Saturday, August 15, 2015

A Very Happy Birthday

Grace turned six years old today. And boy, was it a fun birthday!
The festivities started yesterday with cake and presents with grandma. We all sang "happy birthday" a day early because we knew the next day would be busy. Besides, who doesn't like to stretch their birthday fun out as long as possible?
After the cake we all went to a friend's house for a fun little get together. Knowing all we had planned for the next day it probably wasn't the smartest decision to keep everyone up so late, but we were having too much fun to leave the party early.  We got the kids home way past their bedtimes and everyone slept in for a long time the next morning.

Grace woke up around 10:00 on her birthday. That sounds like a GREAT way to start out a birthday to me! Immediately she opened a few presents from us. She was very excited about her presents.
As quickly as we could we got everyone ready and hustled out the door and into the car. We drove an hour away to Green Bay to visit the Bay Beach and the Wildlife Sanctuary. It was the same thing we did last year for Grace's birthday and she had so much fun last time that she wanted to do it again.
It was hot, hot, HOT outside but that didn't stop us. The kids were so excited to get their bags of corn to feed the ducks and geese. Ah, good times.
After our corn was all gone (save for a few pieces we saved for the chipmunks) we walked on over to get a look at the wolves, cougars, otters, cranes, porcupine, bobcats, foxes, and owls. We really lucked out and all the animals were active and we got to see them up close.
Our leftover corn came in handy too. Tommy found a friendly little chipmunk and feed him out of his hand. Of course, once we saw that the rest of us had to try it out too.
By the time the birthday girl climbed down from the jungle gym the little chippie had his cheeks so full that he ran off into the woods to hide his loot. The birthday girl was the only one who didn't get to feed the chipmunk. Luckily, she was a really good sport about it. 

We were all over heating and in need of some lunch and lots of water. We decided to finish up at the nature center and grab something to eat. When we were done eating we went to Bay Beach to hit up some rides. Probably not the best idea after we had just gotten done eating but we took it slow and went on the Ferris Wheel first.
It wasn't long before we moved on the roller coaster and spinning rides. Luckily, our stomachs handled it all just fine.
Last year we tried to get Gracie on the swings but she refused. In her defense these swings do go pretty high and they kind of rock you forward and back a little bit too. It is a little more daring than most swings. I thought maybe now that Grace is SIX she would want to go on. She waffled back and forth and couldn't make up her mind. I reminded her that she went on Space Mountain and Disney and loved it. Still, these swings just looked so scary and out in the open to her. I told her that she could change her mind at the last minute if she wanted to (and she almost did a couple of times) but finally decided to give the swings a try.
The poor little lady was so nervous. I sat right behind her to try and sooth her nerves. Wouldn't ya know it, she loved it! She was laughing and throwing her hands in the air the whole time. "I wanna do that again, and again, and again!" she said as we got off the swings. I was so proud of her for fighting through her fear and having such a great time.

We finished up the evening with dinner at a restaurant of her choice. Grace chose a Chinese buffet restaurant. That girl certainly is good at trying new things.
Happy birthday, my dear sweet Grace. I am so lucky to have you as my daughter. You are sweet and strong. Independent and cuddly. Shy and bubbly. Silly and smart. You are such and amazing little lady and I am so excited for you and all the adventures that are coming your way this year. I know 6 will be a wonderful year for you. I am so blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for being my little girl. No matter how big you get you will always be my baby girl. I am so proud of you. I love you.

12 comments:

betty said...

Happy birthday Grace! It looks like you had such a wonderful day and I am glad you decided to be brave and go on those swings! It looked like you had a great time with them!

betty

Bijoux said...

LOL....a Chinese buffet? That cracks me up! What a great couple of days! And a beautiful cake and birthday girl!

Kat said...

Bijoux- Isn't that hilarious? I thought that was funny too. You should have seen the stuff that she was eating. It wasn't just fried rice or something you'd think a kid would eat. It was these weird noodles, crayfish, etc. All kinds of weird stuff.
When we are in Green Bay we have a restaurant that we normally like to go to, but we were so sweaty and gross and not dressed very nice (it is kind of like an old school supper club, but funky) so we decided to go back home and have Grace pick on of her favs. Grace was really in the mood for Chinese food so it all worked out. Especially since the PGA is in my city right now and all of the restaurants were packed. The China Buffet was not as busy. ;)

Blogoratti said...

Wishing her a wonderful birthday, greetings and best wishes!

Bijoux said...

Reading your comment while watching the last putt of the PGA......the winner picks up his little boy and the first thing out the kid's mouth is, "Can we go home?" Kids are so funny!

Kat said...

Bijoux- I saw that too! That made me chuckle. He also asked his dad why he was crying and his dad said, "I'm happy." Kinda choked me up. By the way, that golf course is right up the road from where I live. :)

MamaB said...

Happy Birthday Grace!! Boy were has the time gone?

Unknown said...

Look at her, such a big girl! With a missing tooth and everything. Looks like she had a wonderful time for her birthday. :)

Kat said...

I know! She is getting so big! And it is TWO missing teeth. The front one and that one next to the front one. The other front one is super loose too so soon she will have three missing front teeth!

Mom24 said...

Wait! What?!?! Six!! That's crazy. So glad she had a good day. Boy does she look so much like her mommy.

Riahli said...

Awwwwww, sweet girl! Time does fly! My girl is going to be 6 in October so, probably for that reason, this post got me a little sappy. Especially the facing her fear and being brave and going on the swing, that's just such an awesome moment!!! What a brave big girl! :)

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

I'm quite certain you just announced baby #4 was on the way! How is she 6?!?! I cannot wrap my head around this at all!

Happy (belated) birthday, Gracie!

Words To Live By

Be grateful for each new day.
A new day that you have never lived before.
Twenty-four new, fresh, unexplored hours to use usefully and profitably.
We can squander, neglect, or use them.
Life will be richer or poorer by the way we use today.
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could;
some blunders and absurdities crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day.
You shall begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be
encumbered with your old nonsense.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson