Cutie-pie Aidan, Brendan and Kaity!

Look at this delicious little baby of ours!!! Isn't Aidan the sweetest?!!

 I took this picture of Aidan giggling at Kaity-Girl. She had said his name sweetly as she ran by. Aidan loves to hear his own name and smiles sweetly every time.

 After Kaity and I had gone to the zoo, we drove over to Brendan's house so that we could walk over to the playground at the school across the way from Brendan's house. I'm so glad we did this! 

 These two cousins played their hearts out together.

 Look at these great pictures!

 Brendan! Please stop looking SO GROWN UP!!!!

 We spent a solid hour over here and it was a DELIGHTFUL 60 minutes.

 Narration is not coming easily to me today ... but doesn't a picture say a 1000 words?

 Kaity and I bought Brendan a little gadget at the zoo. It turns into a double magnifying glass, has a tiny compass on it as well as a mirror. Brendan totally loved it.

 Brendan is one of the most animated children I have ever met. He is such a blast.

 On our walk back to Brendan's, we crossed over Buck Creek and threw stones into the river.

 Dylan and Aidan were there to greet us when we came back. Look at Aidan's chunky marshmallow little body! 

Kaity, goats and the zoo!

An entire week has gone by since I took these pictures of Kaity at the zoo. But I am posting them today to try to catch up on this photo-journal of mine. 

 I love watching Kaity enjoy animals. She is really something--just like her brothers and sister. She loves animals, is not one bit afraid of them, and animals love her too!

 Look at her enjoying these goats!!!

 I love her little face as she takes care of them.

 Gentle and kind. That's how to live, Kaity, with people as well as goats!

 I love these pictures!

 We climbed all of the stairs to the top of the zoo so that we could go tiger hunting ...

 But first we had to play at the treehouse thing-ee.

 You are such a good climber and explorer, Kaity!

 And look at the prickly caterpillar we found looking for the tigers too!

 We had to go way down the boardwalk to the pool at the bottom of the tiger enclosure to actually SEE a tiger. We wanted him to come and take a swim, but he would not budge from where he was!

 Kaity loves to play on this little wooden train. There are no hurries here at the zoo. Kaity just plays until she is finished playing. I like that.

 Kaity is very happy at the zoo.

 I love you so much, Kaity. I'm so happy I am your grandma!

Saturday pictures, and more ...

These are some remaining pictures from Kaity's birthday that I neglected to post. These two sets from PlayMobile are so darling, and Kaity just loves them.

 If you have done any looking through this blog, you KNOW how much Kaity loves playgrounds.

 We have named most of our little people. There is, naturally, a mommy and a daddy. But the children are: Emma, Randi-Lynn, Kenzie, Harper, Brendan, and I forget the other child's name at the moment.

 It's very fun to play with this toy and Kaity!

 This is Brendan on Christopher's back the night of Kaity's party.

 And these are actually the Saturday pictures ... We took a little picnic over to the park off 8 Mile and Alpine. 

We enjoyed just climbing and exploring, always meeting more children along our way.

Kaity absolutely loves playgrounds. She always has very WIDE smiles when we are there!

The boys right away got into some kind of espionage game ...

This is dear Matthew. Dear, dear Matthew. I love him.

We have a similar picture to this one (below) from a Texas playground many years ago--only Kaity was not even close to being born and none of us had a thought of her whatsoever! So glad she has entered the world and brightened our lives!

Dear Kaity

This is a birthday collage of this past year in Kaity's life ... some of my favorite pictures of her.

So Kaity! You are FIVE now. How is that possible, dear granddaughter? These years have passed by very quickly. I am very glad that I no longer have to get on a jet plane and fly across the country to see you. You have been "home" here in Michigan now for nearly four years and have no memories whatsoever of Texas. 

I want to tell you some stuff about you, Kaity. First of all, you are loved. More than I can express it in words, you are loved. There is SO MUCH to love about you, Kaity! Would you like to hear some things your grandma loves about you?

1.  You love to laugh
2.  You love to play at my Beach House
3.  You love to play outside, especially at playgrounds
4.  You enjoy all of my stuffed animals!
5.  You are good at giving hugs
6.  You love to be with me
7.  You have a very sweet smile and a contagious giggle
8.  You enjoy washing dishes at my little house!
9.  You love to rake leaves with me
10.  You love to work in my yard
11.  You are very good at beating me when we play Memory games
12.  You like a nice adventure
13.  Your little heart is full of love
14.  You love to go to the zoo
15.  You love to swing HIGH and FAST on the swing set
16.  You love to go super fast on the merry-go-round
17.  You are a very fast runner!
18.  You sit very patiently while I de-tangle your hair
19.  You love bubble baths
20.  You love to play in the creek, especially with water guns

That's just a few of the things that I enjoy about you, Kaity. I pray that we will always enjoy each other's company just like we do right now. Please Lord, give Kaity a heart to know You and follow You all the days of her life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAITLYNN JANE.