Birthday photos

We're all recovering from what turned into The Five Days of Maggie's Birthday. Her actual birthday was Sunday (October 19). Since we'd planned her party for that day, and many of Bobby's family weren't going to be in town, his mother had a small party at her house on Thursday. Maggie delved right into the cupcakes -- nothing like a good hit of chocolate at 10 in the morning!





On Friday night, Bobby's dad came over to give Maggie his gifts and spend a little time with her. He attended her party on Sunday too, but he knew it would be crazy, so this gave them some better one-on-one time. He gave her a two-wheeled scooter (which she's already starting to master!) and this huge stuffed dog -- it's seriously bigger than she is!




On Saturday, my parents arrived. Before then, Bobby and I went ahead and gave her our gifts since we knew she'd be getting a lot at her party the next day.



This remote control My Little Pony was the only thing she asked for!



Shadow, one of our new kittens (who's not such a kitten anymore), got in on the action too!



Her party was held at The Little Gym, where Maggie takes gymnastics. I cannot say enough good things about TLG. Not only are their gymnastics classes wonderful and so kid-friendly, but their parties are THE BEST. The staff is awesome, the kids had a blast, and perhaps most importantly, Mommy didn't have to stress out about anything! All I had to do was bring the cake and treat bags ... TLG did the rest! (That concludes my impromptu ad for The Little Gym; now here are the pictures ...)

Mr. Keith, the owner, and Maggie help explain the rules to everyone before they go inside the gym:



The kids enjoyed some "free play" in the gym before the organized activities started. I don't know why, but this next picture cracks me up.



Heidi and Rebekah on the bars:



Maggie and beautful baby Macy:



Bobby and Macy ... yeah, he's just a little bit happy to get to hold her.



This is Sabina, the gorgeous daughter of my friend Varinia. (V, watch out ... Dee is in love with Sabina and I think might be hatching some sort of kidnap scheme.) ;-)




The kids joined Mr. Keith and Miss Alex on the big red mat for the start of the games.



I can't figure out what Cooper, Rebekah, and Maggie are looking at here!



Maggie and her sweet friend Tommy:



One of Maggie's favorite activities at The Little Gym is the air-track. I think all the kids loved bouncing down it!



They played a game where the dragon (aka Mr. Keith) tossed dragon gold (aka bean bags) on the other side of the big red mat. The kids sat against the wall and sang the dragon to sleep, then tried to sneak past him to snatch the gold.



They'd get so excited waiting to go grab the gold!


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Here go Maggie and Heidi!



Uh oh! The dragon's got Mattie and Maggie cornered! (Looks like he already took out Alex!)



Maggie was all too happy to be captured by the dragon and tickled.



Next, it was time for cake. You may remember my difficulties finding someone to bake an Abby Cadabby cake? Well, here's the finished product. I loved it!



Happy birthday to Maggie!



Time for presents. If these next few pictures don't epitomize the joy of a child, I don't know what does!


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This princess dress-up set was one of her favorite gifts ...



... and we had to open it as soon as we got home. Pretty soon, Maggie had been transformed into "a real princess," as she kept calling herself.


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That sums up the first four days of celebrating. Yesterday was the final day in The Five Days of Maggie's Birthday -- her preschool party. It was pretty low-key though; we simply took in cupcakes for the class to share during snack time, and Maggie got to wear a crown as her classmates sang to her. The egg-free cupcakes were gorgeous, and the mother of the child who's so allergic called me today to say thanks (again!) for finding some that G could eat. She said G was so excited she ate two! I'd say that's as successful an ending as any celebration could ask for!

Thank you to everyone who helped share in Maggie's special day!