Birthday weekend

Friday night, we went out to dinner with our friends Misty and Paden to celebrate E's birthday.

 

I had told E for her birthday, she could either have a party or take a friend to Canobie Lake Park for the day. She chose the latter, not surprisingly. She went to CLP once last year has not stopped talking about it since! It's an amusement park in Salem, NH, only about 30 mins from us.

So on Saturday morning, I took Elizabeth and one of her BFFs J up to the park. The girls were soooo excited!

Finally, we arrived...E said, "This is a dream come true!" Lol:)

And omg...the girls did not stop...for 8 hours...so many rides...so much fun!!

Love how they held hands most of the day:)

 

 

Lot's of not-so-nutritious food was consumed...

There was a water park inside CLP too, which was crowded, but fun:)

 

Elizabeth's absolute favorite part was going on the roller coaster (three times!) that looped around and turned upside down. Yikes! This girl is an adrenaline junkie, I think...

Neither girl wanted to leave when it was time to go ("Just one more ride, pleeeeze???"), but we ended the day with some dinner and headed out.

All in all, an awesome day!

 

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And now she is 7

Happy Birthday to my sweet, funny, beautiful girl. xoxoxox

 

 

 

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And now you are 6...

Dear Elizabeth,

I know every parent says this, but I'm going to say it too. I can't believe you are another year older. You are 6 already! It has been quite a year. The biggest thing that happened was Kindergarten. I remember last summer feeling so worried and stressed about the big change that was coming- you transitioning from Day Care to public school. I was especially worried about the bus ride you would have to take every day from school to your YMCA After School program. I hated that you were no longer going to be in the same place all day. But, of course, it all worked out fine. And as far as Kindergarten went, honey, I must say...you rocked it. You were one of the youngest, but you did great. You had a wonderful teacher, and made lots of nice friends in your class. I couldn't be happier with how it all went. And I couldn't be prouder of you. You also played soccer for the first time this Spring and I loved watching your games. You definitely weren't the most assertive player, but I loved that you were so social and enjoyed running around with the other kids. :)

Thanks to your Grandma, you took skating lessons, too, which you loved.

I want to remember some important things about you right now. You love our 3 pets that you talked me in to getting for us:) You especially love to hold and play with Eric the Hamster.

Your love of the water continues, and we are both so happy that summer is here. This means lots of pool and beach time for us!

You have lost 4 teeth now, and I love, love, love your beautiful smile.

You are starting to read, and have lots of sight words, which is so exciting!

Your favorite song is "Call Me Maybe." We love singing to that song played loudly in the car.:)

You've graduated from Nick Jr. to straight Nick, and your favorite show right now is Full House. Brings back memories for me!

You love the iPad, and play Mine Craft and Temple Run on it.

Your favorite moves are Annie, The Little Mermaid and of course, The Wizard of Oz.

You are a happy, fun loving girl who makes me, and everyone around you smile frequently.

I can't wait to see what the next year will bring. I have no doubt that 1st grade will be a fabulous as Kindergarten was. Even though I have been your mother for almost 6 years now, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't look at you and feel blown away by how lucky I am to have you for my daughter.

Happy, happy birthday my sweetie pie, I love you!!

Mommy

 

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Birthday party!

Elizabeth's birthday party was today, held at the "Splash park."  This is a great playground that has a splash pad with sprinklers.   I didn't get a lot of pics unfortunately, but here are a few...Maria gave E a "rocket launcher" for her bday, that is what the kids are playing with in most of these photos.

And of course, there was pizza...

 And cake...

(some little faced blurred since I didn't ask parents' permission to post)

It was a fun little party, and E had a great time.  Until the guests started leaving, when she began crying, and really cranking out...I've mentioned  before that she does not like goodbyes, and hates for parties, and playdates to end.  I just hope she can take in and remember the great time she had with her friends while the party was still going on :)

So...this officially wraps up another bday for Miss E.  Another great one! :)

Birthday night

Elizabeth's birthday party is later today (!!!), but her actual birthday was on Wednesday.  That night we celebrated by going out to dinner with our friend Maria.  We walked from Maria's house down to the square where the restaurant was,  This is a very familiar walk for Elizabeth, and she (as always)made sure to visit the donkey that is in someone's yard along the way...

