Sunday Trip to the Zoo

Today the girls met their friend Amanda at the zoo!  The three of them were literally running from one exhibit to the next. 

Waving to a monkey.

Checking out the giraffes. 

Playing!

Lauren and Amanda petting a goat.  The goats were very peaceful... they barely moved and didn't make a sound!

Emily is extremely cautious around animals but still wanted to carefully pet the goats too.

Lauren being silly with Dad on the zoo train. 

Everyone loved the train ride!

Pretty view taken from the train.  

Sleepover with Annabelle

The girls had a sleepover this weekend with their friend Annabelle who came to visit from Seattle!

 Annabelle's dad George was selected to read the bedtime story.

 The following morning we went to the Portland Children's Museum to play.

 Emily and Lauren discussing an angioplasty case.  Future radiologists?!?!

 Taking care of dogs in the veterinary area.

Brushing the alligator's teeth.

Bridge Pedal 2012

This year we did the Providence Bridge Pedal with the girls!  We did the six bridge ride and it could not have been a more gorgeous day in Portland!  This was the view from the Marquam Bridge.

Family photo on the Fremont Bridge!  You can see the white tandem bike attachments that the girls rode on during the ride.  The girls were delighted to see refreshments at the finish line, including popsicles, chocolate milk, and bagels.  We'll definitely be doing this ride again!

Arm Bangles and Super Emily

The girls love to look at our blog and remember all the fun things we've done together.  Recently they've started asking me to take pictures of particular things to include on our blog! 

 Lauren requested that I take a picture of her colorful arm bangles.

Emily requested a picture of her posing as "Super Emily", complete with rubber bracelets and night mask.

One More Celebration!

The Rufeners recently invited us over for one more birthday celebration for the girls!  Grandma made delicious ice cream cakes for the girls.

So happy to hear the birthday song again!

Emily blowing out her candles.

Lauren blowing out her candles.

Four Year Stats

This photo was taken at the girls' four year old checkup with Dr. Rosenbloom... Lauren is on the left and Emily is on the right.  They are growing so well!

Lauren 42 inches (90th percentile) and 36.2 pounds (61st percentile)
Emily 42 inches (90th percentile) and 37.6 pounds (71st percentile)

Summer Playdates

The girls recently visited their friend Gavin!  He has a fabulous water slide in his backyard and the girls loved it! 

Emily going down the slide. 

Lauren going down the slide. 

Craft time!  The trio made bird feeders... they coated pine cones with peanut butter and then rolled the pine cones in bird seed.

The girls also recently met up with their friends Hazel and Bronte who were visiting from Colorado.

Harrison and his sister Harper (not pictured) also came to play!  Everyone loved riding on the giant see saw despite the HOT weather!

Happy 4th Birthday!

The girls turned 4!  We let them choose a restaurant to go to for their birthday dinner, and they chose Red Robin!  They insisted on bringing party hats.  As you can see, Lauren was very excited!

 Emily was all smiles too!

Lauren pulling the cherry off of her birthday ice cream sundae. 

Emily enjoying her ice cream sundae. 

I asked the girls what they wanted for their birthday this year... Lauren wanted a surprise gift and Emily requested a trumpet.

The trumpets were a big hit with the girls... they love to play "music"!

Over the weekend, the girls had a birthday party at The Little Gym!  Emily is running towards the camera and Lauren is on the far right attempting to flip backwards over a bar. 

Lauren showing off more bar skills...

Dancing! 

The party group listening to directions for the next activity. 

The parachute games were a real hit!

Lauren and Emily jumping down the air mattress.

A group picture featuring most of the party guests. 

Birthday cakes!  The girls chose them together.  The Toy Story cake was a chocolate cake with raspberry chocolate ganache filling.  

The princess cake was a white chiffon cake with whipped cream/fresh strawberry filling.

Even though she is not in focus, you can still tell that Emily was grinning from ear to ear when everyone was singing Happy Birthday!

Lauren enjoying the moment...

Blowing out the candles!  It was a great party and we were so happy to be able to celebrate with family and friends!

We opened presents at home and the girls were delighted with their new toys, including the classic game Hungry Hungry Hippos!