Rosemary's Fourth Birthday

Rosemary turned four today. Like how most parents feel on their kids' birthdays, it's a little hard to believe.

Rosemary is a ton of fun and spirit. She's bright, funny, and a lot of fun to be around. That's not to say we don't have our moments. As her teachers said during the parent/teacher conferences last week, she can be stubborn. So true. But my prayer is that her stubborn-ness can be a good thing too.

She's also generous and caring. I think that the proudest I've ever been of her so far came last week when, after hearing about the Haiti earthquakes at school and talking about it more at home, she emptied her piggy bank and gave it all to help the people at Haiti who had been hurt.

Over the last year we've watch Rosemary become more and more of a big girl and to celebrate her, we took a trip down to Orlando. She had originally asked to go to Disney World for her birthday, then changed her mind to SeaWorld since "we hadn't been there in awhile." So since we were blessed to have tickets to either this time, we went with SeaWorld and rearranged the schedule so we could be there on the day it wouldn't rain. It was beautiful and the park was pretty empty.

Big sis and little bro.

Touching the stingrays

What a happy little boy!

Jonathan kept up with Ben while Rosemary and I rode the carousel.

We saw Shamu on our way back from the 'little potties' in the Baby Station...by far the best bathroom in the park.

While Jonathan and Rosemary rode a couple of the spinny rides, Ben and I walked around a bit.

We rode every ride in Shamu's Happy Harbor this time...a milestone in itself for Rosemary especially since I think she liked them all.

Happy girl!

Our almost 4 year old. She would tell people that even though we went for her birthday, she was still only 3. She's her father's daughter.

Rosemary took this picture of us. She does a really good job.

After SeaWorld, we checked in at the condo then ordered some Giordano's pizza and had dinner at the room. The kids went to bed and we got to relax after a pretty full day.

Saturday, we met up with Richard and Janice at the "Burger King by the condo" per Rosemary's request.

Rosemary and Ben got to play a bit while we visited.

We relaxed most of Saturday since the weather was gloomy. During naps I took I quick trip to Ikea and picked up some Pollo Tropical for dinner. Mmmm...sweet plaintains.

We packed up Sunday morning to head to Longwood to meet my parents at Fazoli's (another of Rosemary's favorites, she was quite devastated when the Gainesville one closed). After lunch there we headed home. Jonathan stopped at a Dairy Queen so Rosemary could pick out a cake. She picked out a pink one with seahorses.

Once home, Rosemary got to open her presents from us.

I'm pretty sure she liked the card more than the dress or the video that she got.

But the big girl princess bike was a hit and later in the afternoon we took a spin around the block on her new wheels.

Happy birthday, little one!

We love you so very much and can't wait to see how you grow in the next year!