It’s kind of unbelievable to even process but Ellie had her eighth birthday last week. Yes, that’s correct; she is eight years old! It’s crazy because it seems like it wasn’t too long ago that we took a picture of Ellie stretched out on her changing pad the day we brought her home from the hospital. Seeing as how turning eight years old is quite the achievement, we definitely found it necessary to celebrate. In fact, we ended up having a full week of celebrating Ellie.
 |
| Are we actually sure that's the same kid? |
The week of celebrating Ellie started on Tuesday with her
heading up to my parents’ house to spend the night. While she’s spent the night
up there before, Bethany and I have always been along. On this occasion, she
was actually spending the night all by herself! Around 9:00, Ellie, Ethan, and
I loaded up in the Traverse and headed towards Dearborn, which is the halfway
mark between Kansas City and Savannah. Shortly after we arrived, my mom pulled
in to the gas station parking lot where Ethan and I said a quick goodbye to
Ellie before she and my mom headed on their way.
During her time in Savannah, it certainly sounded like they
had quite the fun night. She got to eat out twice, go shopping for a new
outfit, got a pedicure, and even saw a movie at the theater! In other words,
she was definitely spoiled during her time in Savannah. Honestly, it was good
for her to just have a little time by herself. I know that she sometimes feels
like she has to share so many experiences with Ethan that it was really fun for
her to get a special experience all for herself.
Fast forward to Thursday and Ellie’s actual real-life
birthday. Like any good mom would, Bethany took the day off from work to
celebrate the special day with Ellie. When we asked Ellie how she would like to
spend the day, she thought about it for approximately 35 seconds before responding
that she wanted to go to Worlds of Fun. While we waited for Worlds of Fun to
open though, she was able to get lots of playtime in on her brand-new ninja
course in the backyard. If you’re at all familiar with Ellie’s dream of
becoming an American Ninja Warrior, then you realize how this was the perfect
gift for her. In less than fifteen minutes, she had even conquered the course
in its entirety. That hasn’t stopped her from doing it time and time again over
the past few days though.
Once Worlds of Fun opened for the day, the four of us headed
to the park for a day of adventures. During our time with our season passes
thus far, Ellie has wanted to take in some of the park’s roller coasters.
However, she’s been a little intimidated to ride in a car by herself as she
would have to do with Ethan in tow. With another adult with us though, her time
had finally come. The first coaster that she chose to conquer was the legendary
Timber Wolf.
As we strapped in, Ellie continually looked at me for
affirmation that everything was going to be ok as she was more than a little
intimidated. When the climb up the first big hill began, it goes without saying
that she was freaking out a little. Once we reached the top though, there was
nothing to do but hold on tight. As we careened down the first big hill, I
looked over at Ellie to see her arms up in the air and a big smile on her face
as we bounded around the track. By the time we had reached the end, Ellie
looked at me and immediately asked to ride again so that’s exactly what we did.
After our second trip, Ellie found Bethany waiting for us outside and recruited
her to ride as well. By the time we were done, Ellie had ridden the Timber Wolf
three times and Prowler twice. I think it’s safe to say that the girl loves
roller coasters!
With that, we fast forward again to Saturday and Ellie’s
birthday party. I don’t remember when but at some point, Ellie decided that she
actually wanted to have a birthday party with her friends this year. As such,
we asked her to make up a guest list of people to invite which ended up totaling
four girls from her class. As you can see, Ellie wanted to keep the guest list quite
exclusive. Of course, any party needs some cake so Bethany and Ellie spent the
morning whipping up a batch of “Better Than Everything” cupcakes for her to
share with her friends.
Per Ellie’s request, we had her party at City Park in
Liberty. The park not only has a playground but also has a great splash pad.
Somewhat unfortunately, two of the members of her guest list were indisposed
and could not attend. That didn’t stop Ellie and the remaining two from having
a great time running back and forth between the playground and the splash pad
while enjoying their time together. By the time we were done, the girls (and
Ethan) had spent over two hours playing hard. I’m certain that everyone slept
well that night too!
Finally, Sunday and the final day of a week of celebrating
Ellie’s birthday rolled around. On this day, we were joined by Bethany’s
parents and Ellie’s cousins for a full day of play. Of course, it wouldn’t be a
celebration of Ellie without her specially requested birthday meal of, you
guessed it, pancakes, sausage, and eggs, followed by an Oreo ice cream cake for
dessert.
Wow, after reading back through all of that, it’s fairly obvious
that Ellie had an incredibly full week celebrating her birthday. Now, I’m just
curious if she’ll expect a big deal to be made out of the rest of her birthdays
to come. We’ll just have to see!
#DaddyWrite
No comments:
Post a Comment