Happy Birthday Lydia!

Lydia turned 4 the middle of July. I still can't believe that I have a 4 year old! Where has the time gone?

Anyhow....before I get all weepy...on to the fun. :) This was the first year that she got a friend party, and was she excited or what! Our theme was Princesses and Princes, and it was kind of a pink party too. :)

I made her birthday cake the night before. She had a hard time deciding what she wanted, and at the last minute almost changed it. I helped convince her to stay with the castle cake, since I had already kind of figured out what I wanted. I took the design from here and adapted it into a princess castle instead of a sand castle. I was a little worried about what would happen with this cake just because of my experience with Claire's cake back in March, but this turned out well, and Lydia LOVED it. And that was really all that mattered! The lettering was the same color as the base frosting because I was too lazy to change colors and it didn't work to change colors in the bag until the frosting was almost gone. Oh well, I think it looks cute.

On her birthday we had her little party. Her friends came over and we had a princess and prince parade.
I took pictures of all of the kids, and here is Lydia. Somehow I missed Claire (I think she went by me too quickly and then I was going to get her when she came back and forgot. Oh well, she is in another one that I can crop her out of).
This was probably one of the mildest groups of 4 and 5 year olds I have EVER seen. They listened so well when I asked them to do something, and they were SO polite when they played their games. It was amazing! I was so impressed.

Below is a picture of the princess that I drew for Pin the crown on the princess. I must admit that I do not consider myself an artist but thought that this turned out pretty well. And no, this is not how the game was played with Lydia being the only one near the princess' head (or I guess perfectly on her head). She and a few other girls got close, but they covered up the face, and that would have defeated the point of taking a picture. And hey, she needed a crown for the picture. :) Lydia's friends spoiled her. She has such great friends. She loved all of her presents, and this was one of the few where I was able to get her to look at the camera.
Her party ended a little earlier than I planned, but the kids just played until their parents picked them up. Seriously, a GREAT group of kids!

We had the rest of her birthday after Jeff got home, so he could be there when she opened her gift from us. We got her a balance bike and new helmet, and she thinks it is so cool! She was wearing this cape that we had borrowed from my friend and one of her dress up skirts when she opened it and was so excited she just wanted to ride, so she is wearing them. :)
Claire now has the tricycle set to her height, so she gets to claim it for her own. :) She was pretty excited too, although she still has a hard time reaching the pedals. And she too was dressed up, so she is wearing another dress up skirt.
I finally convinced Lydia to take off all of the extras and it will be easier to ride. It was much easier, and she has loved it! If only it weren't so hot outside....
Afterwards we came back to eat the remainder of the cake. The girls loved the ice cream cone spires.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you and are glad you are in our family!