Happy birthday Emma

So Emma's many birthday celebrations have officially begun, with 2 of them happening today.  First up, celebrating with Mimi and Papa:

First up the new Barbie LED light up bike (it was just the one she ordered):

Then she got a new stuffed dog (her very favorite thing is stuffed animals) that looks like a dog mommy had when she was little:

 Her new costumes:

The bike ride:

And cake #1 of the day:

Then this afternoon was her birthday party with her school friends at Chuck E Cheese.  Mommy didn't get as many pictures as she would have liked, but here are the highlights:

Emma in her princess tiara and cape:

The whole party with Chuck E (plus one interloping little boy on the side, oops):

 Emma in the cardboard princess cutout that marked her table:

 Her princess castle birthday cake (the pictures don't really do it justice, but I tried my best):

With her friends Alex & Diya waiting for the birthday show:

 Her pinata:

The chant for Chuck E to start his show (there were 3 parties at the same time, but Emma's had double the number of kids and were definitely at least twice as loud):

The Happy birthday introduction of Emma.  I missed them saying her name, but her favorite color is pink and she enjoys birthdays at Chuck E Cheese.  She had it there last year also, and they recognized her and remembered her cake from last year and everything (hence the likes her parties there):

And the ticket blaster (which seemed to startle Emma a little when it started up):

What a great day!

Old summer fun photos

So mommy apparently never loaded pictures off of the camera a few months ago, so here is some older summer fun:

First up, backyard camping.  Emma has been asking to go camping all summer, but camping with all 4 of us and 2 dogs in the tent last year was too hard.  So we did a night of backyard camping in June (just daddy and the girls):

During the first hot spell of the summer, mommy broke out the new slip n slide (which is pretty underwhelming for actually sliding).  The girls had fun:

Golf

Emma has been taking golf lessons again this year and Sarah has to tag along.  Emma can hit some really great shots, and it may not be long before Sarah follows in her footsteps:

Creative play

The girls have taken to doing a lot of creative play.  Here they are playing teacher (one of Emma's favorites):

Next up came the stage show that exhibited the hula hoop skills:

Can't wait to see what we play next!

Vacation

First up was the Meijer Gardens.  It was beautiful and the kids loved the children's area. 

No, they aren't in jail; it is just the kids entrance:

Playing at the Great Lakes water table:

Smelling the plants at the 5 senses garden:

Playing in the giant sandbox:

Next up was the zoo.  The kids loved it there too.  Here is petting the pygmy goats:

Feeding the birds:

And just letting them hang out on her head:

Finally, the Grand Rapids children's museum.  Playing some music:

Working at the kennel:

Working at the model public library:

Here is librarian Sarah:

Working as a pizza chef:

And at the bank:

Gassing up the cars:

And fixing them:

And chaffeur:

Turns out they were really indecisive about a career!

And last, the water park in the hotel:

Tennis

Emma started a tennis camp yesterday.  She says it was super fun and easy (not sure if it was really easy given she didn't hit most of the balls, but fun is great)!  Here she is actually making contact forehand:

And backhand:

Weekend fun

Over the weekend we had some fun with the kids. First up, cake baking with mom.  It was a tie dye cake (a true pain to make) and the girls then decorated.  Here is the finished product:

Then daddy built his new robot with the girls:

The robot in action (controlled by Emma):