Mylee's 10th Birthday Celebration

So....what I want to know is....

how in the world did Maya get to be ten years old????????


Steven and I keep telling both Maya and Scott
to stop growing...
and I'm positive neither one of us approved
birthday number 10 for goodness sakes!!!!

Miss Maya celebrated HUGE this year!

Emily and Deb VanSicklin,
(our best friends from Castle Rock, CO)
flew in on Saturday to spend the weekend with us.
Maya's birthday is May 3rd
and Em's is May 4th.
They both turned ten this year...
and they got to do it together!

Maya and Em have been best friends since they were two and a half.
They have spent the last seven birthdays with one another.
It was so awesome that they didn't have to skip this year.


We kicked off the weekend by playing on the quad
that Steven's dad,
(Poppa)
sent us money to buy.

It was a very popular gift!


Steven cleared out a couple of paths out in our back yard,


and the kids went nuts!
The quad is quieter than the average lawn mower,
and from inside,
I was unable to hear it at all.
We figured we didn't bug the neighbors too much
and Maya, Scott and Emily had a blast!

We also went to the Farmer's Market in Raleigh
where there were a ton of fresh strawberries.
We ate ice cream and shopped
until Scott could handle no more. :)


We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant
where the girls got to wear sombreros
and were served birthday sopapillas
with whipped cream and cherries.


When the girls had enough of smacking each other with the big hats,
Deb and I took a turn.

We also went to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" 3D.
Don't we look cool in our 3D glasses?!?!

Emily and her piggies
(and the rest of us)
went to Kure Beach on Cape Fear.
It was only supposed to be 77 degrees,
but it turned out to be 85 and sunny
the day we played on the beach.


The water was chilly when we first got in,
but it warmed up quickly.


Scott was a little unsure of those big, strong waves when we first got there,
but it didn't take him long to start playing in the water.
We all got smacked around a bit...
I totally got owned by one of those waves!
Maya and I were trying to make it back up onto the sand
but lost our footing.
I didn't make a graceful exit out of the surf
and have the 'sand rash' on my knees to prove it!


Deb is all nice and tanned here in this photo....
(not only did she just spend 10 days on a Florida
beach over spring break but she's naturally more tan
than me to begin with.)
Both Mylee and I wound up with sunburn after our romp
in the Atlantic....


...and we brought lots and lots of sand back home with us
but it was totally worth it.

Mylee had an awesome tenth birthday!

We hope it was as happy and as memorable for Emily.

Happy Birthday, girls!