Happy Birthday Lay-Lay!

Kalaya turned 4 this past weekend and we had a weekend of birthday festivities to celebrate. Of course, like usual, we held it at Nana and Grandaddy's.

This years' theme ( decided last year in December-- my baby knows how to plan!) was:

Strawberry Shortcake

The first step was making the cake and this year she wanted a "big girl cake". By that she meant- multiple layers.

This year we decided to use fondant. And the best part about fondant is....We all got to help!
KK was definitely the master mind behind the whole thing.

But we all had our part to do. Nana, KK, Sandy, me and Kalaya all made parts for the cake.

She loved her cake!

We had to make sure Strawberry made it to the top somehow!

And of course everything was pink, pink, and pink.

But as long as there was food-- Justice didn't care what color it was.

And of course, after eating (pizza party- which by the way was the best idea we ever came up with. No cooking, no dishes, just nice and easy) --it was time for presents!

and wrestling with the cousins.

She loves her new skates. However, her favorite gift was a tub waterfall toy for her Barbie mermaid. How do I know it's her favorite? After opening presents she immediately stripped down and got in the bath to play.

And of course we had our customary water party too. Slip n Slide- balloons- water guns, etc.

Dominic stayed in for the water festivities--maybe next year!

Happy Birthday Lay-Lay Part Deux!

The next part of Kalaya's 4th birthday included alot of surprises for my big girl.

We woke up early Sunday morning and loaded in the car to go on a "surprise birthday adventure"!

She was ready to go.

First stop was the Chattanooga Zoo. And even though this zoo is smaller the others-- it was AWESOME. Alot less people to contend with and way cheaper. The best part was getting a private behind the scenes tour of the entire zoo where we fed tons of the animals and got to hear neat stories about them.
Can you see Goliath sitting rigth beside Kalaya at the window? Hard to tell but there was a massive chimpanzee sitting right beside her.

Walking into the train car to view the cougars.

She loved the zoo- although it was as hot as a billy goat in a pepper patch out there.

Good thing we got a nice big ole bed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo to relax on!

Not to mention the pool with waterfalls that we had to swim in as oftern as possible.She enjoyed our newly created "french fry Jenga" game at Cheeburger Cheeburger too.

(yes, I spelled that right)

Resting after a loooong day.

Looking at the choo choo's the next morning.
After eating breakfast the next day- we visited the children's museum.

If you've never taken your kids there-- go now!

Don't stop, don't pass go, don't collect 200 dollars.
We've been to the Atlanta one too, and don't get me wrong, it's nice. But the Chattanooga one is awesome.

She REALLY enjoyed painting her own face.

Played lots of instruments (by the way, its around now that my OCD and other lovely things start kickin up in my head and I realize I'd really like to bathe in hand sanitizer right about now)

Operation! The upstairs theme was Grossology for the summer. Lots of information on boogies, poo, burping, and smells.

Bring your 4-49 yr old boys for entertainment.

The trip was awesome. She came back tired but very happy.

Now the question is---

how do we beat this next year!

A Boy Who Loves His Country Gold Saturday Night....