The morning started about 7:15am, but I wasn’t quite ready to get up, so I lounged for about, oh…twenty minutes, ha, then it was time to get up.

I walked upstairs to the sounds of Frozen, of course, EJS got the DVD last night and then went to bed, I bet she woke up singing! There was breakfast and then all of a sudden it was time to get showered and dressed and head to the mall for the big birthday party!

EJS started selecting what she wanted to do for birthday parties when she turned five. She still loves the family/friend/neighbor gatherings, but she was ready for the big time. Five took us to a gymnastics studio, six took us to a dance party at a gym and this year was Build-A-Bear for 18 kids ranging from 3 to 7, wow!

We got there early to let EJS pick out the different types of animals for everyone to choose and the accessories they could select. While she was doing that, I took the party supplies to Sabarro at the other end of the mall. When I got back, ACS’s brother, JS and his wife AS and her nephew R were there waiting for us. Then the kids started to arrive, some siblings, some singles and almost all of the parents took the time to go run errands.

All the kids were great, they had their listening ears on and were all together. The girl who worked for Build A Bear was great, she kept the kids together and in line. My favorite part was when they had each finished stuffing their bear/dog/bunnies, they each got a heart and she gave them all these things to do: rub the heart in your hands so it will always be warm, hold the heart next to your ears so it will know your voice and your stories, hold the heart to your forehead so it will be as smart as you and after all the instructions, put it in the animal and then the folks that worked at Build A Bear closed the openings on the back and then back to the front of the store to get their accessory. They had a great time!

After Build A Bear, we headed to Sabarro for pizza, pasta, juice and brownies, and some singing of course! What a great party! After everyone went home, EJS went with Papa and LaLa to the American Girl store and EJS got her first AG doll, Julia with a matching outfit for them both! What a lucky girl!

Back to the house to prep for the evening’s activities. While we were setting up, EJS and I made her first batch of chocolate chip cookies with her Easy Bake Oven!

Then people began to arrive, everyone who was there had someone in their family with a March birthday! EJS, of course, neighbor across the street, COF and her daughter, JF, then the S family down the street, their daughter B is going to be 11 soon, SR is going to have a birthday in a few weeks and his twins S&E turned 3 on the same day as COF, we even took a picture with all the March birthdays, too cool!

We had brunch for dinner. Bagels, lox and cream cheese, whitefish salad, cheese and crackers, I even got some vegan cream cheese and sliced cheese for me and anyone interested, baked french toast and then here come the neighbors and the food! quiches and salads, fruit salad, desserts, everything was absolutely delicious!

We played, we laughed, we told stories, we sang happy birthday, there were presents to be opened and everyone was up way past their bedtimes.

Oh! When EJS was brushing her teeth, she lost one! Put it right in her toothfairy pillow I made her when she was losing her first tooth and then before bed wrote the toothfairy a note, put that under her pillow with the toothfairy pillow and it was lights out.

Here I sit writing to you, getting tired, wondering where the energy the kids had at almost 9pm came from because I know how to wear me out and on that note, I bid you a fond farewell and a great night!