Nothin' says summer like vacations & celebrations! We started our summer with both.
I asked my new friends & their kiddos over to celebrate Hayden's birthday a couple of days before we departed for VA to see my parents & sister. The first number 5 birthday party was a big success! I baked chocolate cupcakes from scratch with pink petal icing tops and a mini cake of the same kind all covered in the pink icing petals. Our new friends, Susan and her boys Carter & Brody attended as well as Susan's sister, Sarah and her daughter Riley. They brought balloons and made Hayden a very sparkly and fantastical poster! She received a princess Cinderella doll from Sarah & Riley, complete with a crown, blue dress, & blue slip-on shoes. Susan, Carter, & Brody made Hayden a princess treasure box which is just too cute! And they filled it with all sorts of princess goodies like a pair of homemade princess flip-flops, princess necklaces, bracelets, & rings, a princess-themed paddle ball, a princess pen, and a package of princess tattoos! There was dancing and frolicking and just an all-around great time!
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| Opening Princess Cinderella doll |
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| Boogie down to the sounds of Lady Gaga! |
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| The beautiful princess treasure box! |
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| Singing Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl |
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| Blowing out the candles! |
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| Eating the cupcake! |
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| Partiers hangin' out in the bed with a load of unfolded, clean laundry. :) |
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| The awesome birthday banner/poster that our new friends made |
On Thursday, the 9th, we were off to VA to visit my family & celebrate Hayden's birthday with them. It was great to see them again and such a wonderful thing to drive only 7 hours instead of 20! We went to the beach and swam our hearts out...and we all got burnt to a crisp! We grabbed some Dumar's ice cream afterward and it was the perfect treat for an after-beach activity. :) We ate some truly delicious meals thanks to the amazing cooking skills of my mom, dad, & sis...ribs, fresh corn on the cob, hamburgers, fried oysters, roasted garlic & brie on french bread, gazpacho al andaluz, shrimp (yes, I can eat shrimp again!!! Wheeee!!), low country boil, seared scallops, & burgundy beef. We had a birthday party for Hayden & my mom with a red velvet princess cake topped with a princess castle and 4 of the Disney princesses for Hayden, and an amazing homemade tiramisu for my mom...complete with homemade, gluten-free lady fingers...my sister is so talented in the culinary arts!! :) We went to the
Children's Museum of Virginia which is in downtown Portsmouth. She had B-last in that place! There were all kinds of hands-on activities...some of her favorites were playing in the Vet's Clinic with the stuffed animals, pretending to be a Vet, the grocery store where she stocked up on every ear of plastic corn they had, and the play area where she played with stuffed animals for a good 45 minutes of our visit. As an added & amazing plus, in the pretend bank, Hayden wrote her name on the dry-erase check all by herself! I was overjoyed & very proud! We enjoyed a worship service at my parents' church,
First Baptist Church, Norfolk. They even have a Special Needs Ministry, so Hayden got to have a buddy stay with her in her class during the service! :) I got to hit up the International Market & the organic store at the Farmer's Market with my sis. It was truly a wonderful visit with lots of fun, good food, great conversation, and time with our family. :)
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| The tiny, blurry sign with the green on top & the brown on bottom is the sign for the Antietam Creek National Battlefield. :) |
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| Ridin' the new trike! |
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| Inside the ginormous train display |
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| In the tube, leading to the bubble inside the ginormous train display |
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| Daddy in a fire truck |
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| Hayden in a fire truck |
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| Nanny & PawPaw puttin' out a fire |
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| Ridin' a police motorcycle...or as she referred to it today, a "motor-bicle" |
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| Checkin' out the pets in the Vet's Clinic |
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| PawPaw helps with the Vet's coat |
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| Ridin' a turtle |
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| The play area...I want a couch like this to put in her room! |
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| Dr. Hayden & Daddy pose for a pic |
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| Checking out the baby as Dr. Hayden Couri :) |
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| Hayden in some teeth. :) |
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| This was 100% Hayden's effort! Yay Hayden! |
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| The Princess Birthday Cake |
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| Nanny & PawPaw celebrate the birthday girl! :) |
For her birthday, Hayden got a tricycle from Nanny & PawPaw (my parents) and a dry erase board with markers and an eraser from Grandma & Grandpa (Kelly's parents). She also received a gift from Nana Carlene & Great-Grandpa Paul with which she purchased a pink elephant, tiny puppy, & an Elmo book with an Elmo beanie baby (all her choices!). Great Grandma Gail & Papa Jerry sent her a monetary gift as well, and we purchased the special edition Cinderella DVD for her. We bought her a mini-trampoline & the special princess castle cake topper.
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| The Princess Castle & Princesses |
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| Pink tricycle complete with basket for the babies! |
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| Dry erase markers! |
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| Dry erase markers & the eraser for her board |
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| Drawing a pic of Kelly on her board. :) |
It was a fabulous way to begin our first summer in PA. For the rest of the summer, we are looking forward to pool trips, get-togethers with our new friends, visits from family, and preparing to start Kindergarten in the fall. We were all a little reluctant, I think, to come back to reality after such a restful vacation. But we know that we'll get back into the swing of things and relish all the memories of our great summer kick-off! :)
