Celebrating Six

Yesterday, we celebrated Mia and Ava's 6th Birthday.  Leading up to the day, there were plenty of comments about how it seems impossible that they are already 6-years-old.  Those comments weren't made by us, though.  We've had MANY people tell us our children will be grown up in the blink of an eye, so there is no way the speed at which it happens comes as a surprise.  It seems entirely possible that every hour, of every day we have parented them adds up to SIX years and endless amounts of love.

Birthday Breakfast

 Opening presents from Eliana

 This year, we decided to try something new.  At 11:59, we sang Happy Birthday to Mia . . .

   . . . one minute later, at 12:00 noon, we sang Happy Birthday to Ava.  These are the exact times they were born, so we thought it would be nice to give them each a moment of their own.

 Later in the day, we headed to Build-a-Bear Workshop, their destination of choice.  The mall was uncomfortably crowded, but this particular store was nearly empty.  Thankfully, we left about an hour before all those crazy teenagers created pandemonium in the food court and sent the mall into lock-down.

 They both chose characters from Paw Patrol and thoroughly enjoyed the stuffing process.

 Eliana got in on the fun, too.

 Next, we headed over to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

 Mia has been over-the-moon excited about coming here on her birthday.

 The giant slices of cake were met with ear-to-ear smiles.

 My favorite part of the entire day was enjoying dinner with our little family.  There were no crayons or activities on the table while we waited for our food.  There weren't two parents anxiously trying to manage three young children.  There was chatting and sharing memories and laughter and joy.

 Back at home, they opened a few more gifts, including new bikes.  The plan was to have them put together ahead of time, but that didn't happen.  Trust me when I tell you this whole day-after-Christmas birthday stuff is exhausting.

We love celebrating these talkative, inquisitive, creative, determined little girls.