Lainey's 4th BD

Lainey's BD was a full week of fun.

Monday:
Emi and Grandpa took Lainey out to dinner to celebrate. They went to one of Lainey's favorites, Red Robin.

Lainey had her staple meal, spaghetti with butter and cheese and french fries.(Her staple used to be mac -n-cheese, but she has since simplified it further to just butter and parm cheese. She'd eat this all day, every day if she could!)

Then came the really good parts . . .

the gift . . . (a Sleeping Beauty Dress)

. . . the ice cream

. . . and the money grab, a Grandpa tradition!

She got a whole $5! Grandpa said she almost got the special coin that would have doubled her money--too bad, maybe next year.

Tuesday:
Lainey and I went to Disneyland. We left Tuesday late afternoon so we could stay the night in a hotel, one of Lainey's FAVORITE things to do. I tell you what, I am not good at doing that stuff alone. I thought I'd have a nervous breakdown while driving there. Those freeways are so narrow and I have no sense of direction. By the time we arrived, I thought that I had for sure bumped the "on" switch for my seat's bum warmers because I was feeling so toasty . . . not so, I was just really stressed out.

We checked in at the "hotel" (Super Motel 8) and headed out to get some BD-Eve Dinner.
For all the times I have visited D-land, I have never seen the fireworks. So we headed over Tuesday night to see what we could see. The park was all decked out for Christmas.
We found a prime spot, right in front of Cinderella's castle.
The fireworks weren't for an hour so we waited
and waited
and waited

Suddenly the lights went off
it was about to begin! And then on the loud speaker we heard, "Due to high winds we will not be able to have the fireworks tonight." WHAT THE?!?!?!?!?!?

It was okay though because I told Lainey that they heard it was her BD and they knew she didn't like the loud sounds of fireworks so they cancelled them JUST FOR HER!!!! She really liked that and I gave myself a secret high-five for being a resourceful, quick-thinking mom. Happily too, they still did the snow AND people were so ticked about the fireworks that they didn't hang around to enjoy the snow so we got it practically all to ourselves.
We went on one ride--Storybook and then headed back to our hotel. Lainey insisted on sleeping in her own bed.
(which meant I didn't sleep well . . . not only were the beds so hard but I kept waking up, worried that Lainey would roll off her bed.)

After eating a chocolate donette
and watching one show, it was off to "sleep."

Wednesday: (her actual BD)
We got an early start and for forgetting a hairbrush, we looked pretty good.

At the park we made our first stop to get Lainey a breakfast fit for a BD girl.
While at the store buying her lollipop the nice store clerks called in for a BD phone call from goofy for her. She got a big kick out of that, especially since he sings Happy BD to himself.

In between licks (don't worry Grandpa, that sucker was "lost" only a few licks in), Lainey took a Happy BD phone call from Daddy who wished he could be there with us.
(yes, Lainey is wearing make-up that she applied herself that morning)

We, of course, got Lainey's face painted . . . and, of course, it was a blue dolphin, Lainey's face painting of choice.

One of the highlights of this trip was going through Mickey's house to meet Mickey, the Mayor of Toontown. He asked how old she was and she was very intrigued that when he holds up four fingers its like us making a high five. We discussed for a long time after that who only has four fingers like Mickey.

We went on a few rides and did lot of "passing the line wait time by taking digital pics".



(thank goodness for digital cameras . . . what did parents do when they had to use actual film?!)

Then we headed home.
Luckily Lainey took a nice nap in the car so she'd be ready to open gifts when we got home.
But first Lainey insisted on changing into her Sleeping Beauty dress AND being serenaded down the stairs to announce her arrival.

Guess I should have stuck with piano lessons . . . and maybe taken some voice lessons too.

Before opening her gifts we sang the traditional Happy BD.


Amongst other things, Lainey got the crown and shoes to complete her Sleeping Beauty costume from Grandpa and Emi.
Both were an instant hit with Adria.
especially the shoes . . .

Another gift she got was SpongeBob Operation something that she had really wanted . . . but then when she got it was like, "What's that?!" Oh well, I tried! At any rate, Matt, Megan and Butch had a great time "dominating SpongeBob" in his moment of surgical need.

Thursday: (aka Thanksgiving)
Because the family was getting together for Thansgiving, we decided to do Lainey's cake there. Lainey requested a Chocolate Cake with pink frosting. Furthermore she wanted cupcakes STACKED on a real cake.
I think it turned out rather nice.

After singing Happy BD once again, Lainey blew out her candles.

Lainey's 4th BD Bash was officially over . . . and she complains (I mean asks) daily when is it going to be her Birthday again? (She actually asked me this at D-land ON HER BD. I said, "But its your Birthday today!" She sadly replied that she just couldn't wait until her next birthday . . . already!)