We jumped in the car after school on Thursday to head to MN to attend the Kelly family reunion (which we missed every year that we lived in AZ - but now that we are in AR and can drive, game on!) and we got to celebrate Ashley's 4th birthday when there! Wasn't long after starting our drive that Miss Ashley took a nap with Mommy's sun glasses on!
We got in late so the kids didn't realize that cousin Sam was spending the night because he didn't have school on Friday. In the morning though there were lots of hugs!
On Friday Nana and Papa told us to have a little date day in the Cities so we did some comp-shopping at CostCo and had a sushi lunch. Nana and Papa brought the 3 kiddos to the cities and we reunited at the Embassy Suites where the reunion was. Ashley and Elena were so excited to see one another!!!!
These boys look like they are hugging but in reality they are wrestling every moment they can!
We enjoyed happy hour around the pool when the worst thing happened. Ashley had been having snacks by Daddy when she requested some more popcorn. He went off to get it and the next thing we remember is Annie saying 'hey is she supposed to be in there?' Miss Ashley who is way too confident near water had gone in the pool all by her big self without supervision!!!!! Katie who was closest to Ashley reached to grab her and ended up kind of sliding in the pool. Mommy saw that Ashley would probably make it to the side of the pool but jumped in and grabbed her at the same time. Scare of our life!!!!! What if nobody saw her!!!!!! Thankful for our angels in Heaven that were watching out for our precious girl!!!! After that we went up to the room to clean up and hang out with our cousins!
Thanking God for another day and year with our princess. Last sleep as a 3 year old. Tear.
On Saturday it was her birthday and she made sure everyone knew!
Her first request? To have her nails painted!
Nana and Papa Steve made sure she started the day with presents!
After breakfast we headed to Mall of America so Ashley could hit up the American Girl store for Bitty Baby!
Pictures with Nana and Papa first!
Searching for the perfect present!
She found it! Her smile says it all!
And there it is...Bitty Baby's own seat so she can join us for meals!
While walking through the Lego store they found out it was Ashley's birthday and gave her a free mini-figure!
After that we headed back to American Girl for a little party for our princess!
Nana, Mary Lou, Katie, Max, Anne, Jim, Sam, Elena and the our crew were there!
Everyone ordered what they wanted. Ashley had the decorate your own cupcakes!
We sang Happy Birthday!
Make a wish!
Yum!
Cheers!
Dawn stopped by since she was picking something up at the mall! Wish we could have seen Jeff and the girls but they had sports.
After that we spent a good chunk of time riding rides!
Ashley and Elena held hands everywhere they went!
Back at the hotel we had a yummy meal and then celebrated the birthday girl with cake!
Frozen cake of course! Happy 4th birthday Ashley! We sure love you!
Was totally worth it to come back for basically 2 days to have this special time with family!!! Lucky Brian got to fly to Chicago for work on Sunday while Mommy drove home with the kiddos. The extra hour from driving from the Cities sure made it longer but we will do it again next year if they have the Kelly get together again! XOXO
