Rachel's 4th Birthday party!

Daddy and Rachel first try out the slide...and like it!

Nick REALLY liked it! :)

Yes, that's Deborah trying it out too!

Papa and Bradley

Nana and Thomas

Daddy's boy

Dear friends and family

Rylee Ann, Raquel and Rachel

Raquel and Rach

WHEEEE!

The candles wouldn't stay lit since it was windy,

so Rachel had to blow out a lighter.

Let's see what else I can make a mess with!

Thomas and Heather

Bradley and Eli enjoying the pool

Baby Carson...Rylee Ann's brother

I LOVE to slide!!!!!!

Look at Elle go!

Bradley was getting into it now!

Opening some great presents!

Elle

Sweet and Tired Rachel opening presents

A serious discussion about fritos or juice...

Pat and Lauren

The celebration is over and oh what fun we had! Rachel was absolutely THRILLED with her slide and started sliding this afternoon around 3:00. Since it was so hot, we had to make it a "water" slide, which was alot of fun! I don't think she stopped until 7:30 and that was only with a quick break for supper and then to open her presents. She was having SO much fun! I guess it was a good choice for birthday entertainment, because Rachel loved it so much and so did her friends. Her buddies, Raquel and Rylee Ann enjoyed the slide too and daddy even gave it a "go". I tried it much later in the evening and took Bradley down with me. He had shown NO interest in going down it earlier in the day and was quite cranky. But, after lunch and a lot of icing from Rachel's cake, he perked up and decided to play on it some. But, he still wouldn't slide until I went with him. Once we started, he was a squealing, laughing, happy mess! He loved the slide too! Elle arrived later and she had a great time sliding with Rachel and Raquel but Carter and Lauren weren't interested in trying it. The little ones, Thomas, Heather, Eli and Bradley had mostly hung out at Bradley's water-wheel table and poured water in and out. We got out the baby pool and they enjoyed that some too. Also, Aunt Erin brought her battery operated bubble blower and ALL the kids loved the bubbles! It's funny how kids of any age love bubbles...such a simple thing! Rachel's birthday cake was so cute...from Sam's...and had an adorable Strawberry Shortcake decoration on it. Rachel got so many nice gifts...lots of great dress-up stuff, like necklaces, a boa, princess shoes, a crown and even some make-up! She also got her very own football, some stuffed animals, a puzzle, a new Barbie bike helmet with knee pads, some Little Mermaid swimming fins, mask and an Ariel doll to float with in the water. She also got some play-doh, coloring books and crayons and several pairs of pajamas! What alot of WONDERFUL presents! We ate hotdogs, chips and, of course, STRAWBERRIES, and even had lots of cotton candy. That was a real treat making our own cotton candy! Our best friends, Jen and Micah came and helped out and so did mom, dad, Joe and Deborah...THANKS for all your help, y'all! The only ones missing were the Lanes...Juju would have had a blast!!!! But, we have many more years to come of super-fun birthdays! We had so much fun and are so tired that we're going to stay home tomorrow and just take it easy!