Happy Birthday Dear Megan (A little late!)

Well, Meg's birthday festivities are finally over. Yes, they were much more drawn out than I was expecting!

S'mores Pop Tarts for a birthday breakfast! I searched all over for birthday candles and was only able to find a #2. So, I just cut it into a straight candle. It was the best I could do . . . and searching for those candles caused quite a catastrophe later on!

Yes, I apparently dropped a bottle of puppy pain pills on the floor while I was looking in the basket for the candles. For whatever reason, Bella decided that she would like to eat the entire bottle. All that was left was the lid and a bit of the orange bottle. The good news is that we discovered it right away, and because the lid said "veterinary" on it, we knew what she had eaten. The bad news is that Meg spent much of her 5th birthday at the vet watching Bella barf up those pills . . . along with all of her breakfast. It was lovely.


While we were getting ready to go to the vet, I let Meg open her present from her sisters so she could bring it along with her. A mermaid Barbie! She was wanting one of those to play with in the pool! Yeah!

Daddy met us at the Vet's office so that I wouldn't have to deal with 4 kids plus barfing dog. That afternoon we went to the Geldmeier's house to swim. Lucky us, Daddy got to come along! Mrs. Geldmeier even made cupcakes for Meg!

Next on the agenda was to bring dinner to the Drinkard's, who have recently brought home baby Cole from India. We enjoyed some chat time there, and Meg got to play with Lucy. At the end of the day when Aaron asked her what the best part of her birthday was, she responded without missing a beat . . . "Playing with Lucy!"

Lastly, Meg got to choose where she wanted to go for dinner. She chose "Veggies" (a.k.a. Chevy's) There she opened birthday cards that she got in the mail, and her gift from Mom & Dad.

Yeah! $10 from Great Grandma!

This one is slightly blurry, but I just love the look on her face! A Webkinz Jr!!!

She named her Cherry

We heard someone else get the Chevy's birthday song, and surprisingly, Meg wanted it too. That hat is still a big favorite!

And there ended Meg's actual birthday . . . but wait! There's more!

We had planned a Baby Doll Party for her and her friends that was to take place on Friday. Well, at 10:00pm Thursday night Meg woke up with a fever of 104! Lovely! : ) Yep . . . we had to reschedule. So. Tuesday after VBS, her friends all came over, and they had a blast!

The party table

Baby beds and the clothing/diapering station.

All the stuff for the feeding station, waiting to go into the kitchen after lunch.

The playground. (The plan was for this to be an outside party, but the weather didn't cooperate. These swings were all supposed to be hanging from our swing set, but I had a sudden brainstorm of how to make them work indoors.) The kids all thought this was fabulous! In fact, this was the first station that they all ran to!

First Aid! This was supposed to be in our tent outside ("The First Aid Tent") but went into Meg & Julie's room in the end. Complete with a doctor's kit, band aids and bandages.

Lunch time! Hot dogs, chips and applesauce were on the menu. Banana slush punch to drink.

The servant's quarters. Ali, Emma, Jonah and Karis were our helpers. They each manned a station, and they were awesome! Unfortunately, there was no room at the table for them, so the kitchen floor had to do!

Ali manned the playground. They loved it!

Here's Dr. Jonah. I gave him the stuff and he set up his office. He even turned the Rubbermaid container over to make an exam table. He was such a good sport. I also gave them a box of rubber gloves. These might have been the hit of the party. Needless to say, they are all gone now!

Emma took on the feeding station. She helped the girls put one bibs, find bottles, burp cloths, etc . . .

Karis was in charge of clothing and diapers. Then we realized that she didn't know how to put on a real diaper (let's face it - she has no reason to know that!) Mommy stepped in and saved the day!

Back to work . . . Karis helping Meg with her baby.

Each girl got a diaper bag that was filled with a baby blanket and 2 diapers (Huggies Preemie Diapers - they LOVED that!) They also got a "wagon" to pull their babies around in.

