Welcome to 5, Isla

This girl. She was mighty pleased with her pile of presents on Monday. I made the day all about her and she Ate. It. Up. I think special-birthday-girl-decision-making-powers might just be her love language! 

 

The night before her birthday, we blew up a bunch of balloons and filled up her room after she fell asleep. She was elated when she woke up and kept asking how they got there. We were still house sitting in Kirkland but she requested we go out to birthday breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa so we drove over to Seattle and met Grandma Crozier at Patty's Eggnest (Grandpa wasn't feeling well). Isla ordered pigs in a blanket and they arrived with a candle on top. She thought it was hilarious that there were sausages hidden in her pancakes!

 Next up was her last swim lesson followed by a trip to Bothell Country Village (which she kept referring to as Barnes and Noble) to window shop in the toy store, play on the playground and ride the train.

 

 

 Grandma joined us in Bothell and treated us to lunch at the Village Bean before we headed back to Kirkland. While the younger two napped, Isla and I spent some one-on-one time together putting together a paper doll, making a melty bead butterfly (which unfortunately I over-melted i.e. burned until it shriveled), and frosting cupcakes.

 Daddy got off work early to join us at McAuliffe Park for a birthday dinner pasta picnic (Caprese Pasta Bake, watermelon and bell peppers and carrots). 

 At this age, quantity is greater than quality. We aren't big present people but this year I sort of leaned into Isla's school lunch obsession and decided to wrap all the components for her lunch bag. Note the lovely homemade "wrapping paper!" I ran out of real wrap so resorted to taping together printing paper and decorating it myself. It doesn't appear that she cared.

 Our "big" gift to Isla was a new baby doll that can go in the water. She loves bathing dolls and so was thrilled and has hardly set her doll down since. She also almost immediately started referring to me as "Grandma."

 We attempted a few pictures in the park before we headed downtown Kirkland for gelato.

 Isla chose birthday cake (cake batter) and strawberry gelato and Miss Observant noticed that the shop had changed from colorful plastic to plain wooden spoons. Thankfully they had a few purple spoons left to appease the birthday girl.

Isla went to bed that night saying how much she wished it was still going to be her birthday which I think means she had a great day!