Olivia's 4th Birthday... Take One!

The camera was rolling on our little girl today as we began her 4th birthday celebrations.  The first of the celebrations took us to the local bowling ally with my family.  Since it was our first time bowling with little ones we knew it would be a blast!

First we tried bowling "Granny Style", but the ball was moving s-o s-l-o-w...  1.7 mph kind of slow.  (Compare that to 18 mph the guys in our group were bowling.)  We joked that the ball was going to stop in the middle of the lane and we'd have to call for a worker to come retrieve it.  Thankfully that didn't happen, but we did ask for them to dust off the ramp for us, and that's how the little tikes bowled the rest of the time.

Olivia was so funny.  She'd set the ball down at the top of the ramp, give it a little push, and spin right around once it was off the ramp.  She wasn't ever too interested in watching the finished product of the ball knocking the pins over.  Often I'd grab her by the shoulders to spin her back around so she could watch it happen.  I'm thinking she didn't get the point of the game, but she still had loads of fun!

Oh yes, and these pictures turned out like garbage because I was trying to shoot without a flash.  Hence, slow shutter speed to let in enough light, hence blurred images.  I was trying to be polite of the bowling tournament going on and I didn't want the more professional bowlers getting annoyed by the obsessed mamarazzi.

Back at home we played around, opened gifts, and filled our bellies with pizza and ice cream sundaes.  I was kind of disappointed that Olivia requested ice cream instead of a birthday cake, but who am I to complain?!  I love ice cream, it was a lot less work, and still fun with canned cool whip, sprinkles, and cherries. 

Don't forget to pile!  Sally's on the bottom. (Insider joke thing with Sticha family members.)

Oh yes, and Olivia insisted on changing into the new dancing leotard Pat and I gave her earlier.

Make a wish birthday girl!

I'm so glad Brooke and Savannah (Ryan's girlfriend and her daughter) were able to join us!  The girls had so much fun playing together, and making such a mess!

The film is still rolling...  Her actual birthday is up next followed by another celebration with the Clarks!  I can't wait for both!