Mati's 2nd Birthday Party

We celebrated Mati's 2nd birthday with family and friends on Sunday. Because Mati has a huge love for farm animals, that was our theme. It was a 90 degree+ day so Doug did a great job rearranging the furniture so we could seat 30 people at tables in the air conditioned house. We had a wonderful time celebrating our little 2 year old Miss Matilda.

Centerpieces with farm animals in a bucket, and cowbells on the tables.

Mati feeding cousin Aly M&Ms.

Using her new Lollipop drum; she got some wonderful gifts, people were very generous.

Blowing out the candle on her farm cake.

Andrew taking a swing at the cow pinata.

The kids grabbing the goodies from the pinata.

Mati trying the beanbag toss.

Meijer Gardens

We visited Meijer Gardens as what will probably be our last summer activity.

A fuzzy little orange bird in the Tropical Garden.

Mati with Aunt Jen and Cousin Aly checking out the foliage and birds.

In the tropical garden.

Some of Dale Chihuly's glass sculptures in the Tropical Garden.

Mati in the Victorian Garden.

Saying "hi" to the baby bear outside the Children's Garden.

Oh no, they have water fountains that are child accessible. Thank heavens Jen warned me to bring a change of clothes.

The Great Lakes boat ponds... here is Mati in Lake Ontario.

More Chihuly.

My favorite Chihuly.

Splash Pad!

There is a wonderful park in Lansing called Hawk Island. It has a wonderful big playground, trails, a lake, and a splash pad. We met up with some friends today and had a blast!

Mati was not a fan of a lot of water on her at once, but she liked to stand where the water came down on her like rain.

Snack break.

Getting more brave, standing near the buckets that pour down on you.

The water gun with Andrew and Rachel.

More running and splashing.

This was my cue to take her home.

Family Time

Scott, Jessica, and Taylor were in from Denver so we had a family dinner and took time to celebrate some birthdays.

Mati on the tire swing.

Scott giving the girls a ride in the Hummer.

Eric, Jen, and Aly gave Mati an early birthday present... a wagon!

Mati trying out the Hummer on her own and showing off her new sunglasses from Scott, Jessica, and Taylor.

Joe showing the kids how to swing.

Scott testing the limits of the tire swing.

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The Fair

We had such a great time at the fair. We saw animals, rode a pony, played with friends, and rode the rides.

Riding the carousel.



Mati and Doug riding the spinning berry ride with some friends. I don't do spinning rides, but we did go on the ferris wheel as a family.

On the Apple Worm ride... Mati is big enough to go on her own!

Petting the piglets in the "Circle of Life" exhibit.

Riding a pony. We do this at Meijer (fake pony) and the zoo (real pony) so Mati is getting to be a pro at this.

The train ride with Rachel.

And here are the results for all of my fair entries:

Pumpkin bread - no place :-(

Coconut cake - no place :-(

Chocolate Chip Cookies - no place :-(

Banana Bread - 3rd place

Sugar Cookies - 2nd place

Peach Pie - 2nd place

Pumpkin walnut pie - 2nd place

Blueberry muffins - 1st place

Brownies - 1st place

Chocolate cake - 1st place and section winner which means the best of all cakes entered in all flavors/types.

And the granddaddy of them all... my ultimate fair goal... I WON THE SWEEPSTAKES RIBBON! My pecan rolls won 1st place in their group, won the section (best of all rolls), and then won the sweepstakes prize!!! The sweepstakes ribbon is given to the ONE BEST baked good of all entries in all categories. So of all the pies, cakes, breads, muffins, cookies, rolls, entered they judged my pecan rolls the best. I AM THRILLED! I have to give a "shout-out" to Carolee because we used virtually the same recipe for our pecan rolls (from Marilyn Clear) and I just edged her out. But Carolee also cleaned-up taking first place in her three other categories!