Happy Birthday Ashley

Ashley turned 4 yesterday but we started celebrating on Friday. The celebrating started by going to lunch with Kevin. We normally do a birthday dinner but the girls and I were heading to Twin later so we bumped it up to a lunch. Ashley chose to go to Red Robin. As soon as we ordered our meal, Ashley was asking to open her gifts. It is always so fun to watch her. She gets so excited and doesn't hide it at all. The present that I was most excited for was the cape that I made her. She is always asking us to tie her blankets and make them capes so I thought she would really like to have one. She loved it and wore it the rest of lunch.

When lunch was over we hurried home to make sure everything was perfect for all of Ashley's friends to arrive for her party. Ashley's nickname has always been bug which is short for lady bug. She always gets a lady bug pair of pjs every year for her birthday. This year we decided to have a lady bug themed birthday. We played pin the dot on the lady bug. The kids really had a great time with this and they loved that they got to have two turns. One little boy Michael got it right on the spot. We also had a lady bug pinata. When I bought the pinata I just thought it was a normal pinata that you have to hit but it was better. It had pull strings so I didn't have to worry about anybody getting hit. I never knew that there was such a thing but it was great. The kids really enjoyed it a lot. They would walk up and pull really hard and was so bummed if they didn't get the one string.
We played a lot more games and really had a lot of fun but the best part as always is the cake. I thought I would try something new this year and I actually made a themed cake. It was not as hard as I thought it would be but not sure I am up for anything more complicated then a lady bug.
Ashley loved the cake and I am sure that she will be telling people about it for weeks. She had a great party. I love watching my kids have so much fun and make great memories with them.

When we were preparing for Ashley's birthday she really wanted her cousins to be there but I told her they live too far away. I did tell her that we would have a little party with them at Nana's house. That made her happy. So on Saturday her actual birthday we had another lady bug cake so she could celebrate with her cousins. Madison, Owen and Ava decorated by making a sign. Ashley loved telling everyone that this said "Happy Birthday Ashley." They made her day by making this sign. After dinner we had our little party for Ashley with a lady bug cake and everything. She got some presents from her cousins. She was so sweet after opening them she looked Owen and said, "I love you Owen." Then she turned to Kylie and said, "I love you Kylie." It is so sweet how these three interact with each other. They are all 4 and you would think there would be a lot of power struggles but they get along very well.

I think Ashley really had a great birthday that hopefully she will remember it for a long time. She is such a joy to have in our family and I can't imagine not having her smile in my life.