Birthdays!

We had a big two weeks of birthday celebrations! First was Jamie's 40th! His sister flew in from Portland to surprise him and we had a big dinner celebration when he arrived home from work. The next night Belle and Mark stayed with Nana and I had a surprise celebration for Jamie with all his friends at a brewery/restaurant. I can't believe I pulled it off given I'm the worst planner ever. It was a great time.

  

Then came Isabelle's week long 5th birthday celebration. We didn't do a kid party this year. Belle was happy inviting her best friend to Skate City to celebrate. Here they are enjoying the cupcakes after doing some skating.

 

The boys enjoyed it too!

 On her actual birthday she woke up to balloons and her all time favorite, donuts!! She also got to open a present. She was so excited. 

Jamie and I both had to work, so she got to enjoy her big day with Nana. First some rock climbing, a Burger King lunch, and then a birthday celebration at school with all her friends.

 

To finalize the day, we all went out to dinner. She picked Red Robin which turned out to be a great choice for the family. We had a giant dinner and she opened all her presents!

 

 

Whew! Her week wasn't over yet! The next day, Belle had her father/daughter dance at school. It was about the cutest thing I've ever seen. She was so excited to spend the evening with Jamie. She got all dressed up and they danced the night away. Here they are just before leaving.

 

 She also did some dancing with her friends.

 Even though we didn't do a big kid party for her 5th, I think she had more fun than she could have imagined. Now for a few highlights about our big 5 year old!

• Belle loves cats and playing kitty.
• She still surprises us each night by coming in our room to cuddle and sleep. I have to admit, she is so cozy to sleep next to.
• She is always happy and loving life. She is full of laughter, imagination, and love.
• She is starting to read very easy books and loves to write, color, paint, and listen to stories.
• Belle is very active and hardly sits for longer than 5 minutes (unless she is watching TV at which point she is completely transfixed). 
• She is playing basketball, becoming a great skier, loves to help cook, spends a lot of time playing with her brother....they are finally starting to get to the point of playing together and not arguing about who gets what toy
• Almost every night she dances for us in the living room.
• She loves hugs and sitting on our lap.
• School is a highlight and she loves to go each day.
• She loves to make up knock, knock jokes that make no sense at all, but we all laugh.
• She loves to have tea parties, with real tea, of course.
• A day doesn't go buy without Isabelle dressing up as a princess, a ballerina, or a chef.
• She is very independent and wants to try everything on her own.
• She is shy around strangers, but NEVER stops talking at home or in the car, literally.
• And last, she is very intuitive, remembers everything, and asks a thousand questions a day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!We love you!