birthday celebrations

We celebrated Brooke's first three birthdays by hosting parties, which was so fun, but always left me feeling a little worried that I was missing the moment since I was also very involved in hosting the party.  This year, I told Kevin that I wanted to just have a "Brookie day" filled with unique experiences.  Brooke seemed super excited about the idea, and a mani/pedi was at the top of the list.  I also suggested going to Build-A-Bear to create something special for her birthday, and she was beyond excited.  

When her birthday was a few weeks away, she made a few references to her "birthday party".  I gently reminded her that we were doing a Brookie day instead of a party, and she seemed fine with the notion.  Well, then she started inviting people to her party, haha.  I explained again about the Brookie day, but I wondered if she felt sad about the lack of party planning.  My girl is kind of big on parties and planning.  Once Kevin caught wind of it, he asked me to please plan something for her to call her "party".  He's a softy, but I knew it would mean a lot to her, so I pulled a little something together last minute.  We invited our play group friends to meet at the park for donuts and playtime on the 6th.  We had a piñata, which we strung up from the monkey bars, and gave these cool frisbees (thanks Target Dollar Spot) as party favors and entertainment during the party.  It really was so simple, but made her little day. 

When it came time to sing, she was being so shy and trying to disappear into me.

She was not, however, shy about that piñata.  She gave several really good whacks!

Rosy cheeks because it was HOT, HOT, HOT.

School was already out, so some of her older besties were also able to attend.

On the seventh (her birthday week just kept getting better), her cousins and Auntie Mel Mel came over for playtime and celebrating.  They gave her the best activities, and Brooke was eager to get to work with Auntie Mel Mel's help.

You can always count on dancing when these three get together...

Watching the music video for Cherry Jam, haha.

We ended the afternoon with ice cream at Iggy's, which we all know is Brooke's favorite.

On her actual birthday, Grandma joined us for the day.  We headed to the nail salon and Brooke got her first "Princess Mani/Pedi".  They had a huge panda to prop behind her so that she was comfortable in the chair, and her face says it all...

I absolutely loved seeing Brooke so excited about her pampering treatment. It may seem crazy that I took Colby, but I didn't want to get a babysitter, and he did pretty good sitting with me. Except for when he wanted to touch the water, haha.

After the nail salon, Brooke opened a few gifts, one of which was the long-awaited Moana dress from Nay Nay.  She immediately changed into it and wanted to do a pose. 

Then it was time to head to Build-A-Bear.  I hadn't been there in years, but the whole thing is a bit of a money pit.  She decided on a cute puppy, and I let Colby pick one as well as part of the experience.

Once her puppy was stuffed and ready, Grandma let her pick out an outfit as her birthday gift.  And of course, since the puppy has four paws, Grandma was stuck buying two pairs of shoes and two pairs of skates!  Money pit, I tell you.  I assured her that Colby's monkey didn't need an outfit!

She was so excited to wheel her puppy right out of the mall, and I was laughing the whole way. 

That night, we gave her a big surprise, which was a Pinkalicious bike.  She was IN LOVE!  She noticed every detail, like the cupcakes on the training wheels.

We took it right out for a test ride, as soon as she changed out of her princess attire :) 

We adore our Brookie girl, and find it hard to believe how quickly she is growing and changing!