Yo Ho! Let's Go!

Ok, it was more than a month ago, but Isla is 4!

She is FOUR 4 four F.O.U.R. & all the sass and energy that comes with it!
In some ways she seems so mature and perceptive.  Then there's the ego-centric grumpy alter ego.  Her moods switch on a dime and at least 50% are theatrics, but it doesn't matter, because she's a method actress and once she's committed to an emotion, she feels it for real.

She is playing with Isaac a lot more now and mostly does well with him.  She "reads" to him and gives him kisses when he lets her. She is taking dance lessons and loves them.  She loves preschool and her teachers.  She started Sunday school and is very enthusiastic about everything Church!  She has already learned most of the Hail Mary. She didn't have Sunday School for Palm Sunday last week and went with us to church.  (The last time she was in church with us was a mild disaster that ended with play-doh rolling slowly away from our pew and under other pews towards the alter, with Isla close behind until we grabbed her leg.)  This time I bribed her with a gaudy coloring folder decorated with the Blessed Mother and the Last Supper and filled with Palm Sunday coloring pages and stickers.  It went pretty well.  The palms helped too.  She went up and received a blessing and was absolutely thrilled.  She is also getting very excited about Ike's baptism and her God Sister's 1st Communion.

Isla wanted a Jake and the Neverland Pirates Party.  She wanted to be Izzy and she wanted people to dress up.  We wanted to keep things much smaller than previous years, but with family & preschool friends, it still got kind of big.  My mom got really sick right before the party, which led to a few crazy hours the morning of the party, but the first three guests who got here were my Mommy friends and they knocked out the sandwiches, punch and kids table set up in 10 minutes flat.

I think I was in withdrawal after Ike's canceled party.  We had treasure maps for the kids that led them to different activities - Walking the Plank, Pin the Tail on the Croc (Thank you Disney.com for awesome resources!), Captain Hook's Ring Toss, and Digging for Treasure.

We also had a pinata.  Isla really wanted one, but also really did not want the aggression that comes with a regular pinata.  Luckily we went to a birthday party a few weeks before and saw a pull string pinata.  I converted her treasure chest pinata into a pull string (Easy!) and Isla's little cousin pulled the magic string.