Laurel's 9th Birthday

Laurel turned 9 on March 17, 2012.  Yes, we have a St. Patrick's Day baby and we aren't even Irish (that's the first question everyone asks us - hence my t-shirt - it says "Irish for a day"!).  Every once in a while we have a perfect day and Laurel's birthday turned out to be just such a day.  David and I attempted to sleep in, but were awakened by Laurel at 6:30 a.m., eager to open her gifts.  It felt so Christmasy with us trying to sleep and the kids bugging us to get up so they could tear into the loot :).  We negotiated and were able to put her off until 7:45 a.m.  The whole family then donned their green shirts so we could open gifts.  Laurel was thrilled with each and every one.  I love it when any of my children tells a sibling or David and I thank you unprompted and Laurel said thank you several times.  After gifts, we enjoyed mint chocolate chip pancakes - much better to have flavorful spots of green instead of whole green pancakes in our opinion.  Pancakes and mint . . . hmmm . . . not my favorite flavor combination, but actually not too bad either.  The girls liked them.  David took the kids on a run/bike ride for the morning while I finished getting the house in order for Laurel's party.  It was 77 degrees outside.  I'm not sure non-Minnesotans can fully appreciate that last sentence so let me repeat - IT WAS 77 DEGREES OUTSIDE.  We've never seen 77 on Laurel's birthday because it's in MARCH which is typically our snowiest month so on a good year, we may see 50 - but this year it was 77!  Who wouldn't love that!  To celebrate, we grilled for lunch (this day just keeps getting better & better).

 Laurel's guests, Arianna & Faith, arrived at 2:00 p.m.  The girls and I headed to Peony Nails for a manicure and pedicure.  The place was very busy so I was impressed by how much attention our nail helper paid to these young ladies.  Didn't their nails & toes turn out cute!

After the pampering, we returned here to put on dresses, apply make-up, and do hair.  My sister-in-law, Jeanne, is a wizard with a sewing machine and made Laurel's dress & hair clip as a birthday gift.  You should have seen the many admiring looks Laurel received while wearing that dress.  One lady thought I'd made it, causing me to laugh out loud.  Of course we had to take pictures before we went to dine at the Olive Garden where three waitresses commented on how the restaurant was serving royalty that night.  After dinner, we returned home again for hours of fun playing outside (did I mention it was 77 degrees outside????).  Around 9:00 p.m., we had cake & ice cream (mint chocolate chip, of course, since it's green).  The girls played outside for 30 more minutes and then I took everyone home.

The day could not have been more perfect.  Laurel was gracious and beautiful the whole day.  Her friends were lovely.  Jacob, Charlotte, and Mary gladly let Laurel be the Queen and Laurel gladly included them in the activities we did here.  Perfect.  Beautiful.  A Precious Memory!