Maddy turned four today, and we just love watching this little person who has taken over our lives. Here are some favorite photos from her first four years:
This past weekend, we had a joint birthday party for Maddy and her cousin Eva, who also turned 4 recently. Maddy has been seriously obsessed with the party for the past month and I believe it lived up to her expectations. First, she made THE LIST, and checked to make sure I carefully wrote down every name she dictated – including family members, friends from school, and neighbors.
I didn’t have the heart to limit her list because I was so impressed at her vast social network after only a year and a half in Portland. She was sure to tell everyone she’s seen over the past month whether they were on the list or not, and had me make revisions as needed.
Then at the party, she greeted each guest immediately with their favor bag (because she wanted to get rid of the favors and make sure there’d still be some left for her). Everyone did lots of art projects, played soccer, played on the playground, and ate a very very very large cake.
Maddy loved all her gifts and is very proud to be 4 – thanks to everyone who helped her celebrate!
Okay, so most of this stuff is old news, but now that Fall is just around the corner I want to sum up our Portland Summer in a nutshell. Since our super fun East Coast trip in the beginning of the summer, we’ve been keeping very busy at home.
In addition to lots of fun playdates with neighbors and cousins, we:
- Completed the Library Summer Reading program, and enjoyed performances by BJ the Clown and a bizarre family of magicians.
- Went blueberry picking twice, once at a local farm and once with Eva and Maren in Salem.
- Enjoyed a fun visit from Grandpa Busath, Nana Angel, Crystal, Addi and Bennett, including lots of family time and a trip to OMSI.
- Went to the big summer party put on by Parks and Rec and got beautiful butterfly faces painted.
- Hosted the Noonans (Leigh, Jim and Blake) all the way from AZ/RI and did nearly every fun Portland thing to do, including Multnomah Falls, the Portland International Rose Test Garden, the Oregon Zoo, the Nike employee store, splashing in the waterfront fountain downtown, and going to see the Winnie the Pooh Movie.
- Went to Oaks Amusement Park, the local teeny-bopper haven, where we rode some fun rides and marveled at the clientele.
- Spent a day at the Oregon State Fair, where Maddy had her first “volunteer from the crowd” experience in the Crazy Animal Races and even won a prize for successfully cheering on a goat.
- Hiked and picnicked in beautiful Forest Park with Lorna and the boys.
- Had fun sleepovers at Aunt Sarah and Aunt Maren’s houses while Dave and I spent a weekend in Vegas. While there, my cousin Kendra gave Maddy a sparkly magnet, to which Maddy said “I really love this magnet, I’m going to remember this day for the rest of my life.”
- Visited Aunt Sydney’s, where Maddy had her first horse ride on Tilda. Even though she was really nervous at first, once Sydney convinced her to give it a try she didn’t want to get down!
And of course, we also had lots of silly sisterly moments hanging out at home, just like this one:
