Leila's Little Einsteins Party

Saturday we celebrated Leila turning two and my brother, Jon turning 29. We invited our WHOLE family. Everyone who knows Leila, knows how much she adores the Little Einsteins from the Disney Channel. So, when it came time to choose a theme for her party, it was rather obvious. We invited a smaller group of people this time in comparison to her first b-day. Just family, but even then there were about 14 people in our house. The evening was fantastic! Tasty food, loved ones, my baby brother and an adorable TWO-YEAR-OLD.

Every Einsteins b-day party needs a Rocket cake! Thanks to internet inspiration and some frosting tips from a friend, I think Rocket looks pretty darn good! I had a lot of fun making him and was so excited to see Leila's reaction.

The birthday loot was piling up for the two Aug. 20th Leos.
Photo timelines...Jon's on the right, Leila's on the left.
Eating corn from the cob for the first time. Prior to this, we always had to shave it off.
Playing "Elefun" with some of the Taverns.

My family - Dad, me, Jonny and Mom.
We had to move the party inside...it got pretty chilly outside.
Cake time!

I don't understand this, but my brother doesn't like cake. So, he got a huge bowl of rocky road ice-cream with a Rocket figure on top. You can't see his candles, but yes, they are showing the number right before 30!

I LOVE this picture of Leila and her Uncle Nonny.
That evening, after most of the folks had gone home, Chris busted out the wii. My Dad had never played before. I didn't get pictures of my Mom, but she played too. Too funny watching them!

Sunday afternoon I had Leila sit down for lunch. While she was eating, I was at the kitchen sink trying to put things back in order after the party. She was talking away for the the first part. Then all of a sudden, she got really quiet. I turned to see this.
She was bobbing her head and fighting to stay awake. She was exhausted from all the partying. Hey, turning two is rough!

Birthday Dinner at Red Robin

Last Thursday, the 20th, Leila turned two! The three of us celebrated with a trip to Red Robin. This is Leila's favorite restaurant...she is a RR macaroni lover! Add the side of mandarin oranges and she will clean her plate. We had the wait staff sing to her and she was tickled...although she dove right in to the ice-cream treat as soon as it was put in front of her (must be my daughter), so she didn't look at the waiters too much while they were singing to her. We had a great evening hanging with our big girl.

Leila's birthday sundae. Funny note, she did not want to eat the chocolate sauce. She finally tried it on accident and discovered that it isn't too bad.

"Happy, happy birthday from Red Robin to you. Hey!"

Bring back memories, Uncle Jonny?

Look at this shirt! Macaroni and chocolate sauce all over it!

Leila is TWO!!

Two years ago, today, Chris and I were blessed with Leila's arrival. How quickly two years have gone by! There are days when I look at her and hardly see a baby anymore. She is becoming a little girl so very fast. She continually impresses Chris and me with the connections that she makes throughout the day.

We are blessed to have such a caring, imaginative, happy and intelligent daughter!

Some of the things that fancy Leila at the present are:

*The Little Einsteins

*Playing Hide-N-Seek with Daddy

(great at hiding, not so good at waiting to be found)

*Reading books

*Trips to the bookstore

*Playing outside...with ANY kind of ball (hitball, hoopball, kickball)

*Singing to "her mountain" - Mt. Rainier

*Princess Belle

*Starbucks (tall water and madeline cookies)

*Jeff from the Wiggles

*Playing Daddy's guitars and mandolin

*Singing with Mommy in the rocker before bed

(especially the "Heart Song" - AKA "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes")

*Baby Tevyn

*Giraffes and elephants

Leila's BIRTHday ~ Aug. 20, 2007 ~5:45 pm ~ 7.5 lbs ~ 20 inches

Leila at ONE!

Leila's first birthday party.

Leila a few days shy of TWO! At the Pierce County Fair.

Leila and my girlfriend's son riding the camel at PDZA yesterday. Look at that brave two-year-old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEILA!

Fun at the Fair

Last weekend, we joined Chris's parents at the Pierce County Fair in Graham. Believe it or not, I had never been to this fair even though it is a VERY short ride down Meridian. It is pretty small, but we enjoyed ourselves. Of course the best part of the fair was leaving that evening with a bag full of warm scones!

Graham firefighters had one of their trucks there and were letting the kids dress up and drive it.

Gramma, Leila and Daddy just before dinner.

Checking out some of the livestock.
Leila wanted to ride each of the tractors that were on display. Look closely and you will see her "Baby Fwadda" (koala) in her coat. She had taken to carrying her animals in her coat like a front pack. Silly!

A Second Go

We just returned this last weekend from our second trip to California. This time we visited the Holmstrom side of the family to attend my cousin Eric's wedding. We drove this time, so Chris and I decided that we are now a true American family as we have taken that "Family Road Trip". Leila did amazingly well in the car. We took our time driving and made many stops along the way. My cousin's wedding was gorgeous and we really enjoyed our time together as a family.

Leila and Daddy watching some Little Einsteins in one of our hotel rooms.

Our happy traveler...she completed 2 and half paint with water books on our trip. She was content to paint, do stickers, read books and look at her View Master. I am proud to say that we do NOT have a DVD player in our car and it wasn't even needed.
Enjoying Lithia Park in Ashland, OR. What a lovely park! Watching the ducks.
Walking barefoot in the waterfall at Lithia Park.
Enjoying the Pacific at the San Pedro Beach in Ventura, CA with Daddy and Grandad.

Some of the gang: Chris, Erin, Brian, Shawna and Jon
Leila called these baggage holders PIANOS. She insisted that we play the piano each morning. The two of us that were not playing were directed to dance.
Taking in a game at Dodger Stadium. My first time there, Chris's second. Extremely HOT in our seats!

Most of the Dodger game crew...one of us is not in the picture. Hmmmm...where is Elisabeth?
Visiting the Santa Barbara Zoo. Leila got to take her favorite animals for a spin.
Lunch at Buca di Beppo's in LA's City Walk.
On the way home, we stopped in San Fran for a few days. We had never been there before and we totally enjoyed exploring the city. I LOVE San Fransisco!

We lucked out, the Giants were in town and we scored amazing seats!
Leila on Fisherman's Wharf. She asked for her picture here! I couldn't believe it! It can sometimes be a chore to get her to sit for even a second for a picture. Not this time.
Point Bonita Lighthouse in Marin City just outside of San Fran.

The bridge wasn't completely out, as it was pretty overcast for most of our stay. As we were taking pictures, we had this conversation with Leila:

L: Daddy, bridge too hot.

D: What honey?

L: Bridge hot!

D: No, it isn't hot. It is windy here.

L: No, hot. Peemin'.

D: Peemin? (We look at bridge and see the clouds and mist rolling over it)

D: Oh, yes, it looks like it is STEAMIN'. Those are clouds. The bridge is not hot.

Wow! What connections she makes. It really did look like it was steaming.

We had a wonderful time! Notice there are no pictures of my cousin's wedding? The camera got left at the hotel room that evening, which really stinks, but I couldn't do much about it. Eric was very dapper, Sarah was stunning and Leila (the flowergirl) dropped her petals perfectly!

I must admit that we are glad to be back home.