Ahoy, Matey!

To celebrate Leila's 4th birthday with our families, we invited both sides over for some pirate party fun! Leila loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates on Disney Junior. I think at one point we had every episode ever made recorded on our DVR. Goodness! We had great weather for the afternoon and a houseful of family! Perfect!!

Leila keeps telling Chris and me that she would like a dog. Sorry, kid...not in this house. We did get her a dalmation though for her birthday!

This girl loves some smurfs!
Princess nightgown!

Does the cake look like a pirate hat?? That is what I was going for with the cupcakes representing some jewels.

Uncle Jonny and Leila - birthday buds, both August 20th babies!
My baby and my baby brother...love them lots!

Leila at 4

My favorite part of keeping a blog happens each January when I print the year's posts in a hard-bound book. We now have three years of Tavern Family History in print. I am telling you, it is the easiest way to scrapbook! I am looking forward to the years ahead when Leila flips through them with us and we can share our memories. With those times in mind, I write this post to Leila.

August 20, 2011 ~ age 4

Words/phrases we LOVE to hear you say...

(it will be a sad day when you outgrow them):

puftit = perfect

chip chops = chocolate chip cookies

ah judgers! = a statement of frustration

rade = past tense of read - "Mommy, we rade that book last night."

honeys = baby dolls - "My honeys are sleeping. Shh."

before it starts blooding

hoop-a-loop = hula hoop

paputer - computer

buh-pyano = piano

Can I be accused? = Can I be excused?

Our gate speaks "panish" = We have to speak to our gate in Spanish.

Words/phrases that we can't believe you use correctly in your everyday conversations:

I prefer

certainly is

actually

perhaps

probably

Is that a good plan?

A sentence that melted your Dad's heart recently:

"Daddy, I prayed that I was a real princess and I married you." (6.23.2011)

A bittersweet moment for your Mom and Dad:

You started pronouncing L correctly. It was no longer a W sound.

Weeda became Leila on July 6, 2011 and you grew up a little bit more before our eyes.

Things you love:

Blankie**Hoppity**books**Aladdin**Hercules**music**hockey**purple**

Ritz Bitz**blue Gatorade**Brian Rafalski**Star Wars**Disney princesses**

squashed pennies**coloring**smurfs**Yo Gabba Gabba**stickers**

painted nails**searching for Hondas on the road**puzzles**Wheat Thins

We love you, Leila Elizabeth! You have filled our home and family with joy, smiles, love, and laughter these past four years. We are truly blessed beyond measure to call you our daughter!!! Happy 4th birthday, Weeda!!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

It is that time of year again when Chris and I look at each other and wonder how the year went by so quickly. On August 20th, Leila turned FOUR! To celebrate her special day we surprised her with a morning treat of powdered donuts. I stacked 4 donuts and stuck a tall candle through the centers. She was so eager to eat them that I didn't even have a chance for a picture with the candle.

After breakfast, we got ready for Leila's first ever "Friend Party". All her pals met at the park for playtime, sweets and presents. Instead of making a cake, I had the kids decorate sugar cookies.
The best part of kid parties is watching the guests creep closer and closer to the birthday kid while he/she is opening presents.

The group - Alivia, Sadie, Mackenzie, LEILA, Ian, Bergen, Kajsa and Anniston (not pictured - Baby Leif, Baby Finley, Elliott and Edith)


The big girls - Kenzie, Leila and Bergen
For dinner that night we did the usual and headed to Red Robin. It is Leila's favorite place to eat and has become a tradition for her birthday dinner.

Rainiers Baseball

We LOVE having a minor league baseball team so close and although we don't go to the games as much as we would like, it sure is fun when we do make it! Monday night, we headed to the newly remodeled Cheney Stadium to take in a game. The weather was gorgeous, we had great company, sat in super seats and the Rainiers won...so what more could we ask for??!!??

Leila and her "cottonin candy". She had pretty much the entire bag to herself...no one else really dug the purple flavor.

We sat behind home plate , but Chris is friends with the "PR man", so Geoff asked Chris if he would like to sing between the innings. It was Hawaiian Night and Chris's job was to complete the missing lyrics to a Hawaiian song. He did super!

Waiting for Dad to sing.
Leila met Rhubarb while we were waiting.

The Jumbo Screen

Asking the crowd what they thought of Christopher's singing...of course they LOVED it!

The Rainiers won in the last inning! What a way to end the night!!

Pierce County Fair

Last weekend was the "Small Fair", as we like to call it. The Pierce County Fair is a fun way to spend an afternoon, but really leaves us yearning for the Puyallup Fair! We met Gramma and Papa on Sunday afternoon and spent a few fun hours together.

We rode the swings:

Ran into some friends by chance (Mackenzie):

Posed for some pictures at the Fire and Rescue booth:
Dressed up like a fire fighter:

And decided we wouldn't smile (for ANYTHING!) inside the truck:
I REALLY wanted to see the inside of the engine!! I guess the fire fighter could tell because he told me I could crawl inside and I didn't even ask him. Thanks!
Not long now until the "Big Puyallup Fair"!!

"Camping"

Two nights this last week Leila and Chris attempted to sleep outside in our backyard. Both nights Leila ditched the tent for the house around 10:30 pm. Chris decided to stay in the tent the second night, but Leila just wasn't ready to spend the entire night outside. She had a blast reading and playing with Dad for several hours prior to lights out, but as soon as the tent flaps were zipped up, she was ready to bail. I understand kiddo!

Helping with set-up.

She was soooooo excited!


Practicing what sleeping would feel like.

Maybe next summer?