Sprinklers, Zoo, and a Birthday Bash

Not that we could tell today, it's raining like crazy, but last week it was gorgeous weather and we played in the sprinklers. Our house was amazingly hot because I wasn't sure I could use the AC w/o the natural gas, so we went out to play. The kids loved it. Even Julianne was brave enough to get a little wet. She thoroughly enjoyed running around in her swimsuit at least.


Then, Wednesday was early out day and I decided it was time to hit the zoo. We missed the train by ONE day (Grrr..) but we had a blast with the Morris' (thanks again, guys!). I remember now why I bought a pass before. We used to go with the Christiansen's all the time and it was an excellent way to kill the morning. Julianne was even willing to ride in the stroller which shocked me but I was oh-so-grateful.

Finally, The BIG Birthday.... I have to mention that I did the cake! No one keel over from shock :). I'm actually very proud of myself. Yes, I realize that it's just a silhouette. Yes, I realize I traced it and did nothing by hand (but the awful handwriting). Still. I think it turned out great!


I think I'll leave the detailed cakes to Jon, but maybe I'll work on these simple ones :). Brooklyn had a great birthday. I took the little kids with me and we helped with snack time at school. Since it was for her birthday, she could take cupcakes. She grinned from ear to ear while they sang to her and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention. I should've taken a picture...

We opened presents as soon as Dad got home from work and Julianne had a little trouble letting Brooklyn open them. Since Julianne was encroaching on her space, Mason felt like he was being left out. Good thing Brooklyn is so patient with them!


Unintentionally, this birthday turned into a Barbie birthday. She got some Barbies from her family in Utah, I got her a Barbie balloon, had a Barbie cake, and got a Barbie move. She loves it, though, so it was perfect. (More on the Barbies later)...

After dinner we did cake and just like before, Julianne almost blew out the candles before Brooklyn could.
Then, we dug in. It was tasty, if I do say so myself :). (Feel free to come have a slice, we'll be having some sort of cake/dessert on Monday for Jon...)

One of Brooklyn's gifts from my dad was a Barbie. As soon as she pulled it out, I recognized it. I had a Barbie just like this one when I was young. It has a switch on her back that makes her arms move up to her head. Her comb, brush and blow dryer fit in her had and she can brush her own hair. She has this furry cape thing that goes over her gown. She was my favorite Barbie and I played with her all the time!!
My mom was notorious for her stashes of gifts. She had a cupboard in the basement that was full of little gifts. Whenever we got invited to a Birthday party, we headed to the closet and chose a gift. When my mom would take a gift to someone with a new baby, she'd always take a little something for the older kids from the closet so they wouldn't be jealous of all the gifts the new baby was getting. There are still some wrapped presents in the computer room waiting for just such an occasion. Apparently, my Dad started digging and found this little treasure. Jon looked it up and these Barbies, still in the box, are going for at least $50 on eBay. Some are listed for more!! Crazy, huh? I think it's totally awesome that Brooklyn has a Barbie just like the one I used to have (and is still floating around at my Dad's house). She loves it and played with it all night. Just look at how the accessories were packaged!! When was the last time you opened a toy that looked like this???
The little brochures and papers in the box were offers that expired by June of 1986 and 1987! I was having a hey day last night going through it all. I flipped through the brochure of the other things you could buy saying, "We had this." "We had that dress." "We had that Barbie." "We had that skirt.." It was great! It makes me giggle to think that it is worth that much.

I'm still in a little denial that Brooklyn is 7. I'm not really sure how that happened. She seems so grown up and then something will happen and I'm reminded that she's still my Baby Girl. Unfortunately for her, I'm not sure she'll ever outgrow that nickname... Oh well. At least it should be a sign of affection for her. It definitely is for me. I'm so lucky she is ours and we love her to pieces. Not that she ever reads this (or my Facebook for that matter), but Happy Birthday, Babe!! We love You!!