Eight is Great!!

My oldest daughter turned eight years old yesterday. I can hardly believe it's been that long since I held her in my arms. She has grown up so much and amazes me everyday.

We started her celebration by taking her to dinner Friday night at Road House, one of her favorite places to eat (and I had a coupon). After dinner they brought her a hot fudge sundae and dressed her up to sing to her.

On Saturday I took the girls to our favorite donut shop for breakfast. K had a strawberry iced donut, L had an apple fritter and I had a chocolate long john because they were all out of glazed twists. When her dad got home from work we took her to Red Robin for her free birthday lunch.

She got pizza and strawberry lemonade. After eating, she opened her gift from her sister. It was a purse to go with the wallet L gave her at Christmas. The purse also had a gift card and a birthday coupon for Build-a-Bear. After eating another free ice cream sundae, we headed to the mall.

There was a huge crowd of people at Build-a-Bear, possibly due to the fact that they are closing the store in less than a week. K wandered around the store looking for some clothes to buy but finally decided to get a cute pink cat. The gift card and coupon covered the cost. Her dad generously gave her some money for a new outfit for her cat as well. She named her Heart and loves it.

In the evening there was a youth fundraiser auction at church for girls' camp this summer. K wanted to go and find the perfect dessert to bid on for her birthday cake. She found what she wanted and when it came up on the auction block she started bidding. Unfortunately, the price went steeper than I was willing to spend. She was very sad when she lost out on the perfect cake. However, the purchasers generously gave us half of the cake and wouldn't let us pay for any of it. They told her it was a birthday gift from them. So, so sweet.

When we got home, K wanted to open her gifts before eating the cake. She had some from us and from her grandma's. Her favorite gift of all was the Kindle she got from her Bahmah. She loves to read and now she can read in the dark because her Kindle is back lit.

After opening her gifts we sang Happy Birthday to her 

and she blew out her candles.

 

The special cake.

All in all I think she had a wonderful birthday. And in a couple of weeks she gets to be baptized which she is super excited about.