Our dear, darling Eloise turned five at the end of May during the wildest few weeks we've had since we moved back to Texas. Basically, we bought her a house two days after her birthday. Our nest was filled to the brim with boxes while we celebrated. Being the sweet little lady she is, she didn't mind one bit! In fact she adopted the motto "hang loose" as she donned a grass skirt & a beautiful lei that her sister picked out. She colored a sign that said Aloha & helped me hang a lei for each guest.
She looked lovely...
Not only did we celebrate Eloise but we had another extremely special guest. Gigi joined us from Michigan! These two have a few day span between their special days so it was perfect!
Celebrating 85 years young & 5 years old....
What a special moment this was....
some others partied with us...
Auntie Deb & Uncle Joe in their Hawaiian attire...
Two Great Grandmothers that care so deeply for us & our little ones. What a precious blessing it is to share life with them.
What kiddo is not excited about opening gifts? For as silly & loud as this girl can be she is reserved in a group setting even if she knows everyone. She opened each gift calmly & said her thank you's for some Lego sets, a bird feeder for the new house, a new Goldie Blox set, a Little Passports monthly membership (I love these!) & a microscope. Oh my was that last one the favorite! Not only did Eloise love it but her sister & daddy tried to commandeer it on more than one occasion ; ) The following morning I woke up in a dark room to a bright light feet away from my bed. This light was surrounded by a big sister & two little brothers with Sleeping Beauty nowhere in sight. We may need to lock birthday gifts away for at least the first week! I put it away & once Elo was up we got it back out & begin collecting things to place on the slides. We looked at the fibers in a napkin which was extremely boring compared to what came next. I was fixing Eloise's hair in the bathroom & smashed a mosquito perfectly meaning there was still plenty to zoom in on. She ran to the table & handed it to her Daddy who set up to look at his disgusting body. It was actually pretty cool. When she was done with that one her eyes lit up & she said "Hold on! Let me get a beetle!" She ran to her bathroom & came back with a beetle. Minutes later she exclaimed "Hold on! Let me get a spider!" She returned with a spider. Robby & I were looking at each other laughing that Eloise knew where these dead little creatures were....gross. Anyway, all of the gifts have been played with & put away & pulled back out again. The boys really like to get into their sisters toys.
Anyway, back to the party..
The whole theme came about when we decided to surprise her with a ukulele. She loves to play my dad's & we knew she would be excited to have her own. We then decided we were going to get her a bicycle instead. About an hour before the party I said to Rob "we planned this whole Hawaiian party & we didn't even get her a ukulele!" He grabbed Char, made it to & from Guitar Center in record speed & handed me the prettiest little ukulele to wrap for the birthday girl. Here she is with my cousin Keaton who showed up in swim trunks & a shirt embroidered with parrots. He could not have been dressed more appropriately! He played her some tunes & she made us smile everytime she said "luke-oo-lele"
The party ended about 10 minutes before the sky opened up & released an absurd amount of rain with huge gusts of wind. It was a rushing river down our street as we stood beneath a light sprinkling of rain from our sky light in the entryway. The kids were wired after all the sugar. We on the other hand were well sugared but wiped out. Once we administered tranquilizers to the wild animals we collapsed on the couch around the time we headed to the hospital five years ago with me in labor.
I replayed those hours perfectly in my mind as I drifted off to sleep. I woke with my little newborn Arlo who forgot how to sleep at night right around the time of her birth & felt the weight of another year gone by since I looked into her eyes for the first time. We were smitten then & are still smitten five years later.
The next morning was the official celebration which fell on Memorial Day just as it did the year she was born. It was extra fun because it meant that Robby didn't have to go to work! We enjoyed some sausage balls & coffee cake for breakfast then surprised Lolo with her first bicycle! She was so excited & hopped on immediately to ride it all over the tile floor. Great goal, poor execution as she would move forward 3 inches then press her foot backward on the brake. She couldn't get anywhere & was so frustrated & so cute. After breakfast & a couple FaceTime calls we headed over to the elementary school down the street. It has a large concrete area with basketball goals & a painted map of the USA which is the reason it is known to our clan as "going to the map."
Here she is on the new ride...
We looked at Toys' R Us & could not have found a bicycle more perfectly fit for this girl. The brand is "Little Mismatched" with the quote "let you be you" near the spokes. So, there she was cruisin' around with her mismatched socks as happy as she could be. To say we love her is an understatement. She brings much joy to our home & we look forward to all that will unfold in her personality & in her heart as these years continue to fly by. In closing, she didn't really like her biggest birthday gift (the new house) & has told us along with all her siblings that they would like to move back to the old house. Ha! Talk about a waste of money! She's settling in like the rest of us, still among boxes but making a bit of progress each day. My little helper often asking "what can I do now?" is making me smile.
The day ended with dinner from her favorite SPIN Pizza, a bath to wash off all the sunscreen & bug spray followed by a good five year old snuggle on the couch. Love this little thing to pieces.
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