Lily Turns 4

Lily turned four on March 4 and we celebrated all weekend long!  Since her birthday was on Sunday, we arranged to host a birthday dinner/family dinner Sunday night complete with cake and presents.  But we also celebrated on Saturday, first with dinner at Red Robin (Lily’s restaurant of choice) complete with her very own meal (usually they have to share, so this was special for her), unlimited fries and birthday ice cream cake.  I got such a kick out of watching the girls chow down on that cake.

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Look at that cake!
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They ended up bringing us two different pieces of cake because the first one they brought was a thin little slice.  I admit I said “awww", it’s little” (or something like that) because the table next to us was also celebrating a child’s birthday and they got a full size piece.  It was rather off-handed of me and I didn’t think anything of it, but I guess our server heard me and brought us a second full-sized piece!  I felt pretty guilty since the first piece had actually been plenty for the kids, but since it was cut and on the table, if they took it back to the kitchen they would just have to toss it.  So we took it home and threw it in the freezer for mommy and daddy to enjoy later.

After dinner we tripped down south to party it up for our nephew Asher’s birthday party at a local bounce house.  (Since visiting a bounce house was on Lily’s birthday wish list, this arrangement worked out perfectly!)  All of the kids had such a great time at the bounce house.  No fear!  (That’s the way I like it.)  And since it was Asher’s birthday, we finished off the night with cake and ice cream (again).

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Sunday Lily woke up to the dining room decorated in her honor.

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The birthday banner we’ve had for awhile.  And I saw the idea for hanging balloons from the ceiling and weighting them down with marbles on Pinterest.  Of course, when push came to shove I couldn’t find any marbles at the store (seriously!) so I resorted to using what I had on hand – nuts, bolts and washers (seriously!)
I wanted to make waffles for her (her favorite) but since Elliott sleeps in a bit on Sundays, we decided to have a large “breakfast for lunch” meal, complete with Buttermilk Caramel Syrup (yum!)

After lunch, Lily was having some trouble figuring out what to wear, so I let her open one of her presents to help her solve this problem.

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All of the family was able to make it to dinner.  I provided baked chicken nuggets (Lily’s favorite, but since I made them baked she wasn’t as thrilled) and choices of potato chips, and the others fleshed out the rest of the meal with caesar salad, fruit salad, veggie tray, and Princess Punch (another Pinterest find).  It was so good!

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After dinner we opened presents….

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… then brought out her cake.

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I am so excited about this cake (is it wrong that I am way more excited than Lily was?). I saw the idea of an ombre cake first on I’m Topsy Turvy, then in a pink version on Pinterest. Both my sisters-in-law Rachel and Sarianna have been creating killer birthday cakes for their kids, so I decided I am not going to compete with that brilliance. At least decorating-wise. So I stuck with the fun on the inside of the cake.  Isn’t it gorgeous?

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Everyone had a great time!  And Lily is soooo excited to be four now!  She told everyone that now she is four and she is very much looking forward to sleepovers at Grandma’s house now (four is the minimum age for this festivity).

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LILY!

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2 comments:

Tracy Lindley said...

Happy birthday, Lily, you are so big! What a wonderful birthday weekend filled with family and lots of great memories. So happy you have such wonderful sisters, mommy and daddy, and lots of us other relatives who love you very much.

Lisa @ Fern Creek Cottage said...

Love the picture of Lily holding up four fingers. She is so beautiful. The picture where Piper is chowing down on the cake at Red Robin is pretty funny! Your pink layers cake is amazing!! I love the balloons attached to the ceiling...so festive and fun! I'm going to have to remember that.