Leia's Fifth Birthday

With all of the recent celebrations, who would have ever guessed that this was Leia Rose's REAL fifth birthday! : ) Leia Rose began the day by opening gifts . . .
. . . Like the Littlest Petshop Whirl-Around Playground, . . .
. . . And paintable dinosaurs from Oma and Papa, . . .

. . . and a cool dinosaur puzzle that has the dino bones underneath, . . .
. . . and a set of real bugs under plastic, . . .
. . . and, oh boy, "Kitty Cat Camp" from Auntie April!!!
And Leia Rose took time out in the midst of everything to check out a Hoops and YoYo e-card from Oma and Papa, which she loved, of course.
One of the special "Mamma Presents" besides some dinosaur chompers was called "Decorating Pony Starchaser." Honestly, this was a last minute gift that I couldn't pass up. This pony comes with two water wands that you freeze. Then you color with the ice on the pony to make pink, blue, and purple. Dip her back in warm water (or just rub her with your hands) and she turns back to white. Put her in the freezer for a few minutes and the whole pony turns bright colors, and you can use your finger to decorate in white. I have no idea how it works, but it's SO cool!

. . . And Leia thought so, too.
We wanted Leia Rose to be allowed to play downstairs will ALL of her birthday toys today, so Annie was banished from the play yard today. (And it was Annie who was as happy as anyone else.) So, the play yard became full of critters and pets and kitty camps. : )

And it wasn't long before Leia Rose insisted that she paint her very first dinosaur. Her favorite: the Tyrannosaurus Rex. : )

Here's my Leia-favorite of the day, . . . loving the kitty camp skateboard! : )

And, believe it or not, then it was time for lunch. There's a story here. You see, Leia Rose cried all the way home that day when she learned she couldn't go on the field trip to the botanical gardens. Well, today was the day we were supposed to go with Jessica. It rained. So off to Bear Rock Cafe and the train tables at the Children's Store instead. . . .
Leia and Jessica got to sit at their own table (which would have been very freeing for Hollis and I if we didn't have to deal with two antsy kiddos in high chairs). : )

Here's Annie sharing her fruits with Declan (this is because she noticed he was interested). Such a sweet girl! : )
In the toy store, Jessica and Leia played a long time in the jump ropes, pretending they were spaghetti, . . . and check out what they called the green "magic meatball":

For Annie, this truly WAS a magic meatball. : ) This is my Annie-favorite of the day. Annie truly fell in love with this ball. Even if she started playing with something else, after about 15 seconds you would see her pause to find out where this ball was to go get it. It is very squishy and interesting to feel. Ah, tactile stimulation! : )

The story of the toy store is as follows: Because Annie fell in love with the ball, I decided to buy it for her. Well, I couldn't allow Annie to get something and leave out the birthday girl, so I decided to give Leia Rose my ultimate wish from when I was a child: I told her she could pick out any two things (because Annie had already gotten one, herself) in the store as a special birthday gift. I knew she had her eyes on this kitty family called The Whiskers Family from Calico Critters, and for a long time she was holding a dinosaur figure. But then she saw the $80 Calico Critters Townhome. *sigh* [This toy, by the way, had a box that was really deceiving. Twenty Critters. All the furniture. Wallpapered walls. And all it really was, was the house itself. Okay, it IS a quality toy, and it DID have real lighted rooms, but $80 was ridiculous. But, I'm the one that dug the hole, right? Now it was time for me to sit in it.l]
At least The Whiskers Family became one of the hits of the birthday, . . . here they are at Outback Steakhouse (where Leia Rose chose for her birthday dinner). Like father like daughter. : )
And I surprised Leia Rose with a pony cake in the shape of the number 5.
Happy Birthday, Leia Rose. I hope all your wishes come true. (Oh, wait, they already did in the form of that $80 Calico Townhome.) : )