4th Birthday Fun: Part Two...A Beach Ball Party!

We had the whole family over to celebrate Annabel's 4th birthday a couple weekends ago. Annabel's requested party theme was Beach Balls, and we had fun putting together a party complete with a beach ball cake, beach ball plates, rainbow/multi-colored decorations, a decorate your own beach ball activity, many balloons AND a very giant beach ball to enjoy in our backyard (thankfully the rain held off for us!)! The kids had a blast with the beach balls! The party was a success and we all had a great time! Annabel was so sweet opening her presents and expressing such delight and joy at each item. Annabel's funfetti beach ball cake was delicious; I was quite impressed we got it to look like a beach ball, too! Now the party's done and we've had some time to regroup as a family, enjoying and trying out all things new, while also welcoming in Spring, which has finally officially sprung!

Enjoy the pictures! Thanks to Uncle Jason for many of these, as always!

Party time is almost here...Saturday we baked a cake and picked up balloons! Annabel loved being able to pick out a few of her favorite balloons! (Disclaimer- It's my daughter who thinks her striped attire matches, not me, though I do not ever discourage her...to her, they are both striped after all! This combination comes up rather frequently, to my chagrin. Same with hearts on top and hearts on the bottom. Fashionista she is not. She is a girl with her own mind and strong confidence- I like that far better anyway!)

We started our day on Sunday, Party Day!, with decorating the round cake to look like a beach ball. The kids LOVED helping and it turned out really cute!

Birthday girl!

Decorate your own beach ball! So fun!

Giant beach ball fun!

The kids played hard out there!

Present time!

 

 

 Sweet sparkly little mermaid- Annabel was in love instantly!

 

 

Finally- Annabel has her own lapdesk!

 

Fancy Nancy game! (Cute game- we play it OFTEN!)

 

Fancy Nancy doll!

Fancy Nancy phonics books (sense a theme yet?)! Perfect for this little girl who is working very hard on reading!

A doll dress-up sticker book- finally!

Kit Kats- Annabel's fave!

Cute new book!

Our neighbors will looove us with this loud bike horn- Annabel sure loves it!

How could this little girl be FOUR already?! She looks so big here. And today my brain dared to think about how Annabel is on her way to five already, how next year she'd be five, FIVE?!! How could my brain let me down like that?! Let me enjoy four, let me enjoy my little girl some more, please!

 Time for cake!

 

 

A little down time...Grandma Mary Kay reads Annabel her new book, How to Babysit a Grandma- a really cute book and big hit with Annabel! You should see the way Annabel says "I love you" with no words...just like it says to do in the book (we've done this before of course, but now it's a "thing" again)- it's the cutest thing ever, with very deliberate and elaborate large movements and pointings to eyes, heart, and you! She has to think really hard about it all, you can tell! I love it. Of course she's getting better and better at it by now, so it's not as elaborate anymore, but it's still so sweet and she does it all the time now!

 

It's Official- Annabel is a Soccer Player!

Finally...after waiting for two years...Annabel has officially started playing soccer on her very own soccer team! She's been tagging along to Daniel's games for two years and dying to play on her own team since the very first time he ever played...so this day was highly anticipated! Annabel's team is DC United, with a black jersey, as you can see, that of course goes down to her knees, with shorts that go down to her ankles, shin guards that cover her whole lower leg, knee socks that could be pulled up to her thighs...well, maybe it's all a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea, she's a munchkin, but a super cute one and lookin' sporty and rarin' to go!

Annabel was literally counting the days until soccer started and since it started the week of her birthday, she literally just made the cut-off for being four before the first game in the nick of time! Phew. And since it was the week of her birthday, she also had a very exciting week with a lot to look forward to- she couldn't wait till Tuesday (her birthday), she couldn't wait till Friday (soccer night) and then it was Sunday (family party day) and now she can't wait till Friday all over again. I think this girl is going to have a great time out there!

And it was so cute- this first night of soccer practice, Annabel's smile was as big as it could possibly be and that smile never left her face for a second. And she worked hard the whole hour, too. She ran hard, did every drill and practice and game like the best little soccer student ever. She was so proud to be out there. And when it came time to do a little scrimmage, she was in there and getting that ball and chasing that ball like you wouldn't believe...it was so fun to watch Annabel. She was just a hard little worker and she showed such determination and eagerness. She was all over that ball and that field. She knew she had as much right to that ball as anybody else and she showed it with all that hard work. So fun! We shall see how the rest of the season goes! And of course Annabel loves that Daddy is out there helping as assistant coach. Gonna be a fun Spring!

Daniel was a great big brother on the sidelines, too. I was proud of him for sitting and watching so nicely. He was pretty proud of his little sister!

GO, Annabel!

Let's go! Annabel was very eager to get out there and play! 

Beautiful night for a first practice, too!

Daniel even used his telescope to keep an eye on the game!

Annabel worked very hard as you can see!

See how she's always IN on the action?! You go girl!

Hooray for a great first soccer practice! You can see how Annabel's cheeks are flushed- that's how hard she worked out there!

Here are some videos of Annabel in action! 

She just loves to watch these videos over and over and over again!