Ayla's 4th birthday party

Candy, candy, candy....we did a candy buffet this year and it was a big hit!
Mickey Mouse cupcake tower

Fresh pumpkin(carved by Grandma Carol) and filled with fresh flowers at the florist








The full candy buffet

Making a wish, and blowing out her candles.

Presents!

I really want to send out a very warm thank-you to everyone who came to celebrate with us today. Ayla had an amazing day. It means so much to us that our friends, neighbors and family make her feel so special and loved. Not just today, but everyday.

Ayla, I hope that your birthday wishes come true. I love you my sweet little Halloween pumpkin!

Pumpkins patches

We did two pumpkin patches this year.....Pooley's and Vala's. Both are amazing but very different from each other. Pooley's was first up. It's a real farm full of animals and fun farm play. The first thing we ran into was a momma cat and her kitties. The kittens were super friendly and didn't mind the kids handling them at all.

Petting baby chicks

Playing in the grain bin full of corn!!

Tire swing

Tractor "driving"

In the corn maze. After awhile Ayla said "Mom, we should have a map."

Checking out the pumpkins from the hayrack ride, have to find the perfect pumpkin

Found it!!

She carried it by herself and was pretty proud

Family pic

This was a few days later at Vala's. Vala's is much more commercial, expensive and busy. Not necessarily more fun though(not that it isn't fun, we just love Pooley's too)....Posing with cousin Tenley

Daddy and Kyle can't be trusted in public :)

Soooo tall

On the tractor with Grandpa John and Tenley

Oink, oink!!! Ayla won a pig nose at the Pig-Tucky Derby pig races, her pig won!

Playing in the hay with Tenley

Hugging grandma Carol

Riding the train

Converted....

We Splonskowski's are pretty proud tonight. Kyle(Darren's brother, Tressa(his wife) and Tenley(their adorable baby) moved in with us almost two weeks ago. They came from Boise and plan to be with us for a couple of months until they find a house. We're excited to have them and this will certainly be a fun adventure.

Anyway, these non-Husker fans have officially been HUSKERFIED, shirts for the grown ups and a sweet little dress for Tenley. We watched the game tonight and I have this feeling that they'll soon love the Huskers too. They'll see that the Huskers bring together good food, family, friends, laughter, joy and love....GO BIG RED!!!!!

Pinkalicious!

We took Ayla to her first play this weekend...Pinkalicious, at The Rose Theater downtown. It was a big, big hit with her! We have the book and read it often so she knows the story inside and out. She dressed up in a pink tutu dress, a pink boa and a crown with pink accents. She looked like quite the little diva! Most of the little girls were dressed up in their Sunday best...all pink, of course. She absolutely loved the show and has talked about it nonstop since we went. Darren and I LOVE theater and see almost everything that comes to town so it was fun to share this with her.

Go Big Red!

It's no secret that we LOVE Husker Football, and our littlest fan is really getting into it this year. She cheers, claps and shouts "GO BIG RED!!". I love it. The day before our first game, they had "Husker Day" at school. Ayla was all Huskered-out...

Today we had Caleb and Cady because Holly and Jeff worked. We watched the game at home and did our best to keep the kids excited about it. Cady finally started saying "go big red" and I am quite proud :)

Hanging out together and watching the game....

Our little Husker princess

My favorite little soccer player

This was the YMCA's coolest team, the Zebras, third game. Ayla's second game. We skipped one that we thought was way too hot. The heat index was over 100*, her game was at 3:30pm and their uniforms are all black on a shadeless field. That was a no-go for my little three year old.

She's a funny little soccer player though. A bit princess-like really. I know that isn't hard to believe. She will however, walk off the field for drink of nice cool water even while the game is in session. She was also over heard telling a coach that "It's just too hot to play soccer today". Definitely my daughter.

She shoots, she scores...this was just a practice run though.


Playing ball. Go Zebras!!

Pictures from the weekend

John and Carol were here for the weekend. Just a short stay but we managed to fit alot in. Their 39th wedding anniversary was Saturday, so we took them to dinner at Charleston's. It was delicious and we all left fat and happy! Darren and John

John and Carol

Us

After dinner we went to Millard Days. Ayla rode a bunch of rides and played a few games. There were soo many teenagers there, I suppose because we went later in the evening than previous years.

The slide was hilarious. Darren was at the top trying to get himself and Ayla situated to go down together. She started to slip so he grabbed her hands and down they went. It looked a little scary like they didn't mean to go but when they got to the bottom Ayla screamed "That was so fun Daddy!"

Dancing along to the band's music!

Sunday we had a lazy morning, went to lunch and looked at houses in the afternoon. Kyle(Darren's brother) and his wife Tressa are moving here in September, so we were scouting out some homes for them. In the evening we made dinner and had my parents and a couple of neighbors over for smores. It was a fun and busy weekend for all!!