Leila Turns Five!

Leila's Trip to the Park on her 5th Birthday!  I can't believe how old she looks.
 

 

Teaching Marshall how to be 5

Birthday cupcakes

Look at the lovely pig & cat cupcakes Grandma June & I made for Leila's birthday tomorrow. Aren't they cute?

But then the cupcake designing took a turn for the...creative. Prizes to anyone who can match the cupcake to what it is supposed to be: octopus, hippo, Grandma, fox, space alien/rabbit (you decide), dog, and smoking mouse. Good luck!

We're going to the ZOO, ZOO, ZOO

After a delicious meal at a Senegalese restaurant this afternoon, we headed to the National Zoo for some animal sightings. Leila with Grandma & Granddad at the entrance.


Heading into the action

Leila found a friendly bear to buddy up with.

This was Leila's favorite animal: a baby howler monkey. Not a great picture, but she (and I quote) "demanded" that I take and blog the picture.

Holding the skull of a gorilla in the Ape House. 

After a minor meltdown, some popcorn seemed to solve the problem. 

Our little goofball wearing Grandma's sunglasses and with a mouthful of popcorn.

 

Leila's 5th Birthday Party

The birthday invitation on the door greeting the guests at Gulf Branch Nature Center in Arlington.

Leila and Grandma helping to prepare the name tags.

Leila's birthday cake

The cake/snacks. It was a Princess Pirate themed party. 

The downstairs of the Nature Center had a carved out canoe that the kids had a blast playing in.

Clayton, Taryn & Leila (hiding behind fish).

Leila, Clayton, Taryn & Annabel

 

As part of the birthday party at the Nature Center, a Naturalist came to give a presentation on turtles to the kids. They loved it!

Attentive kids!

Crowding around the video screen to watch a video of turtles hatching from their eggs.

From left: Amelia, Carmen, Robert, Abby, Taryn, Leila, Sophia, Annabel, Iain, Samuel & Clayton

Touching the turtle.

Iain, Samuel & Sophia

Cake time! Leila loved when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her!

Blowing out the 5 candles on her birthday cake.

We were happy that the day's drizzle stopped in time for everyone to go outside for a nature scavenger hunt. The kids had a great time running in the woods and checking off items from their lists.

They're off!

Clayton looking through his magnifying glass.

Leila following her friends in the search for scavenger items.

Posing near the Nature Center: Iain, Taryn, Amelia, Leila & Abby.

Amelia, Taryn & Leila

Iain, Abby, Samuel, Leila

The kids had a chance to make a turtle craft to go along with the turtle theme. 

Kids Taryn, Abby, Carmen, Sophia & Leila getting some help from their parents.

A room full of crafty birthday guests!

We all had a great time celebrating Leila's 5th birthday!

Hula competition

Leila's birthday dreams came true when she got TWO hula hoops at her party today. There is some fierce competition at our house this evening for the title of Hula Hoop Champion!

Where's the cake?

Leila and her doll created an interesting way to reach the birthday cake for her party today. Sneaky, sneaky!

President's Day

We attempted to visit George Washington's sculpture at the American History Museum for President's Day today.  Unfortunately George Washington was hidden behind a renovation wall.  R2D2 is in storage as well.

We did get to see Kermit; 

 A covered wagon like Laura Ingalls Wilder used to go to the prairie;

 The first Apple Computer;

And, at the end we settled for the Washington Monument.  Happy President's day everyone.

Also, yesterday, Leila announced that she planned to wear her Obama t-shirt today in honor of President's Day. We were impressed that she thought of that, but I was even MORE impressed when I realized her Obama t-shirt was in the wash and that she had come up with the idea without even being reminded of it by the sight of the shirt. Impressive!

Typing up a storm.

Leila typing.  She was fascinated by the slightly ancient technology.  

Durian experiment

Uncle Mike & Uncle Chris went to a Chinese grocery store this weekend and came home with a...durian fruit! It's taste/smell has been described as: almonds, rotton onions, garbage, gym socks, raw sewage... Yet many Asians treat it as a delicacy. Hmmm. Jason & I have had it before, but Mike, Chris, Sara & Leila all wanted to give it a try.

Pre-cutting. It was very spiky and prone to injuring those around it.


Uncle Mike pried it open with his bare hands. 

A first peek at the inside.

Whoa, it looks like a dissection from science class.

The brothers giving it a try. Chris spit his out (twice), Mike ate his piece with disgust, and Jason nibbled on the durian for most of the afternoon.

Leila even tried it! Truth be told, she wasn't impressed, but she was motivated by the promise of a Hershey kiss if she would at least try it. (Side note: after his 4-year-old niece kept her piece down, Uncle Chris felt pressured to actually swallow a little piece.)