Brooklyn -- Fabulous Five!

The cake was made,
the presents were wrapped,
the decorations were hung...
And Brooklyn, the birthday girl, awoke from her slumber so excited to celebrate her birthday! I have to admit here that I was a bit excited too. I didn't sleep too well the night before. :)
Brooklyn wanted to open all of her presents before Marty left for work. She opened a few of them to allow her a few things to play with. Then we spent the morning at the store letting her pick out her ice cream and preschool treat for the next day. We also went on a little hunt for a certain movie at Redbox. I normally wouldn't have visited so many Redbox's in one trip, but I did it all for the birthday girl!
Next we met Dad for lunch. Brooklyn's choice and she picked Wendy's! All because you get a frosty and a toy!
Then we let her open one more present before Marty went back to work.
When we came home, Eliza took a nap while Brooklyn and I watched MegaMind. It's actually a pretty cute movie.
Brooklyn worked on coloring Austin from The Backyardigans that Marty drew for her. It's her favorite character.
Austin is all done and ready to become our cake topper!
When Eliza woke up and our first Grandma stopped by, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day! It was perfect! Brooklyn loved playing Frisbee with Grandma Pam, Eliza and myself.
Then she had to ride her bike.
Then it was time to open a few more presents.
And a few more...and it seemed she was opening presents every few hours. What a spoiled girl!
She enjoyed visiting with her grandparents. Grandma Pam pictured above.
Grandma Connie and Grandpa Doyle.
Grandma Pat and Grandpa Ted.
She really wanted a Backyardigans cake and since we aren't cake decorators this is as good as it gets!
She actually got to blow out her candles two different times that night. Which means two birthday wishes! And she told me she wished on a star that night as well. I wonder what a 5 year old wishes for?
She loved her cake with purple frosting! And the chocolate ice cream she picked out.
We didn't get time to eat dinner before our company started to arrive so we ate cake and ice cream for dinner and German Pancakes (also a Brooklyn pick) for dessert. Luckily, the girls still ate after having all that junk food.
Then it was a bubble bath time with sister. Bubbles were gone by the time this picture was taken.
Off to bed! Here's Brooklyn with all of her spoils! She had a fabulous birthday for a big five year old! I don't believe we had any disappointments, frustrations or tears from this girl. She was grateful for everything she received. When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she told us she couldn't tell us because she wanted it to be a surprise. Luckily, we know what she likes! :) Happy Birthday sweet girl Brooklyn!

And to end this post, Five Reasons why I love my Brooklyn B!
1) We have so much fun together. She's my little friend that I get to do everything with and chat with all. day. long! She's super smart too!
2) She's a big helper around the house. She loves to feel big and do everything I do. Sometimes I feel like I could just leave and Brooklyn would take care of everything. And maybe even do a better job. :)
3) She's a great example to her little sister. Sure, she teaches her a few bad things here and there, but overall she spends time with her and helps her learn new things. She's a great big sister!
4) She has a little budding testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it's fun to watch it grow. She loves Family Night and loves when dad lets her "conduct"FHE.
5) She's a good friend to all. She loves to have lots of friends and if she had her way, she would play with a friend every day. Each day after preschool, she asks if she can play with "so and so". She doesn't realize this involves planning.

P.S. Eliza is finally getting the concepts of birthdays. She kept singing "happy birthday" in her own little way all day. She was a little envious of all the gifts. At the end of the day I said "Eliza, who's birthday is it?" and her answered "Yaya", which is how she says her name. Too cute!