My 4 Year Old Princess!!!

So, when in the world did we go from this....

to this...

Yes, my first-born turned 4 years old today. I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? 

We love her... the laughing, the crying, the silly-ness, the changing, the girly-ness,  the growing, the questions, the love of princesses, the strong-will, the "bashfulness", 

everything about her... because she's ours.

So, we celebrated her and her love for princess, with a Princess Party!!!!

Here is a sneak peak...

Party Prep:

The table decorated with fancy princess hats, fancy goblets, and forks... 

Daddy loves her so much, he even built her a castle!

The "nail station"

 And the princess' arrive to do nails...

And make-up...

Playing in her room with friends...

Opening presents... 

Games... 

(Pass the poisoned apple, when the music stops, that princess falls asleep! The couch was full of sleeping princesses! )

 "Pin the hair on Rapunzel"... it was a hit!

Cake Time!!

And yes... she LOVES princesses... so here is the cake I made. Rapunzel in her tower! 

(at some point, she changed into her Dorothy dress... Dorothy, the Princess of Oz?!?!)...

We feel so blessed to have so many great friends to celebrate Sadie Mac with us! We missed family in the States, but the Lord is good to provide others to party with us!

Then we headed to "the sandbox" (our school that has a sandbox) and celebrated with other students and their families... Here is Noah and his buddy Peter, playing in the puddles.

Some of our favorite BIG princesses... Ally and Abby

Our personal "grill daddy"

My Little Boy is Growing Up...

Recently, my little boy has figured out (quiet easily I may add) to get out of his pack and play.  NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! We learned with Sadie... keep them in their cribs as long as possible. 

Well, our "possible" time is over! 

We tried and tried the put him back to bed. We tried what the "books" say.  Basically... he just wanted to be in a big boy bed.

I got this pic when Sadie was pretending Noah's crib was her "carriage" and she was Cinderella. 

Noah was just playing along. 

And... the next few pics take place in like 6 seconds. 

 Over the top...

The Dismount... 

And getting on with life...

So, today we tried this. I had a "big boy talk" with him... and he stayed in his bed!!! party!!!

So, after fighting him last night from 2:12 am until 3 something... my heart had fireworks to see him sleeping in a big boy bed! However... my little boy is growing up. Sad.

(These fireworks were actually from Bastille Day (July 14th)... Independence Day... 

Great fireworks! 

Le Tour de France... in OUR TOWN!

Ok, here comes A LOT of pics... but we're super excited that 

The Tour de France departed from our town in Albertville! It was (obviously) a huge event and there were loads of people. We decided to stay at the starting line so we could actually see them for more than 10 seconds as the passed by. We had several friends who were in the center of town and they said it happened so quickly... they came and they were gone. I'm glad we stayed at the starting line... 

Here are some of the sights from the day.

... at the Starting line

And "voila"... 

12 July 2012- Depart Tour de France

Albertville

... where you can get Official Gear!

Our little biker chick!

Daddy and the kiddos and the several hundred others there to watch...

So apparently, about 2 hours before the start for the cyclist, there is a huge caravan or parade that goes the entire length of the course each day. Sponsors and huge floats go by giving out free stuff (or "gifts" as they call it). This was the start of the huge caravan!

Mickey Mouse was in the caravan

This is one of the tire sponsors... and yes, Judd, this pic is for you!

I love that only in France would there be a "bread" float!!! 

While we waited for the race to start, we wanted to stay in our spot because we were close to the line. And, we had tired little ones... Noah slept and Sadie Mac rested... it was a long day... but well worth it!

This is the stage where they announced each rider and team

After they were announced, the riders got free things from Power Bar and another sponsor. 

They started lining up and this guy had an interview right in front of us!

Starting to line up...

Bradley Wiggins

On Your Mark...

 Get Set... GO!!!!

Wow, and GO they did!

And team cars followed!

Noah cheering!!!!

 We had an amazing day. Still can't believe it happened, but it was super fun. So thankful for this experience as a family!