Happy Birthday, Eleanor!

You have been waiting for your birthday since Kate had her birthday in February. Then Zach had a birthday, and Zoe, and Emily, and today FINALLY came for you to celebrate yours. And it is a big birthday because you are now 5 and you are so excited about that! You think you should be starting school tomorrow since you are 5 now, but I keep reminding you that you'll start in September, after summer vacation. So now you want to know if tomorrow is the start of summer.
When you woke up this morning, you came into my room and asked if you could sleep with me since Daddy was up rowing. You crawled into bed and asked me how much longer you had to wait until your birthday. I reminded you that today is your birthday and your face lit up and you were so excited! You wondered if there were presents in your chair that you could open this morning and I told you that you could go look. You suggested you'd go take a peek and then come back. You were so happy that there were several presents to open! I was worried that you would sleep in this morning and not have a chance to open your gifts with Daddy, Zoe, and Emily, but you woke up early (around 5:40am), so I guess I worried for nothing. When Zoe and Emily woke up, even they were excited that today was your birthday and they'd get to see you open presents.

A Webkinz cat...your favorite, just like you wanted!

Kate likes it, too.

And the bathing suit you wanted, just like Zoe's only blue!

You got the sandals to match that you wanted, but they are a tad bit small, so we are going to send them back and get a bigger size. You are okay with that. You also got 2 skorts, you love skorts! And you got a trinket box with 2 quarters in it from the Booths, which you call your locket. And then tonight you traded yours for Emily's which she got from the Booths.

We got on the internet after Daddy, Zoe, and Emily left for work and school, and we adopted your Webkinz cat on the Webkinz site. You love the fact that you now have your own pet to play with on the site. It didn't take you long to spend the Webkinz cash that you start out with and you were bummed that your cat only had 2 outfits. I played a game for you on the site to earn you some more cash and you spent half of that in the blink of an eye...on food. You definitely love to spend the cash more than you like to earn it. I'm glad you have your own Webkinz pet now. I've been looking forward to giving you one since February.

We went to your friend Lucy's house for a playdate. Usually we meet at church, but today you got to play at her house for the first time. When we arrived, you raved about how beautiful her house is and of course you were so happy to see Lucy. You opened the gift and cards that Lucy gave to you.





After awhile, you were anxious to get on their trampoline. You tried to stay interested in what Lucy was telling you about the pictures she made for you, but you kept saying, "Oh...can we jump on the trampoline now?"




Zach and Kate joined in on the fun, too.





We ate lunch with Lucy and her family and then we brought out Grammie's famous cake. You wanted us to sing the monkey version of Happy Birthday to you, so we sang the original version and then the monkey version.


After the cake, you opened your presents from Great Grammie. Lots of fun new toys and activities to do!

You did very well playing with Lucy today and you were great about sharing your new Webkinz cat. I think you would have traded it in a heartbeat for Lucy's real cat since you tried to steal Lucy's cat. You were very close to getting Lucy's cat into our car, but I stopped you. I know you were only going to borrow the cat, but you forgot one major detail...Daddy hates cats, remember? Oh and we shouldn't borrow things without getting permission first. Getting you into the car to go home was a chore, but I finally succeeded. If only Lucy lived closer instead of an hour away, we would visit more often. You definitely had a great time!

The fun didn't stop there, though. Since Daddy had Bishopric training this evening in Bangor, we decided to have our family party at the Ground Round before his meeting. Grammie, Grampie, and Great Grammie joined us. It worked out perfect since it was kids' night there. It only cost $2.44 for you and your siblings to eat! And you got a swan balloon.

And you got to open your presents from Grammie and Grampie. I'll have to post more pictures tomorrow since my camera battery just died. You love your new headbands. Since you got your hair cut, you love to wear headbands. You got a Dora t-ball set, and you told Grammie that you don't like Dora anymore, but I think you'll have a great time with the bat and ball. You wanted a Nintendo DS like your sisters, but you got something similar that is for 5 year olds. Not quite the same and you were disappointed, but you had fun playing with it this evening. Your sisters did, too! During dinner tonight, you were oblivious to the fact that Daddy took Zach for a walk and never returned. Zach wasn't feeling well and he ended up throwing up, miraculously in the toilet after Daddy brought Zach into the bathroom. Daddy waited outside with Zach while we ate. The waitress brought you out a piece of chocolate cake with a lit candle in it and we all sang Happy Birthday to you. We got an extra piece of cake to share and everyone had enough cake since the pieces were big and the chocolate was very sweet. You thanked the waitress for bringing you such delicious food that you loved. The waitress got a kick out of that. Your swan balloon popped before we got into the car, and you fell and scraped your knee after we got home, but overall you had a great birthday! It was pretty eventful all day long! I had to sit down and read for a bit around 4pm because I was tired and getting mad at everything and everyone. Poor Zach wanted to be held and cuddled and I got mad at him for that. I was tired. A tired mommy is no fun! I'm glad I took the break because it calmed me down and I was able to enjoy the rest of your birthday. Enjoy being 5! It is a fun age. We love you!

P.S. Zach hasn't thrown up again, so hopefully it was a one time deal.