I rather love getting to celebrate the birthdays of these littles ones around here. They get so genuinely excited for one another and its just a lot of fun to shower them with some extra love. A tradition that we've held to for the last few years is that we plan a surprise outing geared to the interests of the birthday child. Not sure how long that tradition will stick around, but for now, we're loving it.
Milayla's birthday kicked off with her requested birthday breakfast - pancakes, whip cream and lots of fruit.
Oh, how we love her smiles.
It took us a while to get started on eating because the birthday girl had to scout out all the birthday decorations and let us know what she liked about each banner and balloon. She was so genuinely appreciative of every little detail and said lots of 'thank you's. She seriously has a heart of gold.
After breakfast, we all loaded into the car to head for the birthday outing. We had this one planned for months and were pretty excited to see Milayla's reaction. We headed to the Biodome.
The biodome is set up with different climates and some animals that live in those climates. I've got to admit I was a little worried when Milayla was terrified of the animals, even though they were all enclosed, and wasn't sure that she was enjoying her birthday outing all that much. At one point we walked into a dimly lit room with a floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall, aquarium and a large fish swam towards Milayla and I'm pretty sure she had a little mini-heart attack; she koala beared it around my neck for a little while after that (not that I mind those extra cuddles!).
Yet, when it came time to leave, this girl was hooked. She was ultimately fascinated by all the animals and I am pretty sure the penguins definitely won her over (or the sea otter slide :) ). And she has been asking when we will get to go back to the rainforest! Love her little exploring heart!
We even managed to sneakily buy a Christmas gift for her from the gift store (yep...I'm planning that far ahead this year).
After the outing, we were greeted with a beautiful sunny day. Which was perfect for our little packed lunch and the time that I would get to spend with our brilliant girl while Jason took Atticus to french class. Milayla and I enjoyed a pile of books and sang her favorite songs before having a little nap before the boys returned home. I always love when I get a little one-on-one time with the kids - this particular day was no exception.
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| Pretending to be pirates. |
When we were all back gathered together we began opening presents starting with the new birthday outfit so that we could sneak in some pictures.
It was actually a tough sell to get Milayla out of her button shirt, but once she was in the dress and saw how fun it was to twirl in she was sold.
Then it was on to birthday pictures (which you can see more of by going here).
Then back to presents.
I love this picture series. Atticus worked really hard on making a new finger puppet for Milayla and writing out a special card for her (something that he said is important because Mommy and Daddy write out special cards). It was a pretty special moment between the two of them.
Then Milayla opened up a few more presents, got some birthday wishes from Grandma and Grandpa and we just had some fun throwing the kids in the air and playing with balloons until dinner time.
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| Good thing we have high ceilings! |
After the kids were all cleaned up we all crawled into Mommy and Daddy's bed to look at pictures of Milayla as a baby and talk about all the wonderful gifts and talents that she has been developing already in the last 3 years.
There's no doubt about, Milayla is one very special individual. She is kind, brilliant, determined, strong and beautiful. She loves to share, help, laugh and cuddle. She has an extraordinary light that shines through those gorgeous eyes and smile of hers. So happy and blessed to have her unique personality in our family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILAYLA! We LOVE YOU!
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