Happy 4th Birthday!!

I cannot believe that it has been 4 years since I first met my little princess. She has grown up so much in those 4 years that I can't even imagine what the next 4 will be like, and I hope I have the patience/wisdom/strength to handle the next 4. *smile*

We celebrated the big day at Lake Jacomo (Shelter #6). It started out rather warm (97 degrees) with a pretty strong wind. We got the celebration underway around 1:30 with most of my family and friends, her dad and grandma and Ashlyn's favorite cousin and her two best friends on the planet. She was in 7th Heaven!! She got to play for quite a while and then enjoyed cake, ice-cream and snacks as well as punch and water.

As we started the "present opening" portion of the festivities it got darker and darker with thunder and lightning looming just to the north. I rushed her through her present opening to make sure we got through all of them, but I don't think either of us got a real chance to actually SEE what she got. By the end of the presents it was storming like crazy. We covered things up and everyone pitched in to get things put up in my car so they wouldn't get ruined.

We got to say goodbye to family and friends as they made their way out in the storm and headed home. We stuck around for a little while with the few family members that stuck it out as the rain turned to a sprinkle. Ashlyn was soaked (as was I) from head to toe, as she caught a few extra raindrops on her tongue.
It was a very happy birthday for her and great to see so many people come out and enjoy her special day. She's an amazing girl. I still just can't believe she's already 4.

Happy birthday baby girl! (Yeah, she'll ALWAYS be my baby girl...even when she's 80.)