Up, Up and Away

The Birthday Girl had her official celebration this weekend, and it was festive!

Of course, every birthday girl deserves a party dress....

A hot air balloon party would not be complete without a hot air balloon replica. Matilda happily jumped into the basket and was ready for lift off. Thank goodness is quit raining about 2 hours before the party or I'm not sure how this would have worked in our tiny little house...

And while she enjoyed the hot air balloon, the real hit for her were the sweets. On her actual birthday I had made chocolate chip muffins and we sang to her and did the whole candle bit, and she LOVED it. We relit those candles about 4 times. But on her party, with the candles in an actual cake, once was enough and she was ready to dig in.

And after she got some good handfuls of cake and frosting she discovered the amazing sugar cookies my mom made and had FOUR of those (mostly because Nate and Pop Pop couldn't say no).

Tillie was so lucky to have so many friends come to help her celebrate. It's so fun to see her get so excited now, and she will say "friends comin'!" when we tell her we have friends coming to see her.  She also say "that's funny" when she mean to say something is fun. And this got a lot of 'that's funny.'

And no one gets quite as many smiles and excitement as Eila from Eila. When Matsilda saw her coming up the driveway she RAN to greet her (think Baywatch slow motion running), and then went in for a hug so excitedly that she knocked Eila over. 

On the Row Row. (I swear I put sunscreen on our child. I realize she looks like she has a pageant tan,)

Bea was not present for most of the party as she was napping, but we did manage to get one snap. I think this was post-Pop Pop forcing us to change Matilda out of her party dress because he was so worried she would slip and hurt herself.....(such a softie)

Oh, Matilda. I can't wait to celebrate with you for years and years to come. I am sure our balloon parties will turn into slumber parties which will turn into us meeting you at a bar for your 21st. No matter the age, party or theme, I'll be there to help you celebrate each passing year.

And while your favorite part was certainly the cookies, cake and friends, my favorite moment was when you turned to me while we were taking pictures to give me a big bear hug. I didn't ask for it, nor did anyone tell you to. You just turned to me and wrapped those little arms around me for a big squeeze.

And it melted my heart right then and there.