Happy 4th Birthday Abbie!

Abbie is 4 years old today.  To me, the time has flown by, but to her, this is something that she has been waiting for for a long time.  Many of the kids turned 4 a long time ago, and will be 5 soon.  Some of the girls have told her before that she couldn't play with them because she was only 3, so she has viewed her 4th birthday as the solution to all her problems.  Little does she realize that with girls like this, there is no solution.

We had a birthday party at the pool for her on Sunday and invited the kids from her class, as well as some of our colleagues that have young kids.  Above is a picture of Abbie as we were getting ready to leave for the party.  She was pretty excited, but as the day wore on she got pretty tired and was a bit of a handful.  She got a ton of presents (which we are still working on opening, actually), and I had told the parents who asked that she liked Dora and dinosaurs, but now she wants to know why everything that she opens is another dinosaur puzzle.  Oops! 

Today being the official birthday, we sent her to school with cookies for her class.  Of course, they were sent home with her unopened because they were store-bought and manufactured in a facility that may have once contained peanut dust.  She was also sent home with a note from her teachers giving us a lecture about how the school is a "nut free zone."  Keep in mind, of course, that there were no nuts in these cookies, just the threat of nut dust looming over everything.  Anyway, they gave her a crown to wear all day and found another treat on hand to give the class, so all is well that ends well.  At home Abbie was allowed to choose what she wanted for her birthday dinner.  She choose blueberry pancakes.  A good choice.  After that, we followed with more sugar - a piece of her leftover birthday cake.  We sang and let her blow out the candles again (she did it on Sunday, as well).  All in all a good birthday.

Our Anniversary

Tonight Chad and I went out for dinner for our anniversary.  Of course, we took Abbie and Emily with us, so it was not as romantic as some past anniversary dinners.  See below:

Of course, Abbie made lots of funny comments that just cracked us up.  At dessert, we each had a dish of ice cream.  The waitress was playing with Abbie and asked her if she could have some of her ice cream.  Abbie said no.  When the waitress left, she said to us, "She got us ice cream, why doesn't she get herself some ice cream?".  We just died laughing.  Her comments always have so much logic behind them, but at the same time are always so merciless - gotta love it.

Say what?

So, yesterday at school they asked the kids where their favorite place to eat out is.  Now, Abbie has been to a number of great restaurants in her life - steakhouses, places owned by world famous chefs, incredible seafood restaurants, etc.  In all of these places we have given her incredible food that she has really loved.  So, does she name one of these places as her favorite place to eat?  No.  Does she name any of the great places in town that we go to eat - places with incredible sushi, great BBQ, fresh fish, etc.?  No.  What could it be, you wonder?

Yup, that's right.  McDonald's at the airport.  Unbelievable.  Understand, of course, that its not like we spend our Friday nights hanging out at the airport.  Rather, one time on the way to Albuquerque, Abbie and I ate at McDonald's on our layover.  Apparently it really made an impression on her.  I can't help but wonder what her answer would have been if the boy before her hadn't primed the McDonald's thought.