Happy 4th Birthday Brooklyn!

Today was my little Brooklyn's 4th birthday. It's hard to believe I have a 4 year old! She acts so big now (well, most of the time). :) It has been a very busy day full of fun activities and I'm exhausted, but I thought I had better post before the end of the day. She had a much better birthday than last year. She had the stomach bug for her birthday last year so it wasn't too hard to beat.
Since I've recently posted about Brooklyn and some of the things she does, I thought I would just post about how she spent her 4th birthday.
Her day started at 6:45 am! A bit early for everyone else, but she was excited! We spent a good 30-45 minutes trying to get her to stay in her room so the rest of the house could sleep. No success.
Then she begged and pleaded to open her presents. We let her open the one present from Eliza and she was content for about a hour and then wanted more. She opened one present mid-afternoon from her cousin, but then had to wait until 7 pm to open the rest. She was so mad! She even told me I was mean and broke down crying when someone arrived for the party and handed her a present that she wanted to open. She had a long day!
Back to the morning. We baked the cake! This was right after breakfast so she's still in her pajamas. Brooklyn loves to lick any batter so of course she licked this today.
She even shared with her sister! So nice!
Then we got ready, answered a few phone calls of birthday wishes, talked to her friend Easton on a video call and then had lunch. Oh, I must mention that she wanted Mac 'n cheese for her "special birthday lunch", as she called it. She had cinnamon toast for her "birthday breakfast" and wanted Wendy's hamburgers for dinner. Not the healthiest of foods all day, but it's only her day once a year so we let her pick.
In the afternoon, we had planned to meet up with her cousin, Sariah. Brooklyn wanted a big party this year like she had last year with her friends, but we've decided to only do a friend party every other year so this was her off year. Luckily enough, her cousin Sariah just moved back to Utah from Idaho this weekend so she was "family" and we included her in the plans. They both were so excited to spend time together! They are 2 weeks apart in age and they moved to Idaho when these girls were about 6 months old. They love to play together and they are so much the same it's a little scary sometimes.
We made them princess crowns last night and then went to see The Princess and the Frog at the dollar movies. I've been telling Brooklyn I would take her to this movie since it came out so I'm glad we were able to do this today. The movie was cheap, the popcorn and drinks were expensive! I usually don't buy popcorn and drinks at the theater, but I did for her birthday today and I still can't believe how much money I spent! They had such a good time together and I enjoyed watching them have fun so it was worth it! Eliza stayed at Grandma Pat's house to nap while we went to the movie. Thanks again!
The girls were in such a fun mood on the way home. They were having full-on conversations about things. It was so cute to see them this way. Brooklyn kept asking Sariah questions like "Who's your favorite Princess?", "Do you have Backyardigan's movies?", and "Which ones do you have?". It was as if she was really trying to get to know Sariah better. Then they started getting really giggly and silly. It was so cute!
Then they stayed together for the rest of the day and played and played. They did really well until it was about time for the rest of our family to come over. Marty worked today, but got off about a hour early so we ran home and decorated the cake and got everything ready.
We mad a train cake this year. She wanted a Princess cake, but I saw this train idea that looked simple enough for me and I know how much she loves trains so I suggested it and she was excited. It didn't turn out as good as expected, but it worked for us. I'm slowly learning the art of cake decorating. I'm more of a plain cake type of person, but it's fun to try new things.
Brooklyn loved having all of her grandparents over and even some Aunts, Uncles and cousins. She loves when people sing Happy Birthday to her and she loves the attention of birthday's (who doesn't?). The cake and ice cream (Mint Chocolate Chip) were yummy and it's all gone. :)
Then finally she was able to open her presents! She was spoiled. Then she spent the next hour or so playing with everything. What a difference a year makes. Last year, she was so sick that she didn't enjoy any of her presents. This year, she loved all of them! She got to bed late and I'm so exhausted, but when I asked her if she had a good birthday and she answered with an ecstatic yes!!!, I knew it was all worth it. I'm so glad she had a good day! Plus, tomorrow she gets to bring a special birthday treat to preschool (Oreo Cakesters) and gets to go to the toy store to spend her birthday money.
Which reminds me, earlier in the day we were talking about her cake and blowing out her candles and I reminded her to make a wish when she blows them out. I then told her she couldn't tell me her wish or it wouldn't come true. She was silent for awhile and then said, "I know what I'm going to wish for. Can I just tell you and know one else". I agreed because I was curious and she said "I will wish that I have a great birthday!" I thought that was so cute! So if nothing else, at least we made her birthday wish come true (even if she did tell me her wish)!
Thanks again to everyone who helped make Brooklyn's birthday special. She loved it.