Happy Birthday Eliza

My sweet Eliza is now three. I can't believe it. Eliza at three is already so much more grown up than Lillie and Jaynie were at three. I guess it is because she has grown up sisters to follow, but it is just so cute to watch her do things they are doing. I am so blessed to have Eliza. I can not imagine life without her. She is truly my sunshine on cloudy days. Don't get me wrong she is a ball of fire and can throw a tantrum far worse than my other girls ever could, but she always turns sweet on me just when I need her to. I love her and am so proud to call her my daughter.

I had a hard time getting her party together after being in D.C. and I was feeling so bad, but better late than never right. So a week and a half late, Eliza finally got her princess party. We just invited a few of the neighbor girls, which it turns out there are quite a few little girls in our neighborhood. I attempted to make a castle cake. I let Eliza pick out the colors and since right now her favorite color is blue she wanted the castle to be blue. So I know it looks pretty scary, but the idea was cute anyway. Also look at the close up of the cake, Eliza thought the castle needed a prince and princess (not a queen and king) so she put two Mike and Ikes on the "inside". I thought that was pretty cute.













So Eliza I hope all your dreams come true this year. Mom and Dad Love you very much and we can't wait to see what cute thing you do next.

My Dad had meetings in Washington D.C. on the 15th of September so we decided to go up there and hang out with mom while dad was in meetings. We had a great time. I love living so close to so many wonderful places. D.C. is just so awesome and we only had two days so we didn't get much in.

We got there on Sunday right as Mom and Dad's plane came in. We were staying in Old Town Alexandria so mom and dad came down to meet us for dinner. Old Town Alexandria is so cute. We had just missed a big art festival so that was a bummer, but we just enjoyed walking the streets and looking at all the old buildings.

On Monday Whit and I and the girls all rode the METRO (that was a nerve racking experience) to meet mom at Arlington. Arlington was one place we haven't been able to see before on past trips so I was excited to see the changing of the guards. Then we did the Natural History Museum. The kids loved this. We could have spent a whole day in each section. Jaynie was missing a field trip to a rock quarry while we were there so we made sure to spend a lot of time in the Gems and Minerals part and I could not believe how fascinated they were by it. After the Natural History Museum we went to the Air and Space Museum hopping to see the Ruby slippers. The girls were dying to see them. Grandma had told them all about them and since the American History Museum was closed we were told the Ruby Slippers were there, but they had moved them back to the American History Museum because they were getting close to opening it back up. The girls were sad, but they loved the Air and Space Museum so much that they forgot quickly. We were able to go the planetarium (Thanks Grandpa) Jaynie and Lillie thought it was so cool, but it freaked Eliza out a little bit. She thought the planets were going to crash into us. After we assured her that they wouldn't she was O.K. Monday was also Eliza's birthday and Grandma and Grandpa had a present for her at their hotel so we followed them back and she opened her present. That was all the celebration she got that day. I felt kind of bad, but promised her she could have a princess party when we got home so she was fine with that.

Tuesday we went to the Zoo. I can't believe that all this stuff is free. The Zoo is pretty good when you consider it doesn't cost anything to get in. Where they get you is on the food. Of course we are tourists so we weren't equipped with lunch boxes to pack so we were going to buy lunch in the zoo that is until we saw the prices for the food. It was outrageous, so of course we didn't order much and what we did have was horrible. Mom, Whit and I ordered the week old salad and the girls shared an order of chicken nuggets and a hot dog. Needless to say we left still starving. Luckily as we were leaving the zoo we saw a family on a bench eating Ben and Jerry's so I asked them where they got it and the said the 711 across the street. We followed suit and ate two pints of ice cream out side the 711. It was pretty fun. I think our favorite part of the Zoo was the panda's. They are pretty cute bears and not something the girls have ever seen up close so that was fun. We then made the long hike back to mom and dad's hotel to say bye to Grandpa and then made the 5 hour drive home. We were pretty exhausted, but it was worth it.

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us crash your party. We had a great time and loved that we got to see you most of all. We miss you and Love you!!!!