Well, it finally happened......my little girl turned 2! Sometimes it seems like just yesterday we were celebrating her birth,other times it seems like she has been around forever. :) For her birthday, we had my Mom, my Grandma, and my brother Jeff over for lunch after church. It was a nice, small, intimate celebration. :)
We had a yummy lunch and then an even yummier cake. ;)
When it came time for Samantha to blow out her birthday candles, her brother helped her. :)
After blowing out the candles it was time to dig in! We were wondering what she would do this year with a piece of cake sitting in from of her. She normally just grabs at her food and eats like there is no tomorrow. ;) This time she was very delicate about it. We think she didn't like the feeling of the frosting on her hands. Every time she got some on her she put the cake down. She probably, in the end, ate about 1/4 of her piece.
Marc encouraged her to take the cars of the cake and lick the frosting off....silly Daddy! ;)
As soon as she was done with the cars, she stuck her finger directly into the cake before we even cut into it.
She was very delicate and dainty about eating her cake.
Every time she picked up her cake and got some frosting on her fingers, she put the cake down and tried to clean her hands.
She got frosting and cake all over her face and the front of her dress. So, gee darn, we had to take her out of her cute new dress to change her into her new Birthday Girl shirt. ;)
When Samantha started opening her first present (delivered by the cutest delivery boy ever) she was having some trouble getting the paper started. Her big brother came to her rescue and helped her. He didn't have to help her for long, she quickly got the hang of unwrapping presents.
When I was growing up I received figurines for each year on my birthday and I wanted to continue this tradition with Samantha. She got her 2-year-old Precious Moments figurine for her birthday from us.
Marc got her a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse pizza learning set. She doesn't care much about the "learning" part as much as the "
peetee" part. :)
While Samantha is at Michelle's house (the babysitter), she loves putting on the dress up clothes so I put dress up clothes on her list. Uncle Jeff bought her this chef's apron and oven mitt set.
My Grandma, who thought she was pretty funny (insert sarcasm) bought Samantha a percussion instruments set. Surprisingly enough, they are still up here in the living room. They will eventually make it down stairs where they won't sound as loud. ;)
Every little girls needs some cute summer dress to wear. She got some clothes...and like most kids, she didn't really care all that much about them. ;) She wanted to get to more toys.
We got Samantha an Elmo that sings the alphabet song. When Marc showed her where to press him and Elmo started to sing, Samantha started to dance. She LOVES making Elmo sing, even if he hasn't finished the song yet. ;)
I wanted some good lacing beads for Samantha. the beads we have already are wooden beads that aren't sanded very well inside so the string always get caught and she has a hard time getting the string though. While out shopping with my Mom, we found these alphabet shaped beads that had a big plastic "needle" to put through the beads.
My Mom got Samantha these cupcakes that the color frosting is interchangeable and there are decorating markers to use to decorate the frosting. (In this picture you can see a few of the other things she got)
We got Samantha her first pair of dress-up shoes. She has a little trouble walking in the. She has mastered walking in the one at a time, but not both at the same time yet. ;)
Samantha got some fun stickers for her birthday. She LOVES pulling the stickers of the sheet and putting them on paper. Sometimes she pulls them off the papers and does various things with them for double the fun. ;)
Samantha thought that Great Grandma needed more cake. ;)
It was a very fun afternoon celebrating my Princess' 2
nd birthday with my family. :) Thank you to all that came. :)
**I am trying to upload a couple of videos but I am having trouble with them. When i get it figured out, I will post them.**
We had a yummy lunch and then an even yummier cake. ;)
As soon as she was done with the cars, she stuck her finger directly into the cake before we even cut into it.
She was very delicate and dainty about eating her cake.
Every time she picked up her cake and got some frosting on her fingers, she put the cake down and tried to clean her hands.
She got frosting and cake all over her face and the front of her dress. So, gee darn, we had to take her out of her cute new dress to change her into her new Birthday Girl shirt. ;)
When Samantha started opening her first present (delivered by the cutest delivery boy ever) she was having some trouble getting the paper started. Her big brother came to her rescue and helped her. He didn't have to help her for long, she quickly got the hang of unwrapping presents.
When I was growing up I received figurines for each year on my birthday and I wanted to continue this tradition with Samantha. She got her 2-year-old Precious Moments figurine for her birthday from us.
Marc got her a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse pizza learning set. She doesn't care much about the "learning" part as much as the "peetee" part. :)
While Samantha is at Michelle's house (the babysitter), she loves putting on the dress up clothes so I put dress up clothes on her list. Uncle Jeff bought her this chef's apron and oven mitt set.
