Splash pad... take 2!

The splash pad is a great way to wear out the kiddos...

My little runaway...

Scarlet wants so bad to keep up with her sisters and to do everything they do.  Sometimes she wants to play outside with them and I try to get her out as much as possible but she still needs 100% supervision so she can't always be where they are...

This sometimes leads to her trying to run away from me.  Especially when she KNOWS I'm about to bring her in the house.  She doesn't always understand that with a full house to take care of, I can't spend hours outside with her.

OUCH!

We had a little mishap today...  I was vacuuming and mopping the floors.  Scarlet loves to watch me do this chore but she is always weary of the loud vacuum cleaner.  She was sitting on the rocking chair in Joe's office... just watching.  When I came around the corner I saw her stand up, lose her balance, and fall on the hardwood floor right on her head!  A huge goose egg formed on her forehead within minutes.  And let me tell you... it is hard to keep an ice pack on a toddler's boo boo.  She was very tough though.  She only cried for a minute or two and she was back to climbing on chairs, tables, whatever...  Hasn't learned her lesson...

Summer playgrounds...

Three kids running around a playground can be hard to keep up with!

Fearless!!  Big sister went down this slide so I can too!!!

So photogenic...and all smiles!

she looks so little on the big kid slides

I think my children enjoy giving me a heart attack... but she's all giggles and up the stairs again for another go...

Playgrounds are fun... but tantrums still happen

Day after birthday bash...

The inflatables we rented didn't get picked up until the next afternoon.  The girls did NOT mind at all and were in the bounce house most of the next morning...

Evelyn is 4 years old now!

We celebrated Evelyn's 4th birthday and everyone had a great time.  The theme was "Paw Patrol"...it's one of her favorite cartoon shows.  We had a bounce house and water slide in the backyard.  Enjoy some pictures from the birthday bash!  By the way... this is going to be an insanely long post... lots of pictures and videos to share!

Evelyn's Paw Patrol cake.  It was my first attempt at a two tier cake... also my first attempt working with some fondant.  I'm pretty pleased with it!!  I love to carry on this tradition from my childhood by making my kids' birthday cakes.

Bounce house and water slide are all set up and ready to go.  Including my kids, we are expecting 23 children!

We have a lot of stuff planned and I set up a kiddie pool for the little ones too

The water slide was a huge hit.  I couldn't get Lorelai off of it!  She must have gone down at least 50 times.  You'll notice that there aren't many pictures of her on this post because she spent the entire time on the slide!

Evelyn was actually a little nervous to go down the slide at first.  She finally went down toward the end of the party and of course she loved it!

Evelyn has this same face every year when we sing to her.  She can't believe the attention is all on her!!  It's my favorite part of the entire day.  She gets slightly embarrassed and she's just not used to it.  Lorelai seems to be the one who hogs most of the attention so I just love to see her light up like this.

Scarlet did not stop EATING the entire party!!!  After she finished her plate she would forage around to anyone's leftovers.  Don't turn your back on her, or your food is gone!  This picture shows her eating cake that does not belong to her....

Ok, now we are on to the water balloons!  I bought about three hundred of them!

Scarlet got in on the action too!

Evelyn is running away from the mayhem.  Trying not to get hit!

"What will happen if I just keep squeezing this balloon?..."

"....oh...."

When the party is winding down and the kids need a snack we break out the sno-cone machine

It wasn't the easiest snack for Scarlet to eat...but that didn't stop her from trying her best.  She would stick her whole face in the sno-cone cup

This girl is definitely going to sleep well tonight!

Lorelai hanging out in the bounce house with her friend, Avery

Loves to jump!

Showing off some of her gifts.  This was one of her favorites....Paw Patrol!

When the kids left, they all got to "adopt" a puppy from the pound