Katie Turns 5!

No, Katie's actually just 3. But ask her how old she is and she'll tell you 5. Ask again, then she'll say, "Okay, Alex is 5, I'm 3." She's a 5 wannabe if there is such a thing. I guess you always want to be older until about 30, then that changes a bit. (Tell me about it...)

Since we were "just" back from DisneyWorld in time for Katie's 3rd birthday, we celebrated in true princess style. Katie had also celebrated early all throughout Mickey's place while we were there, so this was really the culmination of a celebratory month. If you're around Katie, you know that celebrating her "Birthday Princess" status for a month makes sense. She even had the t-shirt proclaiming Birthday Princess status in rhinestones thanks to Grandma Bowen.

Family & friends joined us for a beautiful May day to celebrate Katie's special day. Lori spent a "few" (don't ask) hours constructing the castle cake, though it turned out glittery and fit for Cinderella in the end. Katie loved it, which made it worth it.

"The" Castle Cake. Look closely, becuase it probably will not be attempted again in Lori's lifetime.
Our family as Katie gets ready to blow out the candles.

Not birthday related, but our friend Olivia joined Katie & Alex at Six Flags for a day. They had a great time, as always. (Our tiny daredevil loves the rides, of course! No fear.)

A visit to the lesser mouse...Chuck E Cheese, with Uncle Pat, Aunt Rebecca, Woody and Muriel. Alex is somewhere in the middle.

Sailing Away to Disney. (I wish...we drove!)

May's arrival also welcomed our first 2-week family vacation to the house of the Mouse. While every kid loves such a trip, we were all looking forward to the mecca that caters to food allergies without batting an eyeball. In our first vacation in 7 years where Lori didn't have to cook most meals, we enjoyed many fine meals at Disney (and a few okay ones). What Disney does for food allergies by making sure peanuts don't accidentally touch your food is something all restaurants could do if people would simply realize that some allergies cause a little more trouble than hives. We all had a great time and are already planning our return!

Above is a photo with our friends Bill, Maria & Marabelle Coggins. You may recall that they traveled to China with us, and this was our first reunion since we got home. What fun we had getting to know Marabelle now that she's a couple years older. We also enjoyed catching up with Maria & Bill, who live in Tampa Bay, FL. We spent our first day at Disney together with them. How ironic that these girls who experienced so many firsts together (first time meeting their parents, first times on planes, etc.) also experienced one of America's greatest integrated marketing efforts together. Fun times!

Auntie Helen, Uncle Ralph! We're ready to board your shiny new catamaran! (This pic is from a family photo shoot we did with a Disney photographer at the Grand Floridian Hotel. They look like sailing pros, don't they?)

Our travel buddies, the McMurphys. Angelica & Shannon on the right, Sydney next to Alex and Sean asleep in the stroller. Katie's nap schedule was all over the place, so I think this was during her 10am siesta, not to be confused with the 1pm "true nap" each day.

Katie and her hero. She calls him Goofy, but we know better. She found a stuffed version at the Grand Floridian and thus began her life of crime as she clutched him and ran out the door to find Daddy and Alex. Needless to say, money changed hands quickly and he became ours.

The nice thing about driving (which was fairly necessary given Alex's food allergies and the prevalence of peanuts on flights) is that you can celebrate your arrival into Florida with a free glass (or 2 if you're my OJ-loving kids) of the orange stuff at the welcome center.