Jorgensen Troupe: Miss Maddie's BIG Birthday

sorry for the tremendous delay, but the computer died/kept crashing every time we tried to upload a photo. But now we have a shiny-quiet new computer, and I'm playing catch-up :)

Madeline has been counting down to her birthday for quite a while now, probably since Eme's birthday. And in the past two weeks in particular we've heard all sorts of "when I'm BIG and 4...", because apparently 4 is that magical age when you stop being a "little kid" and start being a "BIG kid". I was told that I wouldn't be able/need to pick her up any more, because she'd be too big when she was 4. (And since her birthday, if we've slipped and said "little girl", she is very quick to correct us: "you mean 'BIG' girl")

Maddie is a funny little (BIG) girl, she isn't into "hot" breakfasts. She is a die-hard cereal fan, whenever I make something, she simply gets herself a bowl and the cereal instead. So, when it came time to decide on her birthday breakfast, I just took her to the store and let her pick out any box of cereal she wanted. I think I love her more for the fact that she picked out the generic Lucky Charms box.

After we got the others off to school and work, and I had showered, Maddie and I went out to see just how much fun we could squeeze out of her day. First up: Toys R Us for a free balloon and a crown. Followed by Krispy Kreme for a very tasty free birthday donut. We headed over to Barnes and Noble to pick out her book from Gramma and Grampa Seguine.

And then we hit Build a Bear for her special gift from mom and dad. I loved the surprised look on her face when I told her she could pick out her very own friend. It was even funnier when she told me she didn't want one of the "flat" bears, because it was broken. She was a bit skeptical until they started to fill her bear up with fluff. Her bear's name is Iza (rhymes with Lisa), and they are great friends already.

After our bear adventure, we went out to lunch at Joe's Farm Grill, because they give you $10 worth of free food on you birthday, and I had thought ahead and brought a copy of Maddie's birth certificate with us. Which meant that I got to have lunch at Joe's for $5, thank you Maddie.

Since Wednesday means scouts for both Aidan and Eric, we decided to wait a night to have cake and ice cream. But since a BIG 4 year old needs something special on her birthday, we picked up a dozen Krispy Kreme's, stacked them up nicely, and stuck some candles in them for Maddie to blow out. Eric and Aidan were able to see Maddie open her last two gifts (Ariel and some clothes for Ariel-my ears are still ringing from her squeal of delight), and have a donut before they had to leave.