friday was kate's birthday.
her third (can you believe it!) birthday.
when asked how she wanted to celebrate, she requested a party at loon lake...so we went with it....deciding to mash her birthday up with our annual "friend" weekend at the lake with some dear friends. this was actually the 5th annual (well...except that we missed last year) trip. what started has four couples and zero children (with only mike and i married on the first trip!)...has become two couples and five kiddos (mostly due to space/chaos restrictions...because, wouldn't it be oh so fun to have all four couples and the eight kiddos between us!).
anyway...we decided to combine the festivities, invite a few "near the lake" friends...and voila...birthday party + time with some of our dear friends.
jill and i managed to squeeze five carseats in the back of my van...meaning we had some quality extra time during the drive AND got a few extra hours at the lake...and the guys got some good guy time as well!
can you spot all five kiddos?
before we hit the road we might have stopped at einstein bros. for free bagel friday...and kate might have gotten a mini cinnamon sugar bagel...complete with candles and some happy birthday singing (but no flames...i figured that might not be the wisest inside the van with four other small children!). she was delighted!
...and after some sand and water play and a yummy cilantro pesto taco dinner the birthday girl got a birthday cupcake, complete with lit candles and some more singing! thanks grandma f for the cutie birthday girl shirt! :)
after some evening swinging (or just sitting in the baby swing to give us a hint!) all five tuckered out kiddos headed to bed....
....and jill and i started piecing together and decorating kate's turtle cake. our dear hubbies kept us company...and not only did the turtle turn out better than i had envisioned, but we also had lots of fun in the process!
saturday we did lots of playing and hanging out...
libbers was completely enamored with emmett...she loved to tell us how cute he is (and she is right!).
"so what if there is a whole lake out there...i'll just play IN the bucket!"
brennan, kate, and libbers making mudpies (and volcanos and sandy pants!)
uncle nathan and kater did lots of swimming...and she was brave enough to "jump" off the end of the dock several times and do lots of jumping in the air with uncle nathan! i don't have pictures, but elizabeth also is becoming quite the waterbug...as long as she is on top of a float of some sort.
saturday evening GG and miss jill (a dear friend of mine from home) joined us for kater gator's party (and, of course, grandmommy and poppy were with us all weekend!). we served the menu that kate requested...hotdogs, cheeseballs, and strawberries (grandmommy added some baked beans as well)...and then dove into the turtle cake (strawberry flavored as the birthday girl requested--sidenote, if anyone is looking for a homemade strawberry cake recipe the one i found online was quite tasty!).
kate especially liked the frosting!
we enjoyed a nice evening boat cruise afterward...
libbers was a wee bit enamored with miss jill! :)
and the birthday girl was a bit worn out from all the festivities!
sunday was another gorgeous day...swimming, fishing, sand play...all the fun stuff before heading home that afternoon.
hanging with uncle nathan
the whole gang
when asked how she wanted to celebrate, she requested a party at loon lake...so we went with it....deciding to mash her birthday up with our annual "friend" weekend at the lake with some dear friends. this was actually the 5th annual (well...except that we missed last year) trip. what started has four couples and zero children (with only mike and i married on the first trip!)...has become two couples and five kiddos (mostly due to space/chaos restrictions...because, wouldn't it be oh so fun to have all four couples and the eight kiddos between us!).
anyway...we decided to combine the festivities, invite a few "near the lake" friends...and voila...birthday party + time with some of our dear friends.
jill and i managed to squeeze five carseats in the back of my van...meaning we had some quality extra time during the drive AND got a few extra hours at the lake...and the guys got some good guy time as well!
can you spot all five kiddos?
before we hit the road we might have stopped at einstein bros. for free bagel friday...and kate might have gotten a mini cinnamon sugar bagel...complete with candles and some happy birthday singing (but no flames...i figured that might not be the wisest inside the van with four other small children!). she was delighted!
...and after some sand and water play and a yummy cilantro pesto taco dinner the birthday girl got a birthday cupcake, complete with lit candles and some more singing! thanks grandma f for the cutie birthday girl shirt! :)
after some evening swinging (or just sitting in the baby swing to give us a hint!) all five tuckered out kiddos headed to bed....
....and jill and i started piecing together and decorating kate's turtle cake. our dear hubbies kept us company...and not only did the turtle turn out better than i had envisioned, but we also had lots of fun in the process!
saturday we did lots of playing and hanging out...
libbers was completely enamored with emmett...she loved to tell us how cute he is (and she is right!).
"so what if there is a whole lake out there...i'll just play IN the bucket!"
brennan, kate, and libbers making mudpies (and volcanos and sandy pants!)
uncle nathan and kater did lots of swimming...and she was brave enough to "jump" off the end of the dock several times and do lots of jumping in the air with uncle nathan! i don't have pictures, but elizabeth also is becoming quite the waterbug...as long as she is on top of a float of some sort.
saturday evening GG and miss jill (a dear friend of mine from home) joined us for kater gator's party (and, of course, grandmommy and poppy were with us all weekend!). we served the menu that kate requested...hotdogs, cheeseballs, and strawberries (grandmommy added some baked beans as well)...and then dove into the turtle cake (strawberry flavored as the birthday girl requested--sidenote, if anyone is looking for a homemade strawberry cake recipe the one i found online was quite tasty!).
kate especially liked the frosting!
we enjoyed a nice evening boat cruise afterward...
libbers was a wee bit enamored with miss jill! :)
and the birthday girl was a bit worn out from all the festivities!
sunday was another gorgeous day...swimming, fishing, sand play...all the fun stuff before heading home that afternoon.
hanging with uncle nathan
the whole gang
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4 comments:
such a wonderful, happy post! the birthday girl is just adorable! sounds like a great birthday celebration and time with friends/family. that turtle cake was awesome...good job!
What an absolutely FUN birthday weekend!! I love how much fun is evident in each and every photo--Kate is such a dolly! And that turtle cake is a-mazing. Have you thought of professional cake decorating? ;-)
So, so sweet - she's three???? That cake is AMAZING. Did you just eyeball it and do it all freehand? Or did you have some kind of pattern you followed? Either way - fantastic job! And - I know I am always bugging you for your recipes, but can you send me the one for your strawberry cake? Savannah wants a Strawberry Shortcake theme this year, and I thought it would be fun to do a strawberry-flavored cake along with that, but I am not a huge fan of strawberry cake mix. :)
I admit it. I have not been blog hopping much of the summer. I'm now visiting yours to catch up...
I can't believe Kate is THREE!!! How in the world does that happen???
Time flies....
Great pics!
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