For Vivian's birthday, we got her a dollhouse. She is in love! And I love to watch or hear her play with it (and Kate, too). Thank the Lord for imaginations in these little ones. It's so sweet.
Last Monday, June 18th, Vivian turned 4 years old. She is such a joy for our family and we are so thankful that we have been given this gift.
We loved celebrating her birthday twice last week: once in the Bahamas on her actual birthday, and then once again on Friday in Salem.
Kate is so happy for her sister. She's really contemplating the goodness of God here... :)
Joey and Tasha joined us for our birthday lunch at a restaurant in the hotel. Gotta love a tough man wearing a ballerina birthday hat.
I brought a few presents from home for her to open.
What an excited little girl! At the beginning of the trip, she told everyone that we were in the Bahamas just for her birthday. Ahh, kids are so self-centered :)
The restaurant was so special. They decorated the table for me beforehand with plates and hats that I had brought from home, and then did a spectacular birthday song for her (see video). They provided the cupcake and candles. It was perfect.
She didn't eat the cupcake...she was fascinated by the chocolate writing on the plate.
Here are two videos that capture the birthday song the staff at the restaurant performed for us and her reaction. Please please please ignore the dorky pregnant mom. I was just trying to participate in the fun but I ended up looking ridiculous. Good thing kids don't know that...they just appreciate the effort, right?!
On Friday we recreated the birthday lunch in Salem so that my parents could have a chance to honor her. I asked Vivian where she wanted to have it, and she said the Omelet Shoppe. Haaaaaa! (maybe only those from Salem will understand how funny this is. The Omelet Shoppe is kind of a local version of Waffle House. It's a family favorite!)
Uncle Joey and Tasha gave V her first Barbie doll...ballerina Barbie.
This is out of order, and it's not the greatest pose, but it shows how we attempted to decorate our hotel rooms in the Bahamas for her. I bought a package of birthday cake posters to tape around on the walls. It was fun to try and be creative but simple for her birthday on our trip.
Happy birthday, Vivian! We love you so much!
Kate has always had the funniest facial expressions, even since she was a baby. Aaron loves to get her to do this look. It cracks us up every time. She loves knowing that she's making people laugh. Hopefully it will put a smile on your face, too.
Here are some random poses from around Atlantis. The first few were taken on Monday when we did a little walking around to explore, taking time for photo opportunities.
As soon as Vivian realized that getting her hair braided was an option (lots of people around the resort had done it), she asked to do it often. We saved it for Monday as something special for her birthday.
There were several huts of women who had set up on the beach, selling jewelry and doing hair braids.
They were so patient while the women were working, but really it only took about one minute. They braided that hair so fast, I almost didn't get a chance to get my camera out and take pictures! It was crazy to watch. Each girl got two braids and they're still looking pretty good a week and half later. It was definitely a highlight of Vivian's birthday.
Now if I could only figure out how to get the beads off so I can take the braids out...
There was an aquarium under one of the hotel towers of the resort! We finally found it on Monday morning when we did a little walking tour. It was pretty well done and the girls were very interested.
V carried around this identifier poster so she could match what we saw to its name on the poster. She is such a little student.
Do you see the bracelet that she made the night before?
It was difficult to take pictures because it was so dark in the aquarium, which was kind of like a tunnel underground, but the water tanks were so bright...so sorry for the strange picture settings!
On Saturday and Sunday nights of our trip, Interstate Batteries put on two really awesome parties. The Saturday night party was in the grand ballroom of the hotel and was decorated to the theme of celebrating the last 60 years of battery business. The best part about the night was the live band that they had...they were very good and picked awesome songs to cover. I also enjoyed the ice cream sundae bar :)
We showed up around 7 to eat and dance. The girls stayed for an hour and a half and then Mattie took them back to the room for bed so Aaron and I could stay a little longer.
We found some tables and ate first.
My brother Joey and Tasha
Whitney, Alen, and their kids, and Sherrie
The girls did a little dancing and got some attention :)
This is a picture of the dance floor from our view when they were doing a song by Journey. It was kinda crazy!
Then, on Sunday night, they hosted an outdoor party by the pool and it was really phenomenal. There was so much detail and entertainment. We had a weird schedule that day...the girls took a nap around 5:30 or 6 pm, right before the party, so they stayed until about 10 pm to enjoy everything with us. We had so much fun that night.
This is a view of the festivities when we first walked in.
Vivian was in awe of the costumes. She had also just woken up from a dead sleep, so there was a combination of shyness and excitement.
So cool for a little girl!
Aaron is a sweet dad...he had already brought Kate to the party first, so she was warmed up to the music and dancing. Vivian, on the other hand, had a hard time getting into it even though she wanted to participate with her sister so badly, so Aaron took her up there and held her to try and help. He was standing in front of a couple thousand people with a few kids...go Aaron!
They had masks like these and instruments on the tables for everyone to use. It looks like she's not happy about wearing this, but it's actually her attempt to make a scary face. She was having a blast.
There were a few shows...one of a lady eating fire, and one of this guy doing the limbo. I thought for sure he was joking about the height of the bar in the picture below, but he did it!
Our sweet, matching girlies.
There was a very loud parade walking through the party and the girls had to have a front row view. It was another example of how fun it was to have them with us, to see the excitement of everything through their eyes.
They had a section just for kids activities, like fishing, fair games, and this beading table. They sat here for over 30 minutes, making necklaces and bracelets. By this time it was almost 10 pm and they were slowing down...but concentrated so hard on their projects.
This is a view from the front of the party looking back at the end of the night. You can see the Royal Towers in the back. What a memorable night in Atlantis!
Interstate sure knows how to throw a party :)
Here are two videos from the Saturday night party. The first is of the girls dancing with their friend Addy. I'm sorry the lighting is so poor, but maybe you can get the point with what you can see. In the second one, you have to hold out until around the 22 second mark to see some of Kate's dance moves and funny faces.
Fernandez Family
About
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This blog is a way for us to journal about the fun events and milestones of our days as husband and wife and new parents. Enjoy catching up with what's going on in the Fernandez family!
Aaron and Lisa
Married December 18, 2004
Vivian Gray: born June 18, 2008
Kate Leigh: born August 5, 2009
Hank Michael: born August 8, 2012
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