fun in the sun...

i have to apologize because the new blogger has sent this post a little askew...the words are off and the pictures are from sunday to saturday. Hang in there, the pictures and story are worth it :)

 spending mother's day afternoon with the withers family...yummy cake!

 grandma nancy with the girls

 grandma pam with her girls...

 trying to get some pictures with the girls...next to impossible sometimes!

 -----------------------------------------------------fun at como town!

 livia trying out the tilt a whirl for the first time...brave little girl!

 sophia trying out the swings for the second time...loved them so much she had to go on them again (without big sister)!

 taking a ride on the cars (livia and sophia's first ride as a toddler)

 riding on the pirate ship with daddy

 a little lunch after the zoo...before the rides!

 up close and personal with the magestic giraffes

 a little withers flair by the flamingos!

a great way to start the day (and lovely weekend!)

safari saturday...

we celebrated sophia's 4th birthday on "safari saturday". I know some of you have been waiting for Easter pictures, but between sophia getting sick, me getting sick, and planning for the party, there has been NO time. I promise I will upload those pictures in the next week.

This year we decided to go with a giraffe theme, since giraffes are Sophia's favorite animal. It was a little "obscure", which lead to the cake debacle of 2012 (see pictures at the end). All in all it was a BEAUTIFUL day - beautiful weather, awesome family and friends, delicious food - for a BEAUTIFUL little girl!

sophia on her real birthday wearing the annual birthday princess hat...

"thanks for sticking your neck out and coming to my wild party! love, sophia"

ready to welcome her guests to the "giraffe crossing"...

playing in the giraffe tent with buddy, owen

giraffe craft fun

happy 4th birthday, pumpkin!

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the giraffe cake debacle of 2012: we ordered a cake from our "cake lady". The specific directions given were a 2 tiered round cake that is yellow with white polka-dots. There was to be no writing on it, since I was going to put something on the top. Also, she would make 1 jumbo cupcake with yellow frosting and white polka dots. This is what we found when we drove to Lester Prairie to pick it up on Friday evening...

i was quite displeased with the outcome...I will laugh about it - someday.

i think the kicker of the whole cake was that i sent our cake lady an invitation so she could match the color of the invite to the color of the cake. She then took it upon herself to write in PINK letters and add a giraffe, since she said "It looked a little plain." (sigh)...we definitely made a memory with this one!

when two vowels go walkin'...

livia had her first "first grade musical" last monday. The musical was entitled, "Rockin' A to Z", and each child had a special part of the production. Livia was selected to sing a solo in the song, "When Two Vowels Go Walking". We were so proud! Way to go, sweetie!

livia with her first grade teacher, mrs. schantzen

so proud as she walks into the gym with her class

livia's class

sophia watching her big sis with stars in her eyes...she is looking forward to being in first grade!

"shh"...the silent e song

livia's first playbill ;)

getting ready to sing!

" when two vowels go walkin' "

sophia and livia standing in livia's classroom

livia's artwork selected to be a part of the tiger display in the entrance of her school...we are so proud of you, pumpkin!