Elsa is SIX!

Someone has done a lot of growing at our house this year. All of Elsa's pants and skirts are too short, but perhaps more significant than her physical growth are all the other ways she has grown this year.

Elsa has successfully completed kindergarten and is on her way to becoming a first grader. A lot of changes to be sure, she thrived in this new environment. I'm fairly sure I was more nervous than she was as she took it all in stride. From wearing a uniform to riding bikes to reading books solo, it has been a big year.

But through it all, some things haven't changed, including Elsa's love of all things birthday. May 10th is the most important day of the year in Elsa's book. On an "unrelated" note, her favorite number is 10...

Elsa's birthday fell on a Friday this year, so we crammed all the birthday fun into one day. For the first time, we hosted her party on her actual birthday, which meant the entire day was full of festivities. As usual, most of our celebrations are centered on food. For breakfast, Elsa had to settle for peanut butter toast since my scrambled eggs are sub-par (not to worry--Jon made her some the following morning), but I think I made up for it when Lena and I surprised her at lunch with Panera, one of her favorites.

It wouldn't be a birthday without the sheep

In between all the eating, we squeezed in the traditional sheep photo shoot and a birthday phone call from Grandma before school because yes, there was still learning to be done. There was also still work to be done; after lunch, Lena and I hurried home so I could frost Elsa's cake.

Apparently I didn't do too bad on last year's butterfly cake because this year, the birthday girl took it up a notch and requested a fairy cake...which was really just a variation of the butterfly cake. Not everyone got my vision (I'm looking at you, Jon), but Elsa approved, which is all that matters. My favorite part was that when Jon felt he needed to explain to all of the party-goers that the cake was a fairy cake, one of Elsa's friends immediately quipped, "Yeah...we know."

Fairy cake...sponsored by Mattel?

Speaking of the party, the plan was to host one of our low-key bashes at the park across the street. I even gave it an alliterative name: "Pizza at the Park." Well, Mother Nature had other plans, and the afternoon turned rainy and cool. So, on to plan B: party at the house. Honestly, we didn't mind, but between family friends and school friends, things got a bit loud and chaotic. But the kids had fun and nobody lost any appendages, so I'm declaring it a success. As a bonus, the weather cleared enough for some brave souls to hit the playground after pizza and cake.

The birthday girl closed out her special day by opening gifts (thank you, family!) and reading cards. Everyone was equally exhausted, so we all headed to bed shortly thereafter--there was an entire birthday weekend in front of us, after all.

Needless to say, it was a day to remember. Happy Birthday, Elsa!