Ava Turns Five

So this..


has become this ...


Last week Ava turned 5!

We started out the morning with our "Happy Birthday" banner.   Ava then opened her present from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson - a fun toy called Fazoodles that the girls played with that morning.  (It's kinda like large fuzzy pipe cleaners combined with Mr. Potato Head pieces that you can bend around to make into little people or animals).



Although I didn't have a special birthday breakfast planned, we all decided to go to IKEA for the morning. The girls love going to IKEA! They have a great play area where you can drop your potty-trained children (so I get to take two out of the four, which is still awesome) for up to an hour free of charge while you shop. Win-win! Ava and Lily told me all about the ball pit they played in and the movie they watched. They had a blast!

Afterwards we always head upstairs to grab a bit to eat in the cafeteria. They have a $.99 breakfast plate, so the girls had breakfast-for-lunch and I got their $.69 cinnamon roll & coffee combo. Under $4 for lunch? You can't beat that!  Then they got to watch Finding Nemo while they ate their lunch.  Even better.


On the way home we popped into Blockbuster and I let Ava pick out a movie for our "Friday Afternoon Movie" tradition.  She picked out a Halloween Care Bears (much to my chagrin) that the girls watched while munching on some Kettle Corn.  Then Lily and Piper took their naps.  (Although Lily doesn't normally take naps anymore, when there is alot of action she needs to refuel, and I knew it was going to be a longer day.)

After naps I had told the girls we could go to the playground, but they decided that they were perfectly happy playing with the cat that lives across the street, Cali (can you guess why?)  They adore that cat, and oddly enough the cat seems to relish the attention.  I swear if I wasn't allergic to cats I would take the owners up on their offer to give her to us.  She is such a sweetheart.  I mean, how many other animals do you know that would put up with Piper's "love"?


The girls got a little sidetracked playing in the neighbor's leaves.  And I got a little sidetracked taking pictures of them.  Afterwards I realized we were probably "those people" - we were just playing all over their yard, not paying any attention to the fact that it wasn't our house.  Oh well!  I am sure they didn't mind.


 For her birthday dinner Ava requested IHOP - "breakfast for dinner is my favorite!" and since they are running their All-You-Can-Eat-Pancakes promotion combined with Kids Eat Free, Elliott and I were more than happy to oblige.  After dinner we picked up my mom from the airport (she had been out of town) and headed home to open presents.  She got a couple of dress outfits (because she prefers dresses and a set of Tinker Bell pajamas.


We celebrated again Sunday night with Grandma and Grandpa Kay (since they hadn't been able to celebrate with us before).  We decided to eat birthday cake on Sunday; Ava had requested strawberry cake (which she picked out herself at the grocery store) and found the number "5" birthday candle in the baking section which she asked to get too.



After cake and ice cream she opened her presents from Grandma and Grandpa, as well as Great Grandma Jerry, who gave her $.50 pieces in her card.

Grandma and Grandpa Kay got her this beautiful outfit (she loves it!) and a set of training wheels for her bike (which we put to use the very next day).



Look at my big five year old!  We love you Ava!

3 comments:

Aunt Tracy said...

YAY!!! Thanks for all the pics/details. What a special day for a special girl--can't believe how fast she's grown! She is such a lovely thing and it is so fun to see how each of the girls is so unique with their own set of interests. It will be so wonderful to see you all in just a couple weeks! Love you Kays and so excited to spend a few days with you very soon. Happy birthday, Ava!

Jennifer B said...

She looks so grown up to me. I love the new outfits. As for playing the neighbors leaves since they never said anything I wouldn't worry about it. Now if they had been raked... but no worries otherwise.

Lisa @ Fern Creek Cottage said...

Lovely Ava! The time as flown by. Her sweetness just shines through in her photos.
I love your darling haircut Sarah! Aren't spontaneous, fun days the best? We have a huge praying mantis that's been living in our yard all week and we are having such fun watching it.