Lydia's Birthday Celebrations

Four years old. This girl is growing into such a thoughtful, kind, stubborn, loving girl. We loved celebrating her the whole week of her birthday. She has so much energy and we tried to do all the things that she wanted to do - in hopes that she would feel just an extra portion of how special she is and that she would know how happy we are that she was born into our family! 

We held Lydia's family birthday party on the Saturday before her birthday week. We talked about a lot of things that she might want for her birthday cake and after letting her scroll through Pinterest with me - she decided that she wanted a "gummy bear birthday cake". (Her inspiration being a cake covered completely with gummy bears.) She also found several other things on Pinterest that she kept saying "And we could do/have that for my birthday party." Like gummy bear cupcakes, gummy bear popsicles, and many other pinterest items. We tried to keep it simple and I think that it turned out perfectly. The colors were bright and cheerful, Lydia was surrounded by people that love her, and we were able to celebrate her big 4-years! 

(I had to include this - Austin kept begging gummy bears off of people, and finally realized there was a whole plateful in the garbage can. Don't worry - immediately after this I made him stop.)

 Her new bike! After only a few minutes, she totally had the hang of it and she loves it. This was such a good purchase for her right now. I see lots of summer bike rides ahead of us!

 Unfortunately, David had a business trip in Minnesota during Lydia's birthday week - and he didn't get home until Saturday (the day after her birthday). We missed him a lot, but I tried to lots of special things to make it a great birthday week for this girl. Over the week we: went swimming at the Legacy Center (and got popcorn afterwards). Had a sleepover with the Cooper kids while their baby sister, Hailey, was being born at the hospital! They all did so great and we had a really fun time having them sleep at our house. Went out for lunch with Grandma&Grandpa Peaden. Visited Great-Grandma Peaden (Grandma Joyce) at her home and went on a walk with her around her complex. Went to trafalga and played some mini-golf and rode on their rides! It was a great week!

On Lydia's birthday, we woke up and ate some special cereal that Lydia got for her birthday. A few hours later, we invited a bunch of Lydia's friends to come and have a little party with her! They got to frost graham crackers, eat jello, and play outside. It was kind of a last minute thing and I hadn't planned for it to be such a big party - but SO many of Lydia's neighborhood friends showed up and it was awesome. After the "party" (which was really just a large-scale playdate with frosting and jello), Lydia got to pick whether she wanted to go to the Aquarium or to Kangaroo Zoo. It was a tough choice for her - but the bounce houses won! Last minute we convinced the Middleton's to come with us and they made it even more of a great time. Lydia and Henry loved playing together on the bounce houses. It was the perfect birthday day for this girl. 

Oh my Lydia-girl. Happy Birthday. You're such a bright star in our family. We love you!