brooke's 8th birthday

Brooke had a few very specific birthday requests, the first of which was breakfast in bed.  I kept checking to see if she was awake yet, and eventually just got started on some chocolate chip pancakes. Colby wanted to carry the plate in, and crawled right up next to Brooke as we sang to her. 

Nay Nay and Papa were here for her birthday, so we all ate breakfast together in Brookie's room :)  She was, of course, eager to open gifts, but I only let her open the one from Kimmie and Josh. 

I'm sure glad I did because this kept her entertained for hours!  And was a great distraction from the hours she needed to wait until Kevin got home from work. 

Her next request was a trip to Petland.  It seemed like a crazy long way to drive for a pet store (45 minutes), but it meant a lot to her so I didn't mind. They had SO many new puppies, but they wouldn't let us hold the cutest, tiniest ones because they were too new. So the kids settled on this Welsch Corgi...

He was super sweet and the kids loved him!

Next, they wanted to see this Puggle (mix of Pug and Beagle)...

He was SUPER adorable, but so crazy.  He kept tugging and playing with Brooke's dress and sweater, then Colby's shirt, broke my sandal, then went to town on Brooke's flip flop, haha.  It was funny at first, but then it was sort of freaking Brooke out, so I let her out of the little cubicle. 

She then wanted to move on to the bunnies. 

She wanted this black bunny SO badly!  I inquired about the cost, and when the employee said the bunny was $150, Brooke immediately started begging for it, saying "Please, I want this more than I want the inflatable slide for my birthday party."  I was glad she understood the concept of how much it cost, but I really wasn't ready to say yes to a pet or cancel her party. I simply told her I would think about it.  

We checked out the birds, hamsters, and snakes, but they wouldn't let Colby hold the snake this time.  

That night, after Brooke rushed us through dinner, we moved on to presents.  Nay Nay and Papa gave her a 300 piece pet store puzzle, a Pocahontas costume, and the Princess Pulverizer book series. 

We gave her a pink ukulele, which she LOVED!

Then it was time for her birthday cheesecake!!  She put the cherries on herself and was quite pleased with the result :)  Can't believe this little girl is really 8!!