A Party for a Princess

Morgan has been begging us for months to invite her friends from school over to play. So for her 4th birthday, we decided to host a Princess party for our little 4-year-old princess. The girls from her class arrived in their princess dresses. There were 7 little princesses in all, including Princess Morgan and Princess Gwen. 

The party started with some princess-themed activities -- princess coloring, decorating their own magic wands, bobbing for Snow White's magic apple, and "Clang the Frying Pan on Flynn Rider" (if you've seen the movie "Tangled", you know what I'm talking about). 

 

After all their princess activities were finished, it was time for lunch. Ariella cooked-up a royal feast, that included crown-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate-covered strawberries, fruit kabobs (served on magic wands), and of course, the birthday cake.

Finally, it was time to play. The seven little princesses poured into the living room and did what little girls do: pull out every single toy we own and have fun.

The party was only two hours long, but it was everything our little princess could have asked for. (Well, not everything she could have asked for. But she'll have to wait for her actual birthday to get the other thing she's been asking for.)

Weekend in New England

On the weekend of April 20, we headed north for a weekend away -- away from home and (for the first time in a while) away from the girls to celebrate Andy's 40th birthday. 

After an overnight stop in Connecticut, Ariella and Andy headed to Boston to visit some of their favorite places from their 8 years living their (4 for Ariella). Meanwhile, the girls stayed back in Connecticut with Andy's parents. 

Luckily for Morgan and Gwen, Mayie and P-Pa had a bunch of fun stuff planned, including trip to their friend's farm to see the horses, chickens and ducks. (Oh, and there's always the Lake. Which means water and sand. Which means mud! And what could be more fun than that?)

When we returned from Boston on Sunday morning, we found two very tired little girls -- and two extremely tired grandparents. 

Easter '12

Now that the girls are getting bigger, our Easter weekend festivities are getting even more fun. This year, Ariella, Lindsay and Morgan got the ball rolling on Saturday with "Peeps" Cocktails (peaches, pineapple juice, pink lemonade and seltzer, topped with those delicious marshmallow birds).

This is Morgan's third year dying Easter Eggs so she's practically a pro. Gwen was very excited to get in on the action this year (as a 9-month old, she napped through egg dying last year). By the time they were finished, the girls had nearly two dozen eggs -- which means Ariella and Andy will have a LOT of egg salad this week.

On Easter morning, the girls found their baskets stuffed with Easter goodies -- candy, books, bubbles, puzzles and figurines (Sesame St. for Gwen, Star Wars for Andy -- umm, I mean Morgan). Plus, each of the girls got a new electric toothbrush to scrub away all that candy.

After breakfast, everyone headed outside for our annual Easter egg hunt. This year, the Easter Bunny scattered 84 plastic eggs around the yard. But unlike previous years, the girls (especially Morgan) raced around the yard and grabbed all of them... well, all of them except the one below, which was gobbled up by the Easter Groundhog.

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

We kicked off our Easter weekend with a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, with Lindsay, Jenny and Jon along the adventure.

Morgan decided it would be fun to climb on all of the statues of animals. And, believe me, she climbed on ALL of the statues of animals.

As if sitting on animal statues wasn't enough fun, Morgan discovered that sticking her face inside the artwork was a pretty good time, too.

After all the climbing and posing for photos, the girls finally remembered that there are animals at the zoo. (Oh, right! Animals!) Gwen and Morgan spent a lot of time in the petting zoo, playing with the goats and sheep.

As usual, Gwen was fearless. She walked right up to the animals and started patting. And, as usual, Morgan was very cautious and thoughtful. But once she saw Gwen patting the animals, she was really into it. In fact, she was even courteous enough to use different brushes for the sheep and the goats. Like I said, she's thoughtful.