Ava's Birthday Extravaganza!

Five is a big birthday! According to Ava, a five-year-old can be a big girl, be an example, go to school and cut her apples with a butter knife all by herself. For me, having a five-year-old is bittersweet. Of course, I love watching this little girl of ours grow up, but in the fall, she'll go to school which means she will be gone for seven hours out of every day. This little person who I have spent every day of her life with for five years, won't be here to help me make lunch or to tell me when her little brother is giving himself a mohawk with jelly (as he did this morning) or to play Barbies with first thing in the morning. She'll be off learning and growing. Oh, and she's so excited! Ava's love's to "exercise her brain," as she calls it. She's reading very well, which means she is often lost in a book. If I haven't heard from Ava for a little while I can guarantee she's in her bedroom reading. We've even started keeping track of all the books she reads out loud to us so she can look back and see her progression. She continues to be interested in science: animals and their habitats, plants, the solar system, natural disasters, etc. She's in ballet, despite my best attempts to turn her into a soccer player, the girl loves to dance and perform.

To celebrate Ava's big birthday I made Thursday (the 17th) all about her. After dropping Daddy off at work, we headed to the airport to get G-Ma, then to Chik-fil-A for lunch (Ava's favorite) then off to the new children's museum. The good news is, the museum was AMAZING, better than I imagined, the bad news is it was spring break and PACKED! Fortunately, the kids were able to enjoy plenty of the activities and exhibits. Ava especially loved the dance room and storybook/dress-up area, while Jax loved the car and boat races.

 Check out the dress I made for Ava's special day! She especially loved the built-in apron.

Little Elvis

 

 Pretending to be a pioneer in a log cabin. Yes, that's catfish on her plate.

 


 

Once the kids felt they had seen all there was to see at the museum, we scooted off to Toys R' Us so Ava could choose a pair of roller skates. I told her months ago that I got a pair when I turned five, so she thought it only appropriate she too get skates for her fifth birthday. She chose a pair of pink and purple princess skates (shocking, I know!) with matching knee, elbow and wrist pads. Unfortunately for Ava, she had to wait an entire hour for us to get back home for her to try out her new skates (and new Barbie helmet from Jax). As I made homemade pizza for dinner (birthday girl's choice), G-Ma took Ava out to the patio to practice her skating skills.



After dinner we had homemade strawberry shortcake and opened presents, and let Ava stay up until 10.

 
 

But the real fun came Saturday at her "Fancy Nancy"-themed party.


Ava invited five little girl friends (one couldn't make it). They made necklaces, got pedicures and glittery makeovers courtesy of Afton and Kaylynne (the sweetest teenage girls), went "shopping" for fancy headbands and jewelry, played fancy games, ate cupcakes and parfaits (fancy for ice cream sundaes) and played with all the girly gifts Ava got.

 All fancified. Thanks Afton and Kaylynne!

 

 A Fancy Nancy doll from her best friend A.J. back in Utah!

Ava thoroughly enjoyed her birthday celebrations, but as she does every year, she's already planning her sixth birthday party. I'm still recovering and looking forward to the next bash we'll be throwing --- a monster truck-themed 3rd birthday party for the Little Dude.

I posed the girls for a picture, but Jax thought one of him would be better!

In the meantime, I'm still dealing with the shock of realizing my little girl is five. Although, I do enjoy seeing the excitement on her face when people ask her age and she gets to tell them, "I'm five years old." And already, she's taking her new age seriously, making some more mature choices (how to handle arguments with her brother, doing something the first time I ask) because she knows, "that's what a five-year-old would do." One year older, one year wiser and, if possible, one year sweeter!