and bubbles in it) she stickered and of the poster she got. She also loved (and still loves) the little Bible Buddies (little plastic animals with the verse of the day written on their back) they gave her (Gibs loves them too). She missed getting them the first two days so we made sure to get them on the last night. Today her Bible Buddies have been doing lots of camping (in her Loving Family pop-up camper:D).

Ready to go one of the mornings...

I had just put Gibs' sandels on and Layla wanted a pic so I told him to smile and he leaned in nicely, put his arm around Layla and smiled but of course my camera made the picture turn out blurry! :(

Hugging before leaving a different morning...

On the last day of VBS they had a program for the parents/grandparents at night. She had been asking for a panda all week so I told her she could get one for the final night. Thankfully Gibs and I found one at Family Fare for her.

She was a little apprehensive being up there at first and just stared at us, but eventually started to do the motions at the end. I was just proud of her for even going up there! Now at home she loves the songs they sang and likes to watch the videos on You Tube and do the motions and sing along.

Gibs enjoyed the show (well, for the beginning, then he got a little antsy)...

The girl standing behind her was her buddy for the week. That girl was one of the young helpers in her group. Layla likes older girls for some reason. I spotted that girl when we got to the church that night and brought Layla right over by her or I'm sure she wouldn't have been as okay with going up front!

Layla enjoyed the ice cream afterwards:)...

One of the days they played with feathers and when I picked her up that day she mainly just talked about the feathers and chocolate cookie she had for a snack:). The other thing that she talked about that week was singing and that they would say "Thank you God!" a lot. It's cute to hear her around the house still shouting "Thank you God!".

The co-worker of my mother-in-law took pictures during VBS so after the first day she sent some right over to my MIL and then at the end they also gave us a DVD with all of the pictures.

Singing on the first day (well, I assume it looks like they're singing:D)...

Unfortunately we forgot her bow the first day, oops!

I aways wonder what she's like when I'm not around...she looks obedient here:). And her teacher said she was really good, so hopefully she was!