The Lion, The Princess and her Wardrobe

Princess Isla is sitting atop her throne anxiously awaiting the arrival of her Royal Subjects to Kapellas Kingdom for a very special majestic gathering...

Lion, you have been my most loyal Royal Subject of all.

We've been through a lot these past 3 years!

So pretty in purple!

This day totally ROCKED!

It's time to get this party day started with a trip to the Exploratorium in Skokie. What is the Exploratorium, you ask? Well, let's find out...

There are music walls (of course we had to head there first),

a cool light table to play with magnetic shapes,

a very steep (7 ft.) rock wall,

"I told you I'm a monkey!"

a fountain and pond for fishing wild game,

a giant storybook theater complete with dress up clothes (perfect for this princess!),

tables for coloring pictures of everyone's favorite pals Woody and Bullseye,

and a pint size chalkboard to teach today's lesson all about: I-S-L-A ISLA!

We are so glad we could explore this imagination playground. Who says a January birthday girl can't have loads of fun even if we have to be inside to get a 70º temperature? There was even more things that we had to save for another day because it was time to go out for a special birthday dinner!

Here we are at Brownstone, one of our favorite spots, and Mr. Man can hardly wait for his hot pretzel, burger and beer! Oh wait, that's Daddy's dinner. Nevertheless, he is having so much fun on his big sister's birthday!

Two of my most favorite people in the whole world...

and there's the other little one!

(But he is much more interested in the containers of food in front of him and the Big 10 basketball game on the giant TV.)

The birthday beauty ate all of her dinosaur chicken nuggets but made sure she had plenty of room for the rock star cake at home.

Did somebody say cake? Let's go home and get the real party started!

Rockin' out Kapellas style!

A 3-star singing performance!

We totally rock! Can't you just hear the blaring AC/DC in the background...

"For those about to rock!"

Stop the music! Isn't it time for presents??

We just can't get enough Beauty and the Beast! Isla also got DVDs of some other favorites like Finding Nemo and Tangled.

But the gift that takes the cake and a true rock star party wouldn't be complete without is...

tickets to see The Fresh Beat Band LIVE and IN PERSON!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Isla!

When you arrived into this world, we were given such a blessing that is beyond anything we could have imagined. You've become an amazing little girl and watching you grow has been nothing short of fascinating. Oh, how we love you, sweetpea!

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday!

It's time for a Rock Star Party to celebrate Isla's 3rd birthday!

We have a rockin' good time in store for today...check back for more later!

A date with Daddy

I had the amazing opportunity to take Isla to her first ever movie. Lucky for me, Beauty and the Beast was released for a limited time - in 3D! We made the trip to the movie theater, grabbed a giant bag of popcorn and got ready for two hours of awesomeness.

She was so excited. And if you aren't going to wear you Beauty and the Beast shirt when you go see Beauty and the Beast, then when are you going to wear it?

After explaining why it was important to wear the special 3D glasses, Isla put 'em on and and couldn't believe it. "They're right in front of me, Daddy!" That was followed up with, "They're live and in person!" Well, not quite as live as the Yo Gabba Gabba show that she and Tiffany went to, but close enough.

Quick Sidenote: Sometimes Isla still refers to the 3D glasses as DVD glasses. Pretty funny.

We made it through about 5 previews, half a giant bag of popcorn and possibly the greatest movie of all time...if you ask Isla anyway. She did great and can't wait to get back and see a movie again. She's already seen the movie several times at home, so there were no real surprises, aside from how loud it was. She was definitely ready for the Beast and the snuffs (wolves to me and you), but it certainly didn't stop her from yelling things out as they were happening. She also knew more of the songs than I did and hearing her sing parts of songs as she was sitting there watching it was something I won't ever forget.

She's still talking about going to see "Dr. Seuss's Lorax" (her words) soon. He's got a mustache after all - just like Poppy. Oh! She also wants to bring Mommy with to that one. Not sure they'll have 3D glasses as cool as these!

Circle of Friends

Just another crazy thing our little lady does when it's just too cold to go outside.

Happy Birthday, YiaYia!

Even though YiaYia's big day is in January, she still gets to enjoy great weather out there in Vegas, with a high today of 63º. Since it might reach 28º here, I thought we'd channel some of her warmer weather and look back at YiaYia's visit last summer.

When YiaYia comes to town, there is no time to rest, especially if she's here to meet a new grandchild. In late August, YiaYia met Gannon for the first time. And in between helping with his care throughout the day and night feedings (lucky us!), she baked with Isla, taught her some beautiful ballerina steps and showed Gannon the way around the Zoo.

Here's to you, YiaYia on your special day! We send our best birthday wishes from afar and we promise not to tell how many candles are on your cake! We love you!

Buster's Monster Bash!

Today is Keaton's 2nd birthday! And this little monster sure had a fun party!

Frightfully cute cupcakes!

Keaton made sure we all stayed on beat while singing to him.

And the 3 "monster-teers" couldn't get enough of each other, or the balloons, or the cupcakes!

In all the party excitement, Keaton even took time hang out with Gannon. (So sweet!) I think he was sharing some tricks of the trade for being a great monster!

Happy Birthday, Buster Keaton! We love you!

The big 6-7!

Today is our Grampy's birthday!

We started the celebration with reading books and playing dress-up. Grampy couldn't quite fit into the Dora dress. Then we had a great dinner made by Daddy (of course).

Birthday parties are really fun, Daddy! When's mine?!

Time for cake! Not sure who was happier about this part. Grampy let Isla get some wish-making practice for another big day coming later this month.

"You promise I can have cake next year, Grampy?"

"Speaking of cake, I think I see another piece waiting for me on the counter!"

Happy Birthday Grampy, Dad, Iron Mike! We love you!