Turning two!

On Sunday, we celebrated Em's second birthday! It was a cold and rainy day, but such a warm celebration we had! We arrived at M&B's house a bit early, and the birthday girl woke up early from her nap, so we had some precious moments with her before all the other guests arrived.

Soon it was time to get all dressed up and pretty...

...mom had to help with the hair.

 And there she was, what  a pretty little girl- two years old!

 Bec had some fun games for the kids to play...

...while we waited for the other guests to arrive. (It was so fun to have her nephews and sister-in-law also visiting for the weekend.)

 The boys really miss their daddy (who is overseas right now) and loved it when Uncle M walked in the door and started "rough-housing" with them!

The play looked a bit too tough for this little girl, so she just looked on at all the action...

 ...and little birthday girl looked longingly outdoors and kept saying, "outside? my bike? my car?" And poor, lonely Sam-dog felt very neglected as he listened to all the action inside the house! 

But very soon, birthday girl was distracted by bright and shiney things...

...and began making her own kind of fun.

 We had a tiny break for a family photo-op before the other guests arrived.

And then the fun began, as the guests started arriving!

 (Big sister decided to take a quiet break first, before the action.)

 Auntie Mo organized a game of "stick the butterfly on the flower"

...and birthday girl thought that this was a wonderful game! She placed several stickers on the same petal!

 Then out to the garage for some pinata fun (look at big sister...the diva is hard at work in her heels!)

 The real action began when the boys started wacking away (someone said the word "candy"  and all the kids got excited and became quite anxious to knock the pinata apart).

 It finally split apart, and candy went flying everywhere! Soon the little hands were busy scooping up as much of the sweet-stuff as they could.

 Elsewhere, birthday girl was more concerned about her bike...

but she did take time off for a brief pic of all the kiddos in their cool shades...

 ...then the kids were off to better things.

 Littlest cousin, just awake from his nap, was rather bewildered by all the noise and action. Mom's arms seemed the safest place to be.

The kiddos loved the little bounce house that was set up in the garage. 

 But, the show must go on...soon it was time for birthday cake.

 It is very important to get a picture of sticky fingers in the cake...

 ...then sing the birthday song to little girl...

 ...and then chow-down! Remember that big ball on the top of the cake?

 Jayden decided to devour it! He only survived a couple bites, then he said he had had enough. (It was a huge, dense, rice crispy ball)

 Big sister loved her piece of chocolate cake...

...and birthday girl did also!

So did the rest of the guests!

 Then it was time for presents...

What's inside that box?

 lots of curious eyes...

...and lots of help!

Later, birthday girl enjoyed some new presents- puppies!

...and also this old toy that irritates the parents with both its durability and its noise!

It is always so fun to watch the youngest cousins together.

 Things were rather chaotic in the playroom...

 ...while the youngest ones played quietly in the living room.

Hats and...

...Elmo, they love all of them.

 Brothers, visiting together.

Pizza time!

Late in the afternoon, just after supper, it started to thunder and lightning and the kids were fascinated by the sky...then it started to hail! they were so excited!

The adults took it all in stride.

Then the day was ending and Birthday girl- still her happy little self- is all ready for bed.

When we walked out of the house, our car was covered in hail pellets (notice the white streets in the background also). The trip back home was scarey at times, but we arrived home safely.

It was a wonderful day!