Alyssa turns 4!

You never truly understand when someone says that time flies until you have a child.  Our first born has turned 4 this month.  I am afraid to close my eyes because I know when I open them her father will be walking her down the aisle.  She has grown into such a beautiful little girl with such a great imagination.  I look forward to seeing what her future holds for her but it can take its time.  Below are some great pictures of her birthday celebration...Enjoy!

My great friend here in England made the most wonderful cake for Alyssa.  And she must know my daughter because she put a horse on top.  (And it was very yummy...thanks Mallory)

She is 4! and she is telling everybody she sees, including strangers.  

I love this shot just because I will always remember that this was the only shot I got before I had to show her how to blow out the candles.  Her form was good but the aim was a little off, the air went right over the candles.  I had to finally tell her to blow at the cake...and they went right out. 

Thank you Grandma Muhs for a replacement purple dress.  As most of you know she had a beautiful purple dress that she out grew but still managed to wear it.  Finally we convinced her it was too small and she was very sad.  Now she is happily wearing her new purple dress.    

Alyssa's best friend here in England, Carson, gave her a puppy bingo game.  She has beaten me a number of times.  She loves playing it. Thank you Carson.

What little girl could live without a doll house (besides me)?  This was her gift from Mom and Dad.  She loved it but the first thing she asked was where are the dolls?  

(You will have to stay tuned to see if she got any from Santa.) 

A very cute photo opportunity with Alyssa and Carson.  They will truly miss each other when we have to move :(

Dinosaur Adventure

Yesterday AJ took the day off and we went to a dinosaur park.  The weather could not have been more perfect.  In fact, everyone wore shorts (well, I wore capris).  It was one of the funnest days, both parents and children had a blast.  Below are several pictures of our day out because I couldn't narrow them down.  ENJOY....

Oh No!  Look at that big foot print.  

We must go see who they belong too...

Fred and Barney made an appearance to the park.  I must say I didn't realize what cute faces they had.  

The first of the many animals Alyssa got to hold...a guinea pig.  His name was Squeaks and he was her favorite.  

WATCH OUT...Asher is at the wheel.  

Alyssa was teaching Asher how to milk a cow.  Although she kept telling him "the cows peeing".

Don't I wish...well sometimes.  

I believe there was a mix up at the hospital because this girl is not my child.  Not only did she hold a millipede she held a cockroach.  Yuck! 

There were some fun bikes that we got to race around.  Here Daddy is helping Alyssa out.  

Then Daddy got his own turn. 

And even Mommy got a turn.  They were lots of fun.  

This was Alyssas favorite dinosaur.  It was so big that I couldn't get it in the shot.  She says she wants to go visit her favorite dinosaur again (and we just might).

A dinosaur nest.  This was in the maze. 

This was in the maze as well.  We all loved beating on the drums.  Too fun. 

Yabba Dabba Doo!!  

My little girl posing again.  She is adorable.  

Digging for fossils.  This was a lot of fun.  

Asher spent a good hour in the sandbox looking for bones.   I see a sandbox for a birthday present next year.  

CurveMotion - Rollerskating

We have been trying to get out on the weekends to do a fun family activity.  A couple weekends ago we decided to take Alyssa rollerskating.  We got the idea when she kept going around the house with train cars on her feet like rollerskates.  AJ is REALLY good on skates and he was excited to show her how.  Hope you enjoy the pictures: 

While Daddy got his skates on Alyssa posed for a picture with her cool skates on her feet. 

Alyssa holding on for dear life to the wall and to Daddy.  

She was getting more comfortable with them that she let go of the wall.  

Now she was really enjoying herself.  She did two trips around the rink and then wanted to go play on the playground.  

I am glad we paid good  money to go rollerskating when this is really all she wanted to do.  Its a good thing we love this sweet face. 

Asher got to join in on the fun.  This picture make me laugh because it doesn't really look like him.  He looks like a big boy, not my baby. 

Already the daredevil going head first down the slide.  

Wheres Asher???

Woburn Safari Park

AJ's boss recommended a safari park that was not too far away from us so we decided to go this last Sunday.  The weather was suppose to be nice and knowing that winter is just around the corner we wanted to take advantage of it.  We all had a blast and will definitely return sometime in the future.  Hope you enjoy the pictures below...

Before we left we decided to switch Ashers carseat to a forward facing one.  We had to borrow one from a friend.  That is why he is stuck in a purple one.  He didn't care and fell fast asleep in it a few moments after we left.  

When we entered the park we let the kids out of their seats and Asher quickly spotted animals everywhere.  

It was really neat how close they all were to us.  

Say Cheese, AJ.

Some of the animals made us thankful we were in a car.  

Look at those horns!

A lemur getting friendly with Asher.  

A penguin and Alyssa became pals while we waited out the rain.  

Trying to stay dry by the penguin exhibit.  

Don't know if the rain shows up on the blog but it was POURING!  Only in England can rain clouds come in pour for about 20 minutes and then leave.  The rest of the day turned out to be really beautiful.    

We decided to take a break from the animals and played in their indoor playground.  Alyssa enjoyed herself so much.  This is one of the best smiles I have gotten from her.  Such a cute face.  

Alyssa petting a Wallaby.  

At the end of the day AJ and I decided to go back through the road safari because the kids crashed out and we could enjoy the animals in peace.  But for some reasons all the animals wanted to hang out on the road.  Here is a cow that literally walked out as we drove up.  Stood for about 5 minutes and decided to let us pass.  

A black bear decided to take a leisurely walk along the driveway.  

Zebra crossing!  

Castle Rising and the Beach

During Alyssa's summer vacation we decided to go on an outing with some of the friends we made here.  We first stopped at a castle ruin, Castle Rising.  Because it was raining it made for a wet adventure.  Most of the castle didn't have a roof to keep the rain off. After that we ate our lunch in the car and headed over to the beach. Lucky for us the weather started to cooperate and we enjoyed the rest of the day.  Here are a couple pictures of our outing....Enjoy!

Castle Rising (or whats left of it)

All the kids who would cooperate for a picture.  

There are two girls missing including my Alyssa.  

Finally she found her happiness and wanted to have fun.  

The kids loved running around the old castle.  It was nice that we didn't have to worry about them touching things.  Here they are looking out a second story window.  

The entrance staircase.

Family photo time (minus AJ).  

Beach time!!  Of course, Asher loved getting wet and dirty.  Although he didn't much care for the sand on his feet so his shoes went back on.  

That is such a mommy face.  

Good thing I brought a extra pair of clothes for the kids.  

Asher, with his dirty butt, is watching Alyssa getting wet.

My good friend Mallory is helping Alyssa build a sand castle.  Every time the bucket came off with a sand castle underneath Alyssa got so excited.  Very cute.  

Theres a cute smile.  I love this picture. 

Who knew how much fun you could have at the beach even when it is cold and rainy.  

Too cute.  I love getting these kind of shots.  

Enjoying the view and some ice cream.  Priceless.

Wanting a one last shot of the view.