The Birthday That Didn't End

Most parents try to makes birthdays special for their kids. For Mierae's first birthday, we had three celebrations. For Jolie's, we had two. We wanted Mierae's 3rd birthday to be special, but we didn't anticipate it to extend for five days! But, why not?! We had a great time each day and were happy to have an excuse to keep celebrating.

The weekend of her actual birthday, we went on a small family trip to the CoCo Key Water Resort in Newark. On the way we stopped in Utica to visit the Velvet ice cream factory. The girls tried to be "reverent"



but Jolie would end up screaming happily from the top of her lungs in the echoing observation room and Mierae just wanted to smash her face on the glass windows. The girls were much more interested in watching the ducks than paying attention during the tour...





...and more interested in playing on the playground and in the sandbox than eating lunch. But, when it came time to eat ice cream, they were all for it!


We had chocolate dipped strawberry, moose tracks, and their signature butter pecan and cashew. YUM!!




When we got to the water park, we didn't hesitate to jump right in! Mierae was a little scared when she went down her first slide, but quickly adapted. When I had her with me in the changing room before we left for dinner, she ran away from me before I was dressed, and I soon found her going down the slides in her clothes!!




Eric and I took turns watching the kids while the other one went down the big slides. It has been a long time since I've done something like that, and I had a blast! We also liked relaxing on the lazy river and watching the big bucket spill water over all the water slides in the middle of the park.


We stayed at the Cherry Valley Lodge, adjacent to the waterpark. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that not only did our room come with the couch bed and the king-size bed, but the bathroom was so big that we used it as Jolie's room for the night! It worked out perfectly.


Besides watching Saturday morning cartoons on our big flat screen TV while eating donuts, we really enjoyed walking around and seeing the beautiful gardens that surround the lodge.




When we got home that evening, Mierae opened a few gifts:



Ariel pajamas, Curious George and Peter Rabbit books with accompanying audio CDs, a card and check from Aunt Rosie, and the highlight of them all: Bath and Body Work's Liplicious lip gloss. What was I thinking?!



We started working on her birthday cake, but after Mierae grabbed a chunk out of one cake and took off with it, leaving a trail of crumbs all over my freshly vacuumed floor, there was no birthday cake to be had on her actual birthday! After she and Jolie had gone to bed, Eric and I waited up for his mom, his sister, and her kids to arrive from DC on their trek west. We were excited for Mierae to have a happy surprise the next morning!!

So Sunday and Monday were spent with cousins, Aunt Sarah, and Grandma Taylor. Mierae finally got her birthday cake Sunday evening. Mercedes and Mabel helped me decorate it. Didn't they do a fabulous job?


As I tried to get some classic birthday cake shots, Mierae's cousins were more excited to pose than she was!



Mierae received a special Beanie Baby horse as a birthday gift from our visitors! She took to him right away. He was even going to get the first bite of cake!


And, of course, more presents. This time Mierae came away with a card and check from Grandma and Grandpa Hendriksen, more princess pajamas (a night gown) complete with magic wand



a princess puzzle


and the Candyland DVD game.


Her gifts helped keep all the kids busy.



We had such a great time having family here!



We're so glad you stopped on your way, and we hope you finally made it to Utah!!!

Tuesday was the day Deva came to celebrate Mierae's birthday. Mierae opened yet more gifts: a Mickey Mouse Memory game and sidewalk chalk. (Thanks, guys! Mierae has been so obsessed with her chalk!)



We weren't sure what to do about birthday cake, but after Mierae had a meltdown when I brought her in from the pool because she'd gone #2 in her swimsuit and then fell asleep, Eric had Deva help him make a Wacky Cake so she'd have something fun to do. It turned out GREAT, and it was a big hit.



I love how Jolie had to test out the whipped cream!



You'd think Mierae would have had enough fun for three more birthdays by now, but we took one last evening, in a rainstorm, to celebrate one last time. We had to use Mierae's free Coldstone Creation gift certificate for her birthday!


On the way there we asked Mierae what kind of ice cream she wanted. She told us, "Mierae has pink, Mommy has brown, Daddy has brown and Jolie has pink." Well, she was right about all but one: Daddy actually always gets "white." But Mierae did get her "pink" ice cream with sprinkles, and then because she got two more mix-ins, and we wanted her to get something other than just sprinkles, she got gummy bears and M&Ms. Mommy got "brown" (Ghiradelli chocolate!) with Reeses pieces, and Daddy got "white" with Heath bar. Jolie got some of each! Hooray for Wednesday Waffle day!



Jolie can't wait until it's her 2nd birthday so we can celebrate hers five times!