the day she turned four

the day Ellie turned four, she woke up just after 6 am.
yeah, i think someone was just too excited to sleep.

she woke up to streamers in her doorway and the doorway to the front room (not pictured). she was confused. but then thought they were like the coolest thing eva and wouldn't stop running through them.

then when she noticed that M and i hadn't gotten out of bed and were just laying there like a couple of hung-over bums, she started saying repeatedly "i wanna go in the front room. i wanna open presents. i wanna go in the front room. i wanna open presents. I WANT TO OPEN PRESSEENTTS!!"

and so we yawned. got our sad butts out of bed (though the clock read something ridiculous like 6:11 am). and let the birthday girl do her birthday girl thang.

i love little kids. they are so thrilled with a wrapped box or a bag with princesses on it- it doesn't even matter what's inside, really. in a funny conversation my mom had with Ellie about what she wanted for her birthday, Ellie was being silly and said she wanted chips and undies. so my mom sent chips and undies in a box. when she opened it, she wasn't even phased- sure, she  thought it was pretty funny- but wasn't concerned one bit if that was it or not...and let me tell you, she has been shockingly ecstatic over the undies and hasn't worn any others than "the ones gammy got me" this last week. awesome.

a huge hit, of course, was getting a new Ariel. we already had two, but you know how their hair gets. plus she didn't have this one that she swoons over every time at the Disney Store- the one that has a tail AND TWO dresses to change into (super duper important stuff). plus, i got them on a screamin deal, so it was a win-win.

 

the "big gift" M and i got her was the Leapfrog Tag Reading system. it was a huge gamble because she had never seen it or heard of it. but when i saw it come up for a lightning deal on Amazon, i took the risk because i was sure that Ellie would like it.

i'm so glad i did- because she LOVES it. pretty much the golden gift right there. such smart parents, we are.

side note: i have always loved four-year olds. they are always so proud of being four. like i'm pretty sure every four year old i've ever talked to mentions their age to me at least once in our conversation. Ellie is no different. she is very, very proud to be four.

about 6:45 hit. and we were all yawns again.
i wonder why?

then the birthday girl got primped and pressed and all ready for the day. daddy combed her hair while she was enthralled with the Tag (score) and some awesome magnetic Paper Dolls that Aunt Courtney and Uncle Sean sent (thanks guys!).

the birthday girl made a special breakfast request of Blueberry Muffins (with whipped cream) AND pancakes (also with whipped cream). and, of course, what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets...so Blueberry Muffins and Pancakes + a plethora of whipped cream were devoured by all.

side note: when Ellie picked out her new undies to wear and made such a fuss about it, Alice of course made a huge fuss about it, too. while making breakfast, i caught her pulling up a Rapunzel pair of undies (her absolute fave) over her diaper. she wore them the whole day.

along with the chips and undies, gammy & Pops sent some birthday money for Ellie to go shopping. and lucky for us, Daddy took most of the day off- so he was able to party with us! always more fun with daddy around. so! our first stop on her special birthday day was to take a shopping trip to Toys R Us. Alice was obsessed with the purses. Ellie was obsessed with the Cadillacs. what can i say, my girls are Pre-Madonnas (is that how you spell that?)

Ellie was over the moon to pay for a Doctor Kit and an Ariel Tag Book (of course it had to be Ariel, right?) with her own money- and then still have plenty of leftover cash to hit up the Disney store later. 

then we headed to Pixieland- a very small little amusement park with 6-7  little rides. and we let Ellie ride on any ride she wanted as many times as she wanted. both Ellie and Alice were in heaven.

of course we rode the carousel. at least 4 million times.

 then we rode the planes. this was the favorite. we rode the planes a hundred billion times. and then rode them a billion times more.

we only rode the train two billion times, but everyone was able to get their fill pretty quickly.

 

and we rode the cars about three billion times. and riding in the red car was a very big deal to Ellie. if she didn't get the red car, it was very catastrophic and we had to wait till there was a red one available. luckily Alice couldn't care less whether she had a blue car or a poo-green colored car- she was just happy to ride- so she would take whatever Ellie didn't want. hopefully this isn't a forecast for the rest of her poor-younger-sibling-life.

and the best part of the pixieland day was when M convinced Ellie to go on her very first roller coaster. she was a little freaked- but actually was laughing and screaming toward the end. when it was over, she proclaimed, "i liked it!! but i don't want to go on it again. maybe when i'm 5."

and then the 95-degree weather started getting to us- and we all started to get pretty sweaty and rosy-cheeked (here i am wiping the sweat from my forehead. should i be embarrassed about posting a sweaty photo like this of myself? oh well, it proves my point so i'm posting it)

so we snapped a quick family photo:

and felt pretty awesome about all of the hundreds of billions of kiddie rides we got to enjoy. then we skipped out for some cold beverages and pizza at good ole Sam's and retired home for naps and quiet time.

side note: i have never seen Ellie so elated with quiet time. she played and played and played with her new presents- especially the Doctor Kit, of which she gave each and every stuffed animal, doll, and baby a very thorough check-up. 

then Ellie started getting hungry again and said, "i wanna go to Five Guys." she's her daddy's girl.
so to Five Guys we went. we ordered our food. and then we waited. and the birthday girl got tired of that.

after finalllyy getting our food and eating (in reality it took like 5 minutes), she and Alice chased each other for a while, until we convinced them that going to the Disney Store and spending the rest of her birthday money would be just as fun.

i didn't get any pictures of that shopping trip (i think i was camera'd out by that point) but it was pretty cute seeing Ellie try on every shoe and hold every doll/animal in the store, with Alice trudging along right behind her. lucky for us, they were having a mega sale - so Ellie made out like a bandit with a Cinderella Wedding dress, shoes, a bouquet AND the Ariel Animation Doll- all spending her own birthday money. while holding her bags and walking out of the store, she excitedly said, "i got EVERYTHING i have ever wanted!" it was such a pure-joy happy moment that i hope to always remember.

after a big birthday week full of celebrations, i'm always a little pooped and think, "wow. that was nuts." but i have to say, i love this tradition in our family... i think it's important for kids to feel like they are special and that they are loved. sometimes i get a little freaked out and caught up in all of my long to-do lists that i forget to go out of my way to make my kids feel that way. don't get me wrong, i have nice moments with my kids, but for me it's good to step back and have at least one week a year that is all about that one special kid.

so happy birthday to my special, beautiful four-year-old Cinder-Ellie! love you more than i ever knew was possible to love.

xoxo