Five!

Adrienne is 5 today! Despite going to bed super late last night, both she and Jillian were up at 5:45! This is almost 3 hours earlier than usual for them these days. Needless to say there were a lot of emotions caused by fatigue and sugar crashes throughout the day (for all of us).  She was so happy to find that her birthday shirt did indeed have a picture of Princess Leia on it, and the obligatory streamers and balloons were in place. Jillian usually leaves a gift outside of the door for her, but this year she decided to be sneaky and draw her a map for a treasure hunt. X marks the spot on the microwave!

She found her treasure--Princess Leia bobble head pop figure. Of course.

Adrienne requested donuts for breakfast, so I took the girls to a different bakery (new to them) the night before to pick out what they wanted. They were delighted to see how cute the Gingerbread House was and each selected two donuts. After much discussion on the way home they realized that they selected four different donuts between the two of them. The brilliant master plan then became to cut each one in half so they could technically say they ate FOUR donuts for breakfast.

I tried my best to delay gift opening until Matt was home, but did allow Jillian to give Adrienne her second gift--Rapunzel's horse, Maximus. We learned some gift giving etiquette this morning after Jillian shouted, "It cost TWENTY dollars, Adrienne!" right after she opened it.

We had our usual piano lessons at 8:45 (Adrienne and I), then the birthday girl requested to go to the park. We picked up party balloons and then hit Allendale Park for a bit before then going to the movie store. The girls think renting movies at the store is just the bomb diggity, despite the fact that we have digital access to almost everything via Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, etc. The forecast was looking stormy so the video store followed by a living room picnic with Subway (remember this is code for Cheetos) seemed like a fun treat, and a way to potentially get these girls to settle in and rest before the big party.

Finally, the long tortuous wait was over and it was time to go to Roca for the party! Adrienne has been very consistent with her desire to have a party at the rock climbing club since the day we first went there months ago. This ended up being a fabulous spot for a party. We had a total of 7 kids ( just missing Calvin from the invite list)--J, A, Will, Rachel, Charlie, Paige, and Bella. The kids climbed for just over an hour, then we had pizza and cupcakes and called it a day. Perfect!


I scored some sweet Star Wars glasses at Hobby Lobby on clearance and we filled them with Star Wars Pez dispensers, a Star Wars pencil, a Milky Way, and a pack of Starbursts. Because themes are fun.

Adrienne asked me for "Princess Leia cupcakes with light savers (sabers)". I ordered some light saber cake toppers from Amazon, and found the cupcake idea from Pinterest. Kind of hilarious looking, but the birthday girl was pleased.

Troy (our Roca worker who helped with the party), fit the kids with harnesses and then gave them some instructions before he set them free.

Time to climb!

Bella is a pro and has her own gear. Her family climbs there on a regular basis.

Jillian was much more efficient this time we climbed. She was driven and brave, and insisted on getting to the top of every wall she scaled.

Seven climbing kids!

Sweet, adorable Charlie.

Buddies who will be at the same school for Kindergarten next year.

The kids were wiped after climbing, and were starving for some pizza.

Time to sing!

Adrienne was so funny blowing out her candle. She just basically spat repeatedly on it, not truly blowing despite how it looked. She got pretty red faced with embarrassment and humor when she realized it. It was cute.

Will and Jillian. These two are such sweet friends.

Paige flashing her Oreo grin

Oh, William

After the party we rushed home to open presents. Adrienne was delighted to receive cards with cash from both Great Grandma Helen and Grandpa Bennie and Debbie.

Jillian served dutifully as card reader

Aunt Angela sent Bertie Bott's Beans and a Chocolate Frog from Harry Potter World!

Mom and Dad came through on a requested Mermaid Barbie

She got such a kick out of opening the Taunton's present--Darth Vader card with sound effects and lots of fun Star Wars stuff!

Grandma and Pop Pop sent Garfield and Friends stuffies. The girls LOVE Garfield and Friends show and I know these toys will be favorites as they are the first Garfield items we have.

We saved the most anticipated gift for last--she desperately wanted a light saber. Now we have a true Jedi in the house.

A few fun selfies with the birthday girl before we begged the hyper children to go to sleep!

Adrienne, you are such a joy. Your sweet spirit and easygoing manner are so refreshing and uplifting to the rest of your type A family--you balance us out so well! You are growing quickly and turning into such a big kid. I love how you tilt your head to the side, shrug your shoulders, and give a sly grin when you are trying to be serious about something funny.  Pretend play is your jam. You love to set up scenes in your bedroom for your toys (often it's the doll hospital, with everyone wrapped in toilet paper or stuffies perched reading books). You still love to dress up, wear your hair in various hairstyles that resemble Princess characters, and are the queen of sneaking tiny toys in your hands into the car to carry with you everywhere you go. You love to seat your friends (selected dolls or stuffed animals) next to you at the table and make beds for them with hand towels and wet wipes. You are my night owl, often staying awake until well after 9 these days as you blast your radio and play in your room. I will never understand how you eventually fall asleep with that volume of music. You are somewhat of a free spirit, and so we often lovingly refer to you as "Willow" (a name your dad suggested we name you, I said nope) when you do something of that nature. Other names we have for you are Squeaky, A, A-lizabeth, and Jillian often calls you "Ay-Bay".  You love sugar passionately, and will get it any way you can--in cereal (somehow you've convinced your treat police mother that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is appropriate breakfast food. What has become of me?), pancakes, RAC banana bread, cereal bars, fruit leather, and in just about any other obvious way--you have yet to meet a dessert you don't devour. You survive mostly on PBJ, yogurt, cheese, mac and cheese, fruit, and some variation of a cheese sandwich (grilled, quesadilla, bagel/cream cheese). We call you a "carbotarian" because you do not eat meat, but you also don't eat vegetables. Dr Valdes had a very serious talk with you at your 5 year appt about trying vegetables, so now you want to try them, but barely take a taste before declaring it "yucky" and then later proclaiming that you eat LOTS of vegetables. I've recently started catching you in little white lies--generally about whether or not you went potty or washed your hands or something like that. I'm a little scared at how straight of a face you can keep while you do it. It takes some pushing to get you to admit it, and if I have accused you incorrectly, I know because you get very upset and start to cry. Your feelings are hurt so easily, and most readily by your sister. I'd say the thing that makes you cry the most is when you think Jillian is mad at you--it nearly breaks your heart and you dissolve into a puddle of tears immediately. You want to do everything Jillian does, and I suspect you try to do everything she does even if you don't really want to, just because you know it drives her crazy. You've got her number, as a little sister should.  Though you haven't yet tried any organized sports, I notice a strong athleticism in you. You wanted so badly to train for the Spartan race and your dad and I were pretty floored to watch your natural running stride and some crazy endurance emerge when we stopped at the track. You also have such a super positive attitude when you are trying something difficult, and that is a gift that will serve you well in your life. We aren't sure where you got that from, but we are thankful you have it and pray you don't lose it as you encounter challenges in your life. This will be a big year for you with kindergarten on the horizon, and I am so excited to watch you start that new adventure (with tears in my eyes, I admit). I am your biggest fan and I'll be cheering you on every step of the way. Happy 5th Birthday to my baby. Your mama loves you.

Our first snuggles on your birth day

Rockin' Five