Chatting with Maria

Dear Elizabeth (a letter to my sweet girl on her 5th birthday)

Dear Elizabeth,

So today is your 5th birthday.  Wow, is all I can say.  All of your birthdays have been important, but for some reason, this one seems like a really big one.  It feels like this is the end of your early childhood.  And it's true, you have been quickly shedding all remnants of "preschoolishness" and are turning into a "school age kid" right before my very eyes.  Some days, I swear you look bigger when I pick you up from Day Care than you did when I dropped you off in the morning.  You have even lost two teeth already, which you are very proud of!  You are getting more and more interested in reading and writing, although you would still prefer to be jumping or swimming.  Oh, how you love to jump...You would be so happy if I converted our livingroom into a giant trampoline!  And swimming...As I tell you all the time, you are a little fish.  You love, love, love to swim, and to jump into the water.  You took swimming lessons this Spring (courtesy of your Aunt Betsy) and can now do the crawl stroke.  People always comment on what a great swimmer you are when they see you in the pool. 

You love to sing, especially songs from "The Wizard of Oz", your favorite movie in the world.  You definitely have a dramatic flair about you, and love to perform.  I can't decide if you will be a famous athlete, or a famous actress.  Maybe you'll be both, I wouldn't put it past you.  You have a strong personality, and a strong will, which I wouldn't change, even though sometimes it makes for some "challenging" moments between us.  You get angry with me sometimes, but it never lasts long.  More than anything, you are loving and caring with me, and want to please.

You are an extrovert, and quickly make new friends wherever you go.  You get very unhappy when play dates and birthday parties are over, and it's time to say goodbye.  You have a vitality and a spark that draws people to you.  You are a happy girl, and pretty much sing and jump your way through life :) 

You have some big changes coming up soon.  You will say goodbye to the Day Care/ Preschool you have been going to for almost three years, and hello to Kindergarten.  I know you are ready.  I'm so excited to watch you learn and grow over the next year.  I think you will love Kindergarten and will do great.  I have a lump in my throat that my "baby" is no more, but proud and thrilled that you are growing into such a sweet, bright, funny, big girl. 

So Happy 5th Birthday, Tizzylish.  Mommy loves you to the Moon and back.

Love,

Mommy

5 year photoshoot

Last night, E and I had our annual photoshoot.  Each year around her birthday, I have professional pics taken of us (mostly just of her, but I always get one of the two of us also).  Love the last one, it is sooo her...:)

The birthday bash

Today I had a birthday party for Elizabeth at a splash park, with all her BFF's from school. The weather was perfect, and a great time was had by all :)

PS: A special shout out to one of MY BFF's Misty, for helping me shlep all the party goodies to the park and set up, and entertain!

Happy 4th Birthday!! :)

Happy 4th of July from Maine!

Elizabeth and I came up to my parents' place in Maine on Saturday morning. Elizabeth did great and we zipped up in just 5 hours:) We arrived at about 2pm, and E was very happy to get out of the car and run around! She enjoyed swinging on the rope swing Grandpa set up... and trying to catch butterflies with a net...

Then, that night we went to a party at a Country Club nearby. Elizabeth met some other kids and ran around on the grass for most of the time we were there.

She met another little girl F., who was adopted from Guatemala.

On Sunday morning, the weather was a little iffy, but warm enough, so I took E to the Lily Pond on Deer Isle to go swimming. We didn't stay too long, since we were almost the only ones there. Elizabeth much prefers to have other kids around to play with. Just Mom is pretty boring, I guess...:)

That night, we had my favorite Maine dinner- Lobster!!

And since my Dad's birthday was last week, and E's is next week, I made a little birthday cake for dessert...Elizabeth and Grandpa blew out the candles together (see pic at the top of this post...I could not move this picture down here...Does anyone know a good way to move images around on Blogger?? I can never do it!)

This morning, we went to the 4th of July Pardade. There was a band, balloons, dogs, and lots of candy!

In the car afterward, with her bag of loot :)

We have been having a great weekend! More to come next post. Too tired and annoyed with Blogger to post more right now...:)