Happy 40th Birthday, Daddy!

Daddy's birthday was on Thursday. We threw him a surprise 40th birthday party last night. It was a casino theme at the new Radisson Blu hotel by the Mall of America. He claims he knew all week that something was going to happen, since I got him so good on his 30th. 

Gangster/Pimp/James Bond style for the men and Flapper/Cocktail style for the ladies. 

When Tony initially put on his pimp outfit, he came out into the party with his t-shirt still on. We all informed him that he needed to lose his t-shirt and show a little chest hair as a pimp. 

 Mike Ebbert showed up as Tony's twin pimp brotha... It couldn't have been more perfect!

Uncle Dave rolling on the dice table that brought him in as one of the big winners! He showed up with his pocket watch and big money clip to play the part!

 Nick (a buddy from work) and Tony playing blackjack

Bryan and Summer playing with the higher roller...

 The Flapper Girls...

Heff pulled out his Caesar's Palace golden medallion that he picked up on his first trip to Las Vegas.

 It was a toss up between Jackie and Mark and Dave Vera, as to who was the big winner. They had reams of raffle tickets at the end. The blackjack players only had 4 to 10 raffle tickets each in the end. 

Happy Birthday, Tony! You will forever be 39! 

Tony impressed the party by blowing all 40 candles out in one big breath. Everyone told him how his lungs were still like a 39 year old. 

2 Year Old Pictures

Our little beauty ...

Ellie's birthday party

Ellie and Kate are just two days apart. Kate still walks around singing "Happy Birthday...Ellie!" It is her new favorite song. She is excited to know Daddy's is coming up, so she can have cake.

The girls chased each other and were giggling in high pitched voices for the whole party to hear...

Let's go to the petting farm at the zoo!

Ellie's Grandma, Brenda, was in town from Colorado while Nana was in town. We met Ellie, Summer, and Brenda at the zoo to visit the baby farm animals.  

These girls naturally love each other. They decided to hold hands while we walked to the exhibit.

Birthday Party!

What more could Kate want than a life size M&M?!? Thanks to Papa, we were able to use a display from one of his stores to be the center of the party! 

 As soon as Kate saw her birthday party attire, she put it on and wore it proudly.

 Uncle Dave and Auntie Vera joined us to celebrate Kate's birthday.

Uncle Dave got right in there and sat with the kids to eat their cake. A huge thanks to Nana Debbie for making all of the decorations. Who would have thought we decided on the theme that you could not buy M&M decorations?!?

 Abbey (far left) is one of Kate's favorites from school, Lizzie (Abbey's sister), and Sam (Rhonda's son) had a ball with all the "new" toys. 

 Abbey giving Kate hugs for her birthday. 

Kate was "Miss Shy" until we whipped the cake out...

...she was a happy camper once she enjoyed the delicious frosting melting in her mouth.

Singing Happy Birthday...

 Sammy and Max are twins and Ellie is Kate's best friend from school. It was like a circus getting this picture taken. The boys are close to walking, so they are fast!

Opening presents became a couple of day affair. The thing I loved most about Kate's birthday was that she thought it was all about cake and singing her "Happy Birthday." She wasn't super interested in the gifts, so we opened a couple per day to spread it out and enjoy it. She would open one gift and start playing with it. Nana gave Kate Dora underwear for her birthday. Kate put the first pair on as you would expect. The second pair became a hat. 

 The chef's outfit was a perfect gift to go with all of the cooking that she loves to do. 

Nana made her a bed, dresser, high chair and clothes for her dollies. 

 Auntie Syl and Uncle Bob sent a Little Tikes truck. Kate thought she was the coolest riding around in it!

We could barely get it out of the box and she was sitting in it singing "The horn on the bus goes 'beep, beep, beep'"

 Nana helped Mommy put together Kate's new outdoor playhouse. She loves to go in and out of the doors and tells lovey what to do.