Happy Birthday Ainsley!

Ainsley is four years old!  

Ainsley had a fun birthday this year.  My mom was able to be here for her birthday.  My two aunts and their friends were also staying with us for the day.  I took the four ladies out to sightsee around Hildesheim and Schloss Marienburg. My mom stayed home with Ainsley and Sam to have some special "Grandma time."  Ainsley was so happy to have her here.  They spent the day playing barbies and princesses.  She misses her grandparents a lot!  That evening, when Tom came home from work, we all had dinner.  Ainsley had requested rice for dinner and so we had rice and curry.  Then we opened presents.  As usual, she was spoiled.  Tom and I got her new white sandals, a Mulan Barbie, a Sleeping Beauty nightgown, and a toy Microwave.  My parents gave her a beautiful new Sunday dress and sweater, new purple Keens, Strawberry Shortcake mini-doll, etc.  Aunt Cami sent Worry Dolls and Aunt Andrea sent swimming toys.  Grandma Reese had also sent presents with my mom and so from the Reese family she got a mini Rapunzel and Flynn figure set, books, The Lion King and Angelina Ballerina DVD, and stickers and candy.  My aunts and their friends also bought Ainsley a present and so she got a princess lego duplo set and a butterfly necklace.

 

 

Ainsley asked for a play microwave for her birthday that she plays with at the Galeria Kaufhof everytime we go there.

Ainsley picked out a Hello Kitty

 

 On the way home from church last Sunday, we stopped by one of the many Canola fields.  They are beautiful and everywhere around here.  Ains wanted to pose in her new dress from Grandpa and Grandma Butler

Ainsley loves to dance.  Ballet is probably her favorite thing right now.  She literally wears her ballet shoes all day and night.  We often have to pull her ballet shoes off her feet after she has fallen asleep.  Her favorite movies to dance to is Barbie’s Twelve Dancing Princesses,  Barbie’s Princess and the Pauper, and her Bella Dancerella Swan Lake Ballet movie.  She also loves to watch Angelina Ballerina.

Ainsley likes to copy and imitate whatever is going on in the movies or shows she watches.  When she watches Mary Poppins, she insisted on putting on her coat whenever the children do.  She also used my mop so she could follow along with Bert and the other chimney sweeps.  During any wedding scenes in her other movies, she will put on her bridal veil and insist on dancing along with them. Sometimes she’ll come running in and tell me urgently that it’s the dancing part, she needs me to pretend to be the prince so we can dance.  It is pretty cute and makes me laugh. 

Ainsley is a great big sister.  She loves to help Sammy whenever she can.  She gives him hugs and kisses.  She loves to play with him and gets mad when he crawls away with her.  She still struggles with sharing things with him sometimes though. When he touches one of her things, she immediately realizes that she needs it.  She is getting better though and is learning how to offer him a different toy instead. 

Ainsley loves sharing a room with Sam.  Sometimes when we put them down at the same time, we will hear them giggling in there together.  We love hearing them interact and play together.  We usually let them go for a little bit before going in and making them lay back down.  Sometimes Ainsley will crawl into Sam’s crib and we’ll find them in their playing.

When we go traveling, Ainsley carries her “Hello Kitty” purse with a few small toys to keep her entertained.  For instance, it usually contains an old cell phone, empty floss container, cardboard cutout she uses as her “screen phone”, a plastic horse and small doll.  This can keep her entertained for hours.  She has such a great imagination. 

Ainsley’s favorites:

1. What is your favorite color?   pink

2. What is your favorite toy?. Puppy and my teddy Charlie
3. What is your favorite fruit?  Pears and strawberries

4. What is your favorite movie? Lion King and Sound of Music

5. What is your favorite tv show? Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
6. What is your favorite outfit? dresses

7. What is your favorite game? Baby game on the ipad
8. What is your favorite snack? cheese
9. What is your favorite animal?  Flamingoes
10. What is your favorite song? Scar’s song from Lion King and  the one that says “Wake Up,” that Maria sings in Sound of Music

