I remember having count downs for the next exciting thing when I was younger. Shoot, I still do it sometimes. It is different when you are a kid though. Allison’s count down for her birthday finally arrived! We only do a big party every other year or so and this year was a party year. She debated on a party at Main Event and doing bowling and laser tag, or Urban Air and doing a glow in the dark trampoline party. She decided on Urban Air. Sometimes it is a little tricky finding people home in July but we had a fun party with ten friends, lots of pizza, cake, glow sticks, presents, and fun. I think she had a great time and it was fun to see her having fun. Her friends know her well and gave her all kinds of stuff to make all different kinds of slimes. She was beyond ecstatic.
For her actual birthday Allison gave me a list of things that would make her birthday the ‘best birthday ever’ some of it was pretty specific. First up was her cousin Leah spending the night the day before her birthday and the day of her birthday. Then she had a friend with her on her birthday the moment she woke up until she went to bed. She requested crapes for breakfast. Her and Leah like to cook together so they helped me make them. Then filled them with powdered sugar, brown sugar, and whip cream, and blueberries so they would be healthier. Their words not mine. They played with slime and makeup for a bit after breakfast, then we met the rest of the cousins at the Olathe Community Center Pool to go swimming. She has wanted to go to an indoor pool for a long time. We have four neighborhood pools that we can swim at so I am not very willing to pay to go to another pool. I gave in for her birthday though and we all went and had a great time swimming at an indoor pool. It was nice to not bake in the sun and have to worry about sun screen.
When we were done swimming we went home and had cake and ice cream, followed by opening presents. Allison requested mini chocolate bundt cakes with hot fudge so it looked like a lava cake and everyone could have their own. She also wanted her cake to have some sort of decoration on it that was not a candle and was not laying flat on the cake. I found a happy birthday banner that she thought was perfect. By the time we got the candles and banner on the cake there wasn’t much room left. I liked her individual cake idea, great idea for birthday cakes so you don’t get a cake that is blown all over, kids especially can get a little free with their saliva when blowing out birthday candles. We opened presents after her cake. She got sequence color changing back pack and pillow, birthday money, a soap making kit, tile painting kit, squishies, and more slime stuff, oh and a whoopi cushion that she had her heart set on too. I haven’t figured out if her fascination with less appealing bodily functions is to get a rise out of me or simply extra funny to her, either way she never fails to bring up her ‘potty humor’ whenever she feels like it. Most of her gifts are probably pretty self explanatory except for the squishies. I will fill you in on an 8 year old must have. A squishy is basically really soft foam in the shape of any number of things. Food is a popular one. You squish it, and it bounces back to hits original shape. That is it. I think it originated as something to help relieve anxiety and has expanded to be a collectible toy like stuffed animals or barbies.
After presents and digesting our cake a little more Allison picked dinner at Pizza Street and invited her cousins too. She loves pizza, so the buffet is great but the reason she really likes to go to Pizza Street is their cinnamon hot rolls with icing. She loves them. She got her fill and then we came back home her and Leah played with her new toys the rest of the night. When it was all said and done she said it was a great day and she had a fun time. Mission accomplished!
Now we are focusing on the next big part of turning 8- her baptism! We ordered her scriptures and got a white dress to wear. Aunt Lauren was really nice and took her out and took some nice pictures of her in her dress. She is growing up fast. Tonight she went to her first Activity Days activity with the girls in our ward. She is very excited to get to go to that all on her own.