Anna G. with her diaper bag and wagon (and a naked baby?) Hey Anna! Go see Karis!

Lucy giving her baby a bath.

Julie had a blast with the Band-aids!

Meg's matching dresses were a gift from Anna P.

Blowing out the candles!

Her party was a huge success! (And I was glad to finally get it over with! : ) )

But wait . . . there's more!

Now on to the Klarner's house for July/August Birthdays. Emma scored here . . . Early birthday presents!

A digital camera for Emma!

Littlest Petshop from Aunt Brooke

And FINALLY an American Girl Doll! She was thrilled to get Kit! : )

Emma and Megan blowing out their candles!

It may have seemed like the birthday that never ends . . . but it did! It was a good one (in spite of a few minor issues) and I can't believe my little Meg is 5 now! (Incidentally, she is still riding in a car seat, because she only weighs 37 lbs. Hopefully she can move to a booster seat before she turns 6!)

Move Over, Mia Hamm!

This fall, Ali, Emma and Megan will all being playing on soccer teams. Recently we got out all of the cleats, shin guards, etc . . . to figure out what we still needed to buy. Well, Julie felt rather left out and took it upon herself to try on a pair of cleats that are about 3 sizes too big on her. No matter . . . she had a blast! And you have to love that she's wearing them with a sun dress!

Splish Splash

This year we decided to take the plunge and get a pool. As you can see it's just a quick set pool from Walmart, but the kiddie pool just wasn't cuttin' it for our family anymore. It has really proven to be much more hassle than we were expecting, but now that the hassle is over (Lord willing!!) we have found it to be well worth the hassle. We've really had a blast!

Meg has really gotten over her fear of the water. She is very willing to put her face in and is doing quite a bit of doggy paddling. Ali & Emma are all about swimming through people's legs and fetching diving sticks. They all love doing "the whirlpool" . . . it's the perfect size and shape to get spinning! Julie is just barely tall enough to stand with her face out of the water. Aaron & I love being able to jump in when we are dripping with sweat after working in the yard!



Pool time with the Alligood kids!

Meg's "Easy Button"

Meg is the 3rd of my girls to "figure this out." Julie has yet to try it . . . I have full confidence that her time will come.

Mommy: "Megan, you need to go clean your room"

(Which is quite a disaster!)

Megan: "Yes Mom"

3 minutes pass

Megan: "I'm all done!"

Mommy: (With full confidence that it is NOT done) "Ali, can you go check her room for me quick?"

Ali: "I checked it . . . it's done"

So, I make my way to Meg's room and am shocked at how clean it is. Then I opened the closet:

She was a sad little girl when she discovered that Mommy isn't an idiot.

A conversation that I overheard between Meg & Julie:

In reference to a new Littlest Petshop Toy:

Julie: What kind of animal is that?

Meg: It's a meerkat

Julie: What's a meerkat?

Meg: It's a cat that like mirrors.

Gotta love it!

Bummer!

I expected to be uploading and blogging pictures of Meg's 5th birthday party tonight.

That isn't going to happen.

We've been preparing all week, and last night 4 very excited little girls went to bed anticipating a Baby Doll Party the next day. At about 11:00 pm one very sad little girl woke up crying. Poor Meg! 104 degree fever!

No party for her today!

We are hoping to reschedule for one afternoon this week. We're watching the forecast to see which day looks most promising as this will be an outdoor party.

So, all that to say . . . no pics right now. I'll post the ones that I have of her actual birthday soon, and hopefull party pics by the end of the week!

Who needs a boy when you have Megan?

Yes, my little girl is pretending to be Captain Hook! Is she adorable or what? She came to me saying, "Mommy, is this my left?" (pointing to her hand). I said "yes" with a confused look on my face. She responded with "Captain Hook has his hook on his left hand." (Heaven forbid she not be perfectly authentic!) Then she smiled and said "I'm pretending that my left hand got cut off, okay?" Don't you love the mean pirate scowl?

