a berry bitty girl

afton requested a strawberry shortcake birthday party to ring in the big three. overall, character themes (think disney princesses, dora the explorer, ms. shortcake & co., etc.) sort of make me cringe, but they're all my girls love at this age. i tried to accommodate her love of "a berry bitty girl with berry big possibilities" while still following my own inner party compass and ended up morphing her shindig into a strawberry shortcake tea party with less direct emphasis on the "character" strawberry shortcake.

i'm going to roll out what we did to celebrate ms. afton baby noelle in a few different posts. hopefully ya'll can stand the cuteness. if not, i suggest you find another blog to follow because cuteness is alls we got here.

first things first, her birthday dress:

whipped up by yours truly and featuring a 

lime green argyle nod to strawberry herself.

give me an A!

remember this baby?

well, two years later, she's now this baby here:

happy birthday, afton!

a little bubbly

i'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air...

fashionistas

hip and cool to the max:

london calling

but back to bryan's recent trip to london.

the girls wouldn't let him leave without his favorite travel companion with whom he could visit all the sights.

some pics of their adventures across the pond:

phone booths.

bikes to rent.

near buckingham palace.

more palace.

trafalgar square.

parliament.

the london eye.

this little pedi went to market

summer just wouldn't be summer without the perfect pedicure.

the most important meal of the day

dear michael jordan, mary lou retton, and all you other assorted supa athletes:

you can keep your wheaties.

the wheeler girls have found the true breakfast of champions.

and baby caleb is all,
"amateurs.
i have ice cream for breakfast, like, every day."

"you know, without the ice and all..."

patriot games

the food:

the fun:

bryan, joining uncle owen in his traditional july 4th read-aloud of the declaration of independence. luckily, we just happened to have this HUGE authentic copy lying around.

afton, ear-plugged up and ready for this year's fireworks extravaganza to begin.

daddy, about to burn a hole in our grass (no, really).

summer, dutifully taught that she should not play with fire, is confused and frightened by this unexpected turn of events -- "here, hold this crackling, hissing, flaming stick and wave it around while the sparks make their way ever-closer to your fingers. it's fun, i promise!"

happy fourth to all!

seashells by the seashore

we headed down to golden gardens in seattle for the fourth 'cause the ladies love nothing more than sand and water.

and this time, they were also on the hunt for some seashells to bring home:

but as much as summer and afton love the beach, our time there is never without its peril.

first off, i'm convinced that summer cannot be near a body of water without falling into it.

(my bad for picking an all white ensemble, i suppose.)

and here is afton screaming, "the water is coming!"

a warning cry she faithfully let out to alert the others of impending doom every time (yes, *every* time) a wave came in.

nope, those wheeler girls can't do anything anymore without having them some drama.

when daddy comes home

so in preparation for their father's midnight return from a week long business trip to london, the kiddos excitedly put together this little video for him to watch (baby caleb was especially thrilled to be involved):


http://youtu.be/EJXpLIAHLPw

and left out some delicious homemade granola bars in case he was hungry after a long, hard day of travel (bryan is almost always hungry):

only...

he didn't come home.

turns out, his flight from london to new york was delayed five hours causing a missed connection to seattle and an overnight stay in new york.

sad face :(

here's hoping he makes it back this afternoon so that i can get a two day long nap, and he can spend the weekend catching up with all his little crazies.

daddy, daddy, please come home! we'll eat you up -- we love you so!

just because

captain lubbers and i get our self-portrait on:

when life gives you lemons

make lemonade:

then throw in a run through the sprinklers for good measure:

strawberry fields

the girls have been waiting and waiting and checking and 

asking every day for weeks now, but here she finally is:

the first strawberry of the season.

thanks, grandma janna, for weeding our strawberry beds (and planting some more) so 

that summer and afton could enjoy this momentous (and delicious) harvesting occasion!

what dreams may come

caleb and mommy. 

as photographed by bryan in the early morning hours.

bend me, shape me

looks comfy, no?

insect ink

face painting at the local farmer's market:

b-a-n-a-n-a-s

frozen, dipped, and covered in sprinkles:

fingerpainting

as promised by the summer board, and featuring special guest star, megan:

ps - is afton just too cool for school, or what?