My Grandma, who thought she was pretty funny (insert sarcasm) bought Samantha a percussion instruments set. Surprisingly enough, they are still up here in the living room. They will eventually make it down stairs where they won't sound as loud. ;)
Every little girls needs some cute summer dress to wear. She got some clothes...and like most kids, she didn't really care all that much about them. ;) She wanted to get to more toys.
We got Samantha an Elmo that sings the alphabet song. When Marc showed her where to press him and Elmo started to sing, Samantha started to dance. She LOVES making Elmo sing, even if he hasn't finished the song yet. ;)
I wanted some good lacing beads for Samantha. the beads we have already are wooden beads that aren't sanded very well inside so the string always get caught and she has a hard time getting the string though. While out shopping with my Mom, we found these alphabet shaped beads that had a big plastic "needle" to put through the beads.
My Mom got Samantha these cupcakes that the color frosting is interchangeable and there are decorating markers to use to decorate the frosting. (In this picture you can see a few of the other things she got)
We got Samantha her first pair of dress-up shoes. She has a little trouble walking in the. She has mastered walking in the one at a time, but not both at the same time yet. ;)
Samantha got some fun stickers for her birthday. She LOVES pulling the stickers of the sheet and putting them on paper. Sometimes she pulls them off the papers and does various things with them for double the fun. ;)
Samantha thought that Great Grandma needed more cake. ;)
It was a very fun afternoon celebrating my Princess' 2nd birthday with my family. :) Thank you to all that came. :)
There were various hands-on exhibits to play with. One of them was a giant floor piano for the kids to walk on and make music.
There was a fun water area that Samantha went to town in! She had lots of fun splashing herself in the face and moving the rubber duckies from one place to another and back again.
All 3 of my kids worked together to make a dam for the water.
There was a section in the water area where there were various pieces of tubes to be used to build water passageways.
In the "Little Explorers" area there was a grocery store that Samantha enjoyed spending time in. There were shelves for each food group and some very realistic looking food. Samantha got various types of food and put them into her shopping cart.
After she filled her cart, she headed to the checkout.
The cash registers made beeping noises as the kids "scanned" them. (There was a laser beam that, when it got interrupted by the food, caused a beep) The buttons on the register made a bunch of silly noises.
When Marc and Daddy joined up later, Marc decided Samantha looked like she was having so much fun, he decided to ring up some of his own groceries.
There was a pulley example turned into a tug of war. On one side the rope was attached to the top of the beam and on the other side the rope was attached to the bottom. This was supposed to show how the pulley system worked. Marc was pulling on the side where the rope was attached at the top. He was taking it VERY seriously that they couldn't win! ;)
It was a fun afternoon. Marc learned lots, even though he didn't know it. ;)
If there is a carousel to be ridden, my kids will find it. ;) The kids (and Daddy) had the whole carousel to themselves so I think they got an extra long ride.
Of course, if there was a statue, I had my kiddos pose for a picture by it. ;)
Our favorite exhibit in zoos are the polar bears. So of course we have to pose for a picture by the polar bears fountain. :)
There were some very friendly ducks swimming in the polar bear fountain. Samantha was having quite the conversation with one of them. ;) "cack, cack, cack"
"Bye duckie!"
After spending time outside, we decided it was time to warm up, so off to the aviary for awhile. While we were there some new, rare species of birds were hatched! ;)
After some more walking around we came upon the gorillas. Again.....I made the kids pose for a picture. ;)
This gorilla sat by the window for a long time. We noticed that the gorilla was eating a whole onion.....whew!
We sat and watched this monkey family for close to 1/2 an hour! The kids loved watching the 2 younger monkeys playing. We decided they must be brother & sister. They played and then fought and played some more. ;)
Marc had to see if his arms stretched as far as an orangutan's arms do.
In the entry way of a children's area, there were a bunch of masks hanging for the kids to try on. The elephant swallowed Samantha. ;)
Marc transformed into a tiger.
And he got stung by a massive bee. ;)
There was a whole indoor exhibit all about bugs. Eewww! There was a cool beehive that the kids can crawl in and pretend to be bees.
The kids got to pretend to be spiders and climb a spider web.
The kids put on bumble bee costumes.
We got to watch the elephant eat his lunch. It was pretty cool watching him us his trunk to dig trough hay and stuff to find his food.
The zoo wore Samantha out!
We had a good time. We have thought about going back again when it warms up a little bit more. :)
