L's birthday

Part 1 of birthday extravaganza was celebrated with family.  I was still at the scrapbook expo with my mom and sisters for our annual retreat so unfortunately I missed the morning of her birthday.  But husband brought all three girls to meet us for lunch at IHop, one of her favorite restaurants.  We were joined by Papa and cousins to make a rather noisy group.  The cousins were thrilled to see each other and spent the first little while racing around outside collecting flowers and hugging each other with such enthusiasm that they may have knocked each other over.  Repeatedly.

The kids all ordered an assortment of pancakes and rounds of chocolate milk which they were required to eat before the two birthday girls could dive into their presents.  (One of my nieces had a birthday a few days before.)  Soon we cleared the table and L opened her gifts from Grammy n Papa and me and Husband: books, clothes, games and crafts, mostly Elsa themed.  The hit of the day was opening the largest box from Grammy which held a new princess gown for each birthday girl.  L’s dress was styled after Elsa (she in particular loved the new shoes to match) and her cousin got a new Cinderella dress.  

From lunch we hurried over to the movie theatre to see the new Cinderella movie.  I got to cuddle little E for most of the movie and husband and the girls piled around me devouring popcorn.  We were even joined by one of L’s best friends.  The girls loved the movie, and especially loved “Frozen Fever”, the Elsa short cartoon shown as part of the previews.

After the movie we lingered in the lobby, the girls explored the arcade and the adults talked awhile.  Then Grammy took the two little girls home while Husband and I got some one-on-one time with our birthday girl.  We drove up to visit the aunties and ended up spending the evening there, bbq and hanging out with family.  Then we enjoyed the long drive home chatting with L.

On Monday, the birthday shenanigans continued.  Daddy couldn’t be there because of work but Grammy spent the whole day with us and even Grandpa joined us for the party.  She invited several friends over for an Elsa party after school.   After helping to put the finishing touches on her Elsa cake (rock candy crystals to fashion a palace and toy figures), the girls were thrilled to don costumes (L was Elsa, A was Snow White and E was Sofia) and eagerly greeted their guests.  They started into the activities L had planned: cutting out paper snowflakes and playing pin-the-nose-on-Olaf.  I dusted their cheeks with glitter frost and then the doorbell rang with a surprise visitor.  L was surprised and thrilled and there was a chorus of squealing and shrieking as they greeted Elsa at the door.  Elsa greeted all the girls, enjoying their excitement and then posing for a picture with each of them.  She crowned L with a delicate tiara and then settled in to make bracelets with all the kids.  Their favorite parts was the way she created little snowflake beads, one of each girl, so creatively, rubbing her hands together and blowing into them as if using her frost magic.  They played “name that tune”, devoured pizza and veggies and delighted over her birthday cake.  Elsa even stayed through opening presents and had dessert with the girls.  She was so much fun to have celebrating with us and I think L was absolutely in heaven.

Eventually her guests drifted away.  We changed into pajamas, made popcorn and watched Frozen before sending our happy little princesses to bed.