Florida

While we were in Mexico, my parents took Ali, Emma & Austin (my nephew) to Orlando to do the Disney thing . . .

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Saying "Good-bye" to St. Louis

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In the van, ready to go to the airport
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The airplane - this was Ali & Emma's first time on a plane and they were very excited about that!

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Ali was especially fascinated and really wanted to know how planes can fly. I directed that question to Daddy!
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The suite that they stayed in in Orlando had a separate kids room - shaped like an igloo! They thought that was awesome!
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Posing on their bunk beds (and ready to go swimming!)
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At Downtown Disney (the sea serpent is made of Legos)
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The highlights of Ali's day at Disney World were #1) Splash mountain (she especially loved the 50 foot drop at the end) and #2) Meeting the Disney Fairies. Here she is with Fawn (an animal talent fairy)
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Now time to meet Tink (Tinker talent fairy)
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And finally, Silvermist (a water talent fairy - I have been informed that those talents are very important to know.) She also bought one of the Disney Fairy books and had Fairy Dust sprinkled on her head!
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Unfortunately, Emma's day at Disney wasn't such a happy one. She came down with a fever, headache, light & sound sensitivity during Mickey's PhilharMagic Show. Some Motrin seemed to take the edge off, but it resurfaced once the meds wore off. More Motrin helped her to make it through the day, but the rest of her trip was sickly. Vomiting that night, sore throat and tummy pains later. Poor kid. With Tylenol she was able to do most activities, but let's just say that she wasn't a happy camper! Friday morning I took her to the doctor - strep throat! Even after 48 hours of antibiotics she is still completely exhausted and has no appetite. I think it's going to take a while to recover from this one!
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Feeding the Gators at Congo River - this was definitely a favorite!!
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They fed them hotdog slices on a string.
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Boat ride at Congo River
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This was another BIG highlight of their trip. This soon-to-be-Mama squirrel ate right out of their hands!
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Emma's turn!
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This was Ali & Emma's first intro to Mini-golf and they LOVED it. They went 2 different times. Grandpa, Austin & Emma all managed to get a hole-in-one.
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At the end of the Mini-golf course.
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No trip to FL is complete without a few gecko pics!
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The kids would have had a perfectly happy trip if they had done nothing but eat, sleep and play in the pool. Grandma & Grandpa taught Ali some freestyle & backstroke. She is very proud of herself.
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Action shot!
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Ali's turn

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Saying "good-bye" to Florida. They had a good time, but were ready to come home. I'm glad they're back!

Photo Op

Just a few seaside shots . . .

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Snorkeling Adventure!

One thing we wanted do do before we left Mexico was some snorkeling. For the past 2 days the beach here has had the red flag out (no swimming), plus there is no reef here. So, we decided to do a snorkeling excursion . . . and we're glad we did!

Our excursion took us to 3 different places. The first was an ocean inlet:

It was very cool. I had an underwater camera (not digital, so I have no idea how my pictures will turn out) We saw lots of tropical fish and some beautiful underwater formations. Unfortunately, due to rough sea conditions, we didn't go near the open sea, but we loved what we saw.


Next we went to what is called a closed cenote. It's basically an underground cave that is part of an underground river system. The water was "refreshing" as our tour guide liked to call it . . . but it was a really neat experience. Not much to see as far as fish go, but amazing underwater formations. And now I can say that I've gone swimming in a cave!

At the end of the tour, they took our picture. I'm always a sucker for these things!

Lastly, was the open cenote (basic difference - this one has no roof). Here they had a zipline into the water, a platform to jump from, etc . . . We didn't do any of that, but enjoyed some more snorkeling.

Right next to the open cenote there is a cave you can climb down into to get an idea of how all of these cenotes are attached to each other. It was really cool.

Sunset

I had to post this one quick before breakfast. It's a actually a color picture, but looks black and white. I love it!