Hannah's birthday

Hannah had a lovely, low key birthday. She started the day with pumpkin pancakes frosted with nutella and thoroughly enjoyed blowing out some candles.

We ended the day with dinner at Chick fil A, followed by a foot race for kids, sponsored by the Illinois Valley Striders (a local running club). Hannah ran a 200 meter race and received a trophy, since it was the last race of the season. She tried her feet at the half mile with her sister and friends and enjoyed herself but didn't quite make it the full way around the track. But she had fun and came home with a smile on her face and unskinned knees. Success!

After a refreshing glass of juice and cookie (compliments of Proctor Hospital where the race is held),
 our friends then joined us at home for chocolate chocolate cupcakes and ice cream. It was a good day!

Wardrobe change!

We actually opened gifts two days later because it was a busy week, and three year olds are still content to wait to open gifts.

Modeling some pretty new clothes. 

Getting new clothes is even more special when you are used to getting hand me downs from a big sister :) Thanks, Grandma B!

Here she is checking out a new book. This girl LOVES to read. Picking up new books every week at the library is one of the best things that I do for mommy and Hannah. Hannah will sit for literally hours and read to herself, dictating a full narration of the story line, even when she's never listened to the book read. After she's sat and listened to an adult read her the book, her personal three year old narrations are often very close to the story line. It's rather sweet to listen to and one of my favorite things about Hannah. It also frees mommy up to get things done AND it's a comfort knowing she's reading books instead of getting into trouble. Trouble could be Hannah's middle name, so we really encourage book reading :) For example, I discovered today that she got a hold of Tabitha's lavender and tea tree diaper cream and applied diaper cream to all of her stuffed animals and babies today during quiet time. She literally spread the cream on each of her stuffed friends' bottoms. Funny Girl. Thankful she grabbed the diaper cream with essential oils. Her room smelled fragrant!

Happy birthday, little girl! Love you!

Little girls like trains too :)

And here is Miss T trying to get a hold of my camera....

Tabitha's First Birthday

 Happy birthday, sweet girl! Yes, I'm a little behind on blogging. We were on vacation right before your birthday and you turned one the day after we flew back from Hawaii. Thankfully, your great-grandparents are well organized and there were presents waiting for you on our return. I picked up some cake and ice cream at the grocery store and you had your first real taste of dessert.

You enjoy being messy, so getting to eat some cake and ice cream was particularly fun.

 

Your sisters really wanted to unwrap all of your gifts, but we let you enjoy the crinkly paper as best as we could :)

Your sisters played with your presents too, just to make sure they were fit for a one year old!

Everything tastes good! You are also teething, and your molars will be in soon! (I know this for a fact because now that you're 13.5 months, all four are in!)

Love your smiles and snuggles, sweet girl. I'm thankful that the Lord gave you a healthy and happy first year of life, and I'm looking forward to watching you grow into the little person God has planned for you to be.

Volcano National Park

We were all tuckered out on Monday, so settled on a quiet day at Volcano National Park. Papa wasn't feeling well, so he decided to stay at the house to get some extra rest. We set off for the day with our picnic lunch, thankful for blue skies and happy kids.

This vacation was a little bit different from our last, mostly because traveling with three is a bit more complicated than traveling with just two. Two years ago, we really enjoyed the long hikes, particularly on the floor of the crater and to the top of a cinder cone. On this trip, we were content to go slow, enjoy the wind in our faces and the sound of the giggles of little ones. There are different seasons of life, and perhaps someday, we'll be back in the season of long hikes and adventure. But until them, I'm content with the breeze and giggles....

Volcano National Park is always one of the highlights for me. I love getting to see the force of God's creation on display and the unique landscapes caused by the tumultuous movements of lava.

The girls decided to take a break from their picnic lunch so I could snap some fun pictures. I love the curls and wild hair!

Sister love...

Here we are heading into the Thurston Lava Tube, a cave remnant left from a lava flow.

There is never a dull moment, and Mimi makes everything fun!

We did only part of the Crater Lakes Drive, mostly because we wanted to get back to Papa at the house. We also wanted to make sure we had an opportunity to pick up pastries at the bake shop before they closed :)

And this face says, "I'm tired and ready to go home!" It also says, "I have very strong opinions!"