This year, we kept things pretty simple celebrating Brooklyn’s birthday. I planned and/or hosted a bunch of parties and showers in 2016, and I just didn’t have it in me to plan a big birthday party last month. Maybe we’ll have a “friends” party in 2018…except she’s not allowed to turn 5. That’s too old ;)
So instead of one big birthday blowout, we had two small family parties on back-to-back Saturdays. First up was a birthday dinner with the Grants at our house on February 11th. I cooked dinner (peppered shrimp alfredo, bread, spinach salad, and fruit salad), and we had strawberry cake for dessert. Everyone was able to be there, including Melissa who came all the way from Auburn to celebrate with us! We had a fun evening!
I didn’t do much in the way of decorating, but I did let Brooklyn pick out some stuff at Party City. Of course, she chose Toy Story!
This birthday hat was a splurge (it was ridiculously overpriced!), but I’m hoping we can use it for more than one party :)
Racing around because she was so excited for her party!
Haha!
She finally slowed down when it was time to eat supper :) She wanted to sit in the dining room with the “big people” instead of in the kitchen with her cousin and sister. We let her since it was her party after all!
Carter and Savannah didn’t seem to mind too much!
Brooklyn helped decorate the strawberry cake with lots of sprinkles. She also chose where the candles went!
“How old are you?”
The funniest part of the night was when we started singing “Happy Birthday”. Brooklyn was so excited that she immediately blew out the candles right after we started the song…haha! Alisha hurried and re-lit the candles before we were finished singing so she could blow them out again. It was hilarious!
It was great to have the whole crew there to celebrate with us!
After we ate cake, it was time for presents! Savannah was enjoying sitting with her Cici :)
Gifts from everyone included several books, a movie (Mary Poppins I think—I’m getting confused since she got so many for Christmas too), sidewalk chalk, a dress, bubble bath, and a rug for playing cars on.
The last gifts Brooklyn opened were from Mommy and Daddy. She’d been asking for a bicycle for several months, so we decided to make that our big gift. She was excited!
I picked out a Finding Dory bicycle, so of course we had to buy the matching helmet! :)
We didn’t get the bicycle put together that night, but Daddy had it assembled by the next night after church. Look how excited she was! She kept commenting about how tall the bike was.
Brooklyn wanted to take it for a test spin right away, so we let her even though it was already past her bedtime. She had a hard time figuring out how to pedal it forward the first couple of days, but it didn’t take too many tries before she was zooming around the driveway. More pictures to come in another post…needless to say, that bike has gotten a lot of use over the last month!
Brooklyn’s actual birthday was on a Monday, so we let her pick where we went out to eat that night. Of course, she chose the “pancake restaurant” (a.ka. IHOP)! This was the first time that the girls sat beside each other at a restaurant while Travis and I sat on the other side of the table. It was so cute to see them sitting side by side!
It was apparently family night at IHOP because Emily showed up with her friends after we did, and then Uncle Gil and his family got there not too long after that. It was a funny coincidence that we were all there at the same time!
Yum yum! Pancakes are one food group that we never have to convince the girls to eat. They love them!
Brooklyn got a box of M&Ms for her birthday from Gina Adams at church, so we let her bring those to the restaurant for dessert. Little did we know she’d get ice cream since it was her birthday. She was a little startled when they first started singing to her, but she was smiling by the end of it…especially when they handed her the ice cream with whipped cream on top!
She ate and ate the ice cream and M&M’s until she couldn’t eat any more. Daddy had to finish the last few bites. On the way home, she complained that her belly was hurting. It’s no wonder! :) At least she didn’t get sick! She had a great evening and really enjoyed going out to eat as a family.
On Saturday the 18th, we celebrated Aunt Jenn’s and Brooklyn’s birthdays with my family. Their birthdays are 3 days apart, so it makes sense to have a combo celebration :) I thought this picture turned out so cute!
Thankfully Aunt Jenn didn’t mind having a Lion Guard cake for her birthday ;) (Brooklyn had requested a “lion” cake, and apparently no bakeries have Lion King stuff anymore…only Lion Guard. Who knew!).
Brooklyn did much better this time at waiting until the end of the song to blow out the candles :)
Brooklyn convinced Jenn to try out the birthday hat too. I think it fit pretty well!
After dinner and cake, it was time to open presents. Brooklyn opened her own gifts and helped Aunt Jenn open hers too!
Brooklyn got several board games, a stuffed Mushu (the dragon from Mulan), and a piggy bank! Her big gift from Paw and Rae Rae was tickets to the McWane Center! We stayed in town through Monday since it was President’s Day and went to the McWane Center that day. More to come in a separate post—we had the best time!
Savannah even got a gift from Paw and Rae Rae – crayons and a coloring book!
Needless to say, Brooklyn had a great birthday! It’s still hard to believe she’s 4 years old. Celebrating her is so much fun because of her enthusiasm and energy. She thrives on attention and cake…haha! Next up: a recap of the rest of February and then March after that. We’ve had a lot going on around here, so it’s time for a big update. Stay tuned!
