Grace's 6th birthday

 First, some cell phone pictures from the last few weeks. All the kids in Alice's crib.

 Alice and Grandpa Gabe.

 Bat Baby at Wal-Mart.

 After naps on the 4th of July, a family in the ward invited us and a few other families over for a barbecue. It was really hot, so Alice got right into the kiddie pool.

 Grace and Linnea became best friends our first Sunday here, and were inseparable at the party. They're really cute together.

 Charlie didn't mind the heat and humidity, and was perfectly content just sitting in the grass for hours.

 His new buddy is similar in size, but months older.

 We skipped fireworks since the kids were trashed. We got ready for Grace's birthday that night: Paul decorated, Lynne wrapped, and I made Grace's birthday cake. She wanted chocolate cake with white frosting. I added M&Ms and a G made with sprinkles and a stencil.

 Grace woke up super excited to see streamers and banners and a pile of gifts.

 The hula hoops were pretty obvious, so we let her open them already. She's pretty good!

 Alice got one too.

 After Grace's favorite breakfast (maple/brown sugar oatmeal), we went to the National Zoo. The zoo is free, so we didn't feel bad that the kids lasted less than 3 hours. It was super hot.

 We only saw about 25% of the zoo, but we had fun!

 We all enjoyed the otters the most, since they put on such a good show for us.

 Charlie loved seeing them right at his level! On our way home, we saw the Potomac River, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, MLK Memorial, Capitol building, etc. It was cool! 20 minutes later, we were home.

 Grace had gotten a wind chime craft set from Mom/Dad Gabe, so Paul helped them with that.

 What a sweetie!

 Then it was so hot we got out the kiddie pool. We had to use umbrellas - there was no escaping the sun!

 Charlie loved cooling off.

 Alice likes to splash.

 Grace was a mermaid.

 The rest of us stuck our feet in and tried to stay shaded.

 Lynne helped with the continued efforts on the chimes. There has since been another work session on it, and they're still not done. I guess they're a lot harder than they look!

 Grace requested a salad bar for dinner, and was super happy about it! We also had her favorite drink: root beer, and jello in Happy Birthday molds.

 Grace took a long time to blow out so many candles.

 Surprise! I hollowed out the 2 middle layers of the 4-layer cake and filled it with M&Ms when I was building it.

 Thank you, Pinterest! (The M&M's did get a little soft after a day.)

 Then Grace opened gifts. We got her a bunch of stuff from the dollar store.

 She was so excited about a nice watercolor set from Grandma Lu. Grace LOVES painting. She expressed interest in Grandma Lu's painting last week, and now she can follow her example!

 Her final gift was a little slip of paper from us.

 Registration in a ballet mini-camp!

 And a leotard! Do you think she likes it?

 Lynne and Alice were buddies during the gift opening.

 It fits!

 Daddy dutifully helped put together the mini Barbie set. He justified it by saying it was a lot like legos.

 The girls did some paint-with-water before bed.

 Lynne fed Charlie before heading back to NJ on Saturday. We liked having her here!

 Paul read books to the kids.

 Cute new outfit from Grandma Flake.

 Alice wanted her picture taken too.

Paul used to paint, so he already had a watercolor workshop book I gave him a few years ago. He helped Grace get started. She loves it! Happy Birthday, Grace!