a birthday fit for a princess.

Today my beautiful daughter turned 4 years old.  My amazing Aaralee, the girl who made me a mommy. I can't imagine my world without her in it.  She is so smart, absolutely beautiful, hilarious, and even more stubborn than me... if that's possible. 

The past year with her has been a whirlwind of adventure, fun, learning, and the daily challenges of threenager life.  She tested my patience and made my heart burst with pride.  She conquered her first year of preschool and hiked up her first mountain.  Last September, she was my shy, quiet, tiny little lady, and today she is my outgoing, chatty, big girl. 

In this house, we celebrate birthdays in a big way.  Parties are centered around whatever the girls currently love most. This meant that Aaralee's fourth birthday party would have 3 main components: Pink, princesses, and unicorns.  With plenty of input from the guest of honour, we created her dream birthday party. 

We invited all of her best girl friends, and together they coloured pictures of castles, princess and unicorns. They decorated their paper and their arms with stickers, while wearing crowns and tiaras.

As per usual, the kitchen was filled with treats and baked goods, including my homemade macarons and Grandma's famous cookies. The crockpot was full of Aaralee's favourite meal... mac and cheese!

Aaralee had a specific vision for her cake, and I was happy to make it a reality.  It was pink, and coated in chocolate, "so so many sprinkles", marshmallows, a unicorn, and pink candles.  

We managed to wrangle a few toddlers to play an amusing game of "pin the horn on the unicorn".  

The highlight of the day was without a doubt the smashing of the unicorn pinata.  What was once a colorful donkey pinata from Walmart had become a beautiful unicorn after a few tedious hours of my life. I watched my masterpiece get shattered into pieces by determined a few determined 2 to 4 year olds.

  

The aftermath of the pinata was an endless sugar high felt by both young and old party guests.  

Aaralee assured me that she had had the best birthday party ever, and it made me so happy to see the pure joy on her face for the whole entire day.

She was sad to say goodbye to her party guests and asked why they couldn't stay all day. We sent them off with a bit more sugar for the road, much to the appreciation of the parents,  I can imagine.

The party continued into today, her real birthday.  My 4 year old woke up, ate some pancakes, put on a princess dress and got cozy on the couch to watch Frozen.

For weeks she had been asking to go to Chuck E Cheese's so today we granted that wish and spent a few hours running wild, eating pizza, playing games, and riding rides. She was in Heaven, running around in a Belle dress and fairy wings. 

We went home, let Briley take a nap while we watched Frozen yet again. When little sister woke up, we headed to the swimming pool for an evening of splashing.  By the time we dragged the girls out of the pool, everyone was exhausted and ready for dinner.  It was Aaralee's choice, so naturally, we ended up at McDonald's. 

We came home to watch a bit more Frozen (making the most of our 24 hour rental) and finally managed to put our "not tired" girls to bed.  It was a super fun, super busy weekend for the most special 4 year old girl I know.  

Happy birthday, my sweet princess. I can't wait for the adventures that this year will bring us.  

a summer to remember.

Summer 2017 is winding down, as much as I hate to admit it.  The first few leaves have fallen, the weather is undeniably cooler, and you can't go out in public without being bombarded with pumpkin spice everything. I love fall, really, I do... I'm just not ready for it. I'm never ready for it. I wish that summer would last forever, or at least longer than 2 months.   

Though I'm sad to see my favourite season go, I take comfort in the fact that we truly made the most out of this summer.  We made so many memories and went on so many adventures. Aaralee is almost 4, and I know that years from now, she'll remember bits and pieces of this summer. Hopefully she'll want to bring her own kids on the same adventures, just like I did in this summer of sweet nostalgia. 

 

It was a summer of birthdays. Briley's birthday, my birthday, Niko's birthday, and in just a week, it will be Aaralee's birthday! 

It was a summer of Canada.  Canada 150 made us all extra patriotic, and I am forever grateful to call Canada home... even with its lack of eternal summer.

It was a summer of roadtrips. 

Our first trip in early July took the girls and I to Calgary for a quick little getaway with my mom. 

The first day, we drank ridiculous milkshakes at Regrub.  

The next day we explored Banff National park. 

The final day, we took the girls to Calaway Park and they had the time of their lives riding every ride that they were tall enough to go on. Aaralee even braved the log ride, though she vows to never do it again.  

Our next road trip took us 6 hours south, to Ryan's family reunion. It was a huge event, for a huge family. On the way home, we detoured to Waterton Lakes National Park, a first for me! 

Our next roadtrip took us to Mt Kidd for a weekend of camping with some of our best friends. The weather was perfect, as was the company. The girls had a blast and asked to go camping "every day!" 

We took a break from road trips for a couple of weeks to save up the time and energy required for the longest journey yet. My mom, the girls and I drove all the way to Vancouver and spent a week touring the coast and the Okanagan.  

I ran my first half marathon in Vancouver, after a summer full of training.

We went on the Sea to Sky gondola, wandered Granville Island, and dipped our toes in the ocean.

We played at the beach, built sand castles, and discovered Aaralee's love of the water. 

We went wine tasting and ran through vineyards and orchards.

And finally, we made a stop at one of my childhood memories... the Enchanted Forest. Things that I find dull as an adult are suddenly magical again once I rediscover them with my children. 

Our final road trip of the summer brought us to Lake Louise, where we camped with Ryan's parents.  It was a beautiful weekend, and on our hike to Larch Valley my amazing daughter's hiked a large portion of the uphill trail all by themselves. 

Though a great deal of our summer was spent away from home, we still managed to have fun when we were in town. 

 We splashed at spray parks. 

We played at normal parks.

 We went to K-Days for an extra dose of midway food. 

We spent time with our best friends. 

 We bought a zoo membership so that we could see the animals on a regular basis.

We took our first trip to the ER when Briley dove headfirst into a fireplace. It wasn't our favourite memory, but a memory nonetheless.

We had lunch dates and playdates, spent mornings strolling the farmer's market and taking long walks along the river.  All in all, it was a summer to remember.  Though the days are dwindling, I'm not going to say goodbye to summer just yet. 

We still have sunny days to enjoy, evenings to spend at the park, and one big birthday to celebrate. I'm holding onto summer as long as most of the leaves are still hanging onto the trees.