Happy Birthday, Layna!!

It's Layna's Birthday Weekend -- let the fun begin! We began the celebration a few days ago when Gido and Gigi flew up from Florida.

The first day they were here was St. Patrick's Day, so we all wore our festive green, including (and especially) Brayden:

Our house leprechaun

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful (I mean beautiful) weather and head to the zoo ...and we were not the only ones! Gigi got Layna ready by putting her in pig-tails.

Hard at work

Can you even stand the CUTEness?!

Now, off to the zoo!

Waiting with Gido

Our first stop was to watch the lion training (very intently)

Then Brayden rode a camel by himself!

Our big boy

Loving the giraffes

Fun with the elephant

Such a cutie

Then it was off to the new kids play area, full of climbing things, masks, and drums!

B was a little too short...

The dynamic duo

Drumming required some tongue action!

Let the birthday celebration begin!

T-minus 8 days until Layna turns 3! ...but since next week is Spring Break, we brought cupcakes to her class today to celebrate her big day. A couple weeks ago, Nicole asked Layna what kind of cake she'd like and she picked strawberry (what a shocker!). Then Layna continued to describe the kind of party she wanted to have, complete with the theme -- Strawberry Shortcake. What a blast from the past! Nicole was happy as pie to roll with that theme, even finding a legitimate SS hat for her to wear! Enjoy the cuteness!

What a happy girl -- ready for the cupcake!

The little beauties (homemade!)

One BIG bite! (she was the first to finish her cupcake...)

Welcome Soccer!!

The day is finally here -- Brayden began playing soccer tonight! He's been very excited about beginning soccer and, honestly, so have I! It's such fun to be doing "real dad" stuff like a city soccer league. The Trussville United Soccer Club is HUGE in our town, so I'm glad Brayden will be a part of it. AND, he'll be able to meet some kids that he'll start Kindergarten with in the fall -- a perk!

Tonight was super cold (one of the coldest nights in weeks), so we bundled up with three layers, plus another once we left the house. Here he is -- so cute!

Ready for practice!

The Sharks, warming up

Action shot!

Great game, kid

Brayden's biggest fan

And you know I couldn't leave out a video! There's hardly a cuter site than 4-year-olds chasing a soccer ball...

Laser Top

Yes, I haven't been too diligent at posting here (blame Facebook), but I still want you to see the kids having fun. This is a quick video of Brayden playing with his laser top, a gift from Aunt Paulette. Enjoy!