11. What is your favorite book? Sammy’s Thomas Book
12. Who is your best friend?   Ella

13. What is your favorite cereal? Honey Balls and Coco Puffs

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play at the park
15. What is your favorite drink?  Chocolate Milk and Fanta
16. What is your favorite holiday? Sunday cause I get to go to Primary
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Puppy
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes

19. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? pretzels
20. What is your favorite thing for dinner?  Pretzels and plain noodles

21.What did you want to have for your birthday? Rice

22. What do you want to be when you grow up?  Ballerina

23. What is your favorite thing to play?  (Two separate things)“Get married” and “Having Babies”

24.  Where do you live right now? In Germany

25.  Where do you want to live when you grow up?  School

26.  What do you like people to call you?  Ainsley Bug and Sweetie pie and Sassafrass and Girlfriend

27.  Who do you want to marry when you grow up?  Sam

28.  Where do you want to get married?  The Temple

29.   What’s your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  Play hide-and-seek

30.  What’s your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  Play the Wii

Found these gems on my computer the other day....Ains obviously got a hold of my camera...love the many faces:

 

  

 She loves to dress up and follow along with the movies she watches.  If it is a bridal scene, she'll wear her veil, if it is a dancing or princess movie, she'll put on her ballet shoes or princess dress.  This particular day she was watching Mary Poppins and insisted on putting on her coat and hat when the kids in the movie did.  Then she wanted to be a chimney sweep with them too.  She cracks me up!

 Her favorite thing to do is go to the Marketplatz and play at this fountain.  She loves it.

Everything and anything can be made into a costume for her.  She went through a phase a few months ago when she was obsessed with this purple European style pillowcase (giant square pillowcase).  She slept with it, brought it on train rides, and used to tie it around her waist like it was a dress.

 She loved that this little nook at the Berliner Dom was just her size and pretended it was her throne.  All Hail, Princess Ainsley!  We love you!

Central Germany with the parents

After we got home from the Rhine River we had a couple of days in Hildesheim.  So I took my parents to Schloss Marienburg.  We went on the tour of the inside then we wanted to climb the tower.  Tom and I hadn't done this yet, but sadly they don't allow children up at the top.  So I stayed with the kids at the bottom while my parents climbed the tower.  Ainsley and Sam had fun playing in the rocks while we waited.  After we saw the castle, I took them on the Rose Tour of Hildesheim.  I forgot to snap pictures.  We were lucky and had a beautiful day though...probably the only day of sunshine my dad had while in Germany.

On Saturday, we got up early and caught the train to Berlin.  I had pre-booked tickets to tour the dome of the Reichstag.  They give you an audio tour that teaches you about the history of the building and the city.  It also had a beautiful view of the city. 

After touring the Reichstag, we toured the city.  We saw the Brandenburg Gate, Berliner Dom, Checkpoint Charlie, etc.  After seeing the sights, we met up with my mom's two sisters Linda and Sharon and two of their friends.  They had also come to Europe.  They started in Amsterdam and then came to Germany for a few days.  We made plans to meet up with them the following day so they could come home with us to Hildesheim.

On Sunday morning, my dad had to fly home to Utah.  Tom, my mom, and I went to Charlottenburg, the largest surviving palace in Berlin.  This is the palace of the first Prussian Emperor, King Friedrich and his wife Charlotte Sophie, which the palace is named after.  We had a minor dispute about the baby carrier with the guards when we first entered the palace.  The guards at the entrance said I could carry Sam in my backpack carrier since we couldn't take the stroller in.  But in every room, the guards would come over and talk to me about how I wasn't allowed to wear a backpack in the palace for fear that I might bump into things.  I would tell them the front guards had said it was ok.  Some had no problem with it and would let me go into the next room.  But by the six or seventh room, this was getting old and finally one stubborn and rude female guard would not let me pass unless I took the backpack off.  Needless to say, this put us all in a bad mood for the next little bit.  I did, and had to carry Sam in a tiny front babycarrier they provided.  He was way too big for it, and it was heavy.  But we made the best of the situation and ended up enjoying the rest of the palace.  It was beautiful and very ornate.  After seeing both sections of the palace including the new wings, we walked outside to see the palace grounds.  There was a beautiful pond and fountains.  Then we had to quickly walk back to the Sbahn to meet up with my aunts and catch our train back to Hildesheim