The Candy Birthday party --- take 1

The "day of birthday parties" for Hailey was Sunday, August 9th. We started the day just playing at home while I made the cake of any kids dreams!! :) (actually....not just kids) Hailey was very excited for her party with her friends to begin. I was too, but was a little nervous about the timing of everything...will the kids have enough to do, will they have fun, did I order enough pizza, etc? :)

Here is a picture of Hailey with her cake. It isn't quite done yet. I had it all ready to go...in the fridge waiting for the party and remembered that I forgot to put the M&Ms around the bottom like I wanted too!! Ugh!! So, I took it back out and added them around the bottom. I think it does make a difference (there just wasn't enough candy on it before ;)). Oh, if you cannot tell, those are kit kat bars around the cake! :)

Off to Candytown USA ... Hailey had 4 friends + Ryan meet us there. We got the cake set up with the candles, a picture of the bday girl at her party, and the favors too (little gumball machines for the kids with their names on them and napkins with candy rings around them! :)).

Another picture of the cake...I just LOVED it!! (I am sure you can tell). And, I got TONS of comments at the party too and people wanted to know where I got it from. One lady actually asked if I had a store! :) Hmmm, I don't think I can make a living making candy cakes :)

All the kids at the table....and then one of them playing "Candy bingo" while we wait for the pizza to come. Everyone got a prize and can fun playing the game.

Ryan wasn't playing the game the right way...he was eating his candy that was meant for marking his bingo board! :) Nice! :)

After pizza it was time for cake....and their ice cream treat. Each kid could pick an ice cream sundae or a float. Hailey picked a root beer float and I do think that was the best looking float I have EVER SAW!! YUMMY!!

Look at all the sugar on that table! I wonder why all the kids were in such a good mood?!?!

Then, before it was time to leave, the kids all got to pick out 1/2 pound of candy that they wanted. How sweet is that?!?!? :)

Hailey had a fun time...and I think the girls did too (even Ryan as well). It was a fun birthday party for everyone. One more to go....

Montana Fair

The weekend of or neat Hailey's birthday we usually go to the fair on Saturday and have her parties on Sunday. It always works out good, but I was very worried this year. Saturday morning it was raining...and raining HARD! And, the high was only in the 70s for the day too!! We just played at home in the morning (the fair doesn't open until 12 anyway) and believe it or not, it was SUNNY and perfect when we left a little before noon!! We got there to find little to NO lines for the rides....no lines for the food....and no big crowds anywhere we went! We did the rides first (good decision!), ate a late lunch (yummy!), and then went to see the exhibits, etc. The kids LOVED it!! The weather was better than you could even ask for. By the time we left (after 6pm), it was busy at the fair again and a great time to leave. :)

Ryan was quiet adventurous this year. It is funny, but he wanted to go on the Farris wheel FIRST (reminds me of Hailey ... she wanted the same thing in 2006 when she started riding the rides too!). We all went on the ride, and Ryan's famous line "THIS IS MY WORLD" was said during the ride. He loved it and wasn't scared at all! :) Next, they went through a crazy, fun house that has strange things to walk through, etc. Ryan had a hard time on the moving steps that were so big for his little legs, but he kept working on it. Then there are pictures of Hailey and Ryan both coming out of the spinning thing! :) Lots of laughs!! :) Finally, 2 pictures from the tilt-a-whirl. Ryan didn't want to go on that...so Doug, Doran, Hailey and Chris went on that. There spot was just spinning all the time, and NO, it was not Chris doing it! :) Ryan thought it was fun to have a video of it instead! :)

Hailey and Ryan also went on the kids roller coaster. This was the first time Chris and I didn't have to go with them! Yippee! They both thought it was great and I love that they put their arms up ... how funny! :)

Another picture with Ryan's arms up --- seems to be the trend today :) Hailey behind bars ... I told her I NEVER want to see this again :) And, Ryan on the race car ride. How appropriate that he is in the McDonald's car :)

The last ride they went on was the bumper cars. Hailey and Chris were together, and Doug and Ryan were together. It was fun, but will be better once they are older!! :)

After lunch we went to see the animals...and we got to see more this year than we have in the past. The kids loved the bunnies! :) I just love walking by the 4-wheeler displays and hear all 3 of my kids (Chris is included here!) talk about how they want a new one!! Hailey said that she wanted this pink one for her birthday (dream on little girl!) and Ryan wanted his for his birthday too (nice try Ryan).

Next up was the 4H building. We walked in there at the RIGHT time! They were making this little horses out of the swimming "noodles" and the kids LOVED 'EM! After they made their horse, there was a obstacle course to go through, and then they got a prize (their first fair ribbon and candy!). It was fun. I thought I would be carrying both of those around the fair the whole time, but Hailey held hers ... to my surprise! :) Here they are with their horses and going through the race.

The kids also wanted to do the jumping thing too. Two years ago Hailey did this, but didn't get to go very high. This year....they both had a BLAST jumping. Hailey was going SO HIGH and was really getting into it. Ryan wasn't scared at all either. He loved it!! :)

They got to pick ONE game to play (those games are EXPENSIVE at the fair!)...so they both picked the fishing one. Hailey got a fish right away, and a split second later Ryan did too (then he put it down and went fishing again and got a second one without the guy noticing!). They both got a cute little stuffed animal, and were happy fair-goers! :)

It was a WONDERFUL day and the kids enjoyed it so much!! Okay, the parents and grandparents did too! :)

VBS '09

Ever since Vacation Bible School was over last summer, the kids have both asked when they could go back again! So, I was very happy when VBS week came up. They were both so excited and happy to get back to the church where they go (or went) to preschool. There were lots of friends there for them, and a fun-filled week of arts, crafts, stories, learning activities, and of course songs!!! :) It is great that they love this so much! :)

Camping fun

Our weekend continued to be fun on Sat Aug 1 and Sun Aug 2. The kids were able to sleep over in Grandma and Papa's camper on Friday and Saturday night...they LOVE THAT!!! And, they got to spend some time on Sunday fishing at Wild Bill. Or, if you can tell by the pictures below, Ryan was fishing (and KILLING 'em!!!), but Hailey wasn't interested today. She said they were too small at Wild Bill :) So, she decided to color on the rock instead :)

They also decided that they wanted to go in the stream by Basic campground. We all knew how COLD this water was, but they still insisted that they wanted to go in. We heard a lot of "cold cold cold" but they still were having fun and that is what matters :) Look at how RED their legs are in the last picture.

The kids and Grandma and I went on a walk by the creek too ... I of course wanted pictures ;) Hailey found this rock in the water that she LOVED and had to pick it up. Now I am wondering where that is....I think we left it at the cabin, but it is around somewhere and I am sure she know exactly where it is! :)

Here are my cute kids by Rock Creek in Red Lodge, MT! :)