Ella's 4th Birthday Bash

In January our niece Ella turned 4, and had a little "Princess Tea Party". There was going to be a very special guest, so of course we couldn't miss it! We packed up the kids and the car and headed to Idaho. Brittany's parents, Ed and Kathy were kind enough to let us stay in their house. It ended up being a great, big sleep over. The five of us, Mike, Brittany, Ella, Hunter, McKinnley, and Gian all stayed at Ed and Kathy's and had a great time. We had such a great time our little over night trip turned into a 3 night trip :) It was hard to go home!

Mike set up this huge tent in the playroom. Ella, Kallie, and Ben slept in there and watched movies. They had so much fun! I am actually very impressed they actually slept in there. Granted they were probably exhausted since they didn't go to bed any night before midnight.

Andrew even got into the action and watched a movie or two with the "big" kids.

Andrew playing with his favorite "toy". Wherever we go I always pack this medicine case on the off chance someone gets sick. Andrew loves to play with it. I hide it every time, and without a doubt he finds it. He can open pretty much any top, even the child proof ones, so I have to watch this child like a hawk!!! Look at this smile. This kid is in heaven! I only wish I would have taken a picture of him after I took it away. let's just say his little face was not this happy.

Brittany, McKinnley and I headed over to their house to set up the Tea Party. While we were gone the boys had some fun too....

I love this view! Really there is not a bad view out of any window! Ben was in HEAVEN! Uncle Mike has always been a little crazy, and therefore every child's favorite uncle. He strapped the kids in the FJ and took them off-roading in the back yard. They loved it! Check out this smile on Andrew's face!

Hunter all strapped in and ready to go. Ben thought it was so cool to get to sit in the front seat!

Mike and Hunter taking a turn on the ATV. Let's just talk about Hunter for a second. This kid is one tough cookie! He can fall down a few stairs and just hop back up and keep on running....but if he thinks you are upset with him, he just crumbles. Such a tough little man...with a tender heart!

While the boys played, the girls worked! How amazing does this tea party look! Brittany went all out, and the little girls walked in and really thought they were in Wonderland. Well, all except Kallie. She hasn't seen Alice in Wonderland yet :)

Check out this set up!

Alice even came to Ella's party! Every little girl wanted to sit right by her. Ella felt so special. Alice was so cute and even did all the little girls hair, and took the time to talk to all of them. She brought them a little present too.

Love this picture of Kallie and Ella. I told them to smile..and this is what I got.

Brittany had little stations for the girls to go to, nails, hair, and cookie decorating. Kallie was so sweet and decorated a cookie for every member of her family. And put extra special toppings on, like apples, bananas, other cookies, and even grapes! Don't laugh...they actually were really good!

Brittany has the good pictures of Alice and the girls so go to their site to see those. I love this one of Kallie and Alice dancing. Look at the adoration in Kallie's eyes!

(This tent picture is supposed to be at the top...but blogger won't let me move it)

Now for Hunter and Andrew. They kind of have a love/terror relationship. Andrew tends to be a little bit of a bully. He likes to push, pull hair, tease, and pretty much do anything to make other little (or big) kids cry. We are working on this. Most of the kids he bullies just cry and don't really know what to do...not Hunter. Hunter pushes back! Andrew was shocked the first time that happened. He didn't know what to do! He had never been on the receiving end of bullying! It was a good thing though...the rest of the weekend they got along perfectly! Very equally matched!

These were taken on a camera phone, so they are a little foggy. Don't you love Hunter's smile!

There is a little room under a set of stairs that Kathy has made into a kid hideout. it is so cute! It has a little half door that they can open and close and everything. They would just go in there and hang out and go in and out of the door...just because they could ;)

Andrew has a "thing" with microwaves. He calls them "beep-beeps" and LOVES them. He was in heaven when he discovered a microwave in the theater room that was HIS height. It even played music! He would put anything and everything in there, close the door, wait a second, and then yell "beep beep!!!" open it up, take it out, and start all over again. Best babysitter EVER! Good thing he hasn't figured out how to start it yet :)

We had such a great time in Idaho! I didn't get any pictures of playing cards, but we played games every night, watched movies, laughed, talked, and just had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Thank you Mike and Brittany!!!!