Birthday Girl

My Sydney turned 6 on Feb. 11! She is SO grown up! She had a very eventful day! Off to school in the morning, and I got to go help in her class for a while. She liked having me there on her birthday, and I took treats for her class, so she liked that too.

Right after school, Grammy and Grandpa came and picked her up for lunch. Syd chose McDonalds of all places. I guess 6 year olds never get sick of McDonalds. We had been there earlier in the week!

After lunch she got to go to the store and pick her present. She got a doll that came with hair paint she can use on the doll and on her hair. I don't remember what it's called, but she loves it!

The afternoon was spent playing with her new doll and then we went to dinner at the Training Table. She chose it all by herself, I swear! No convincing from me! It's one of my favorite places too because I LOVE the cheese fries! I think Syd loves the phones.

When we got home from dinner we had a family party with strawberry cupcakes and her uncle Brad and aunt Lindsay. They got her a jewelry beading set, and the same doll she chose earlier in the day with Grammy and Grandpa! We were all surprised! I can't believe I forgot go take pictures that night. I'm a slacker lately! Syd enjoyed the evening and didn't get to bed until around 10.

Saturday the 13th was Syd's party. She kept thinking of more and more people to invite, and we ended up with 14 kids (in addition to my own) over for the party! I had to put a stop to the numbers at some point!

She had a jungle Safari party! She was the Zebra.

She has just started showing interest in Hannah Montana and got 2 different Hannah Montana bags! She was very excited! She also got a lot of makeup and art stuff, barbies, little pet shop animals, and more makeup! Thanks to everyone who gave to generous gifts and made Syd's birthday party so much fun with your kids there!
The Safari cake. This is the best picture I got of it. I can't believe I didn't get a good shot of it...it was awesome! I didn't make it, no, but I did put the animals on it...
The kids waiting patiently for their cake and ice cream.
We don't have near enough chairs for everyone, so we cleared out the kitchen and told the kids they could sit on the floor and eat. They all decided to sit under the table. So cute!
This is the goofy face picture! Quite the crowd!

Syd is such a special girl. She has such a big heart and loves to help others. She is always thinking of others' feelings and how to serve. She is very tender and loves to spend time with family and friends. She is very active and would spend all day riding her bike if it wasn't so cold outside! One of her favorite things is for Andy and me to lay with her at night before she falls asleep. That's when we get the most information out of her about her day, school, friends, concerns, etc. We love you Syd!!!

Naples

Andy and I got to go on another vacation the first week of February. Alphagraphics made Gold Circle again this year and that means we got to attend the "Meetings" in Naples, Florida. My mom came and stayed at our house with the kids and carted them around to school and dance. She did a great job with them and they all seem to have had a great time. Everyone survived!

Andy and I got on a plane early Wednesday morning with his parents to head for a few days of paradise. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton! It was so beautiful. The room was gorgeous and had an ocean view. The food was wonderful. The service was amazing...the most friendly people I have ever met!

Our first full day there Andy and I went out to the beach and one of the workers out there got our chairs all set up with towells, made sure they were facing the direction we wanted them to face, and asked if he could get us anything else. I wasn't too sure how to react to such service! We lived it up!

Beautiful sunset!
The second night's dinner was at a restaurant that has lots of different animals. The owner brings one or two out per night, and we got the giraffe. He let us feed him! I have never been so close to a giraffe, and it was so cool! He ate about 50 pounds of carrots while we were there.
He wasn't shy!
We also got to pet an alligator. That was pretty amazing. This one is about 2 years old and is much softer than you would think. It's mouth was clamped shut, so I felt better about touching him.

We really enjoyed our time with each other and with Andy's parents. We did a lot of shopping since the weather wasn't too nice except for the first day. We also spent a lot of time mingling with other Alphagraphics owners. Andy really did have meetings in the mornings, and he even presented at one of them. He did a great job of introducing how to implement QR codes. If you don't know what they are, you can go to this link and find out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5oQPe2XuCA