Abigail is now 8. Yes, we actually let her live that long. We are awaiting our "Parents of the New Century" award. There's a gallery going up shortly.
We started the day the night before. We piled all her presents in her room and posted some Birthday related signs. One required that she find all 8 stars around the house so she can open one gift of her choice right away. Boy did that take longer than I expected. You'll see how "well" we hid some of them in the gallery, and how close she came to some of them without seeing them.
We had a normal breakfast amidst the search. Balen and I took a nap - we had a late night, since he didn't go to sleep until 10pm, and I stayed up to help Michel study for her midterm and produce the aforementioned signs and stars - giving Abigail time to play with her new Mini Whinnies and get some much needed Xbox 360 time without interruption. We had McDonald's for lunch (her choice), and then played a bit while waiting for Michel to come home. We then hung out as a family for a bit (minus Abigail who again wanted to play some more Cloning Clyde) and then packed up for Abigail's choice of a restaurant: Applebee's.
What did she order? A hot dog. Which she didn't like, and only ate part of the bun and 3 bites of the hot dog before declaring she didn't like it. We consoled her gently while smiling across the table at each other. Our kosher all-beef hot dogs have spoiled her taste for what turned out to be an Oscar Meyer hot dog. One of parentings minor rewards. Balen was a pain the whole time, but they both got balloons and were instantly happy again.
Abigail chose to buy a cake instead of make one, so we shopped at Wegman's. They added a pink rose to her chosen cake. It was just the right size for our small family. We went home. Abigail brought the presents down while I started the fire and Michel prepared the cake. Abigail had to have that piece with the pink rose specifically, but stopped short of eating the flower, claiming herself full! Amazing. She didn't eat all the icing! Of course, it was no Costco Buttercream icing cake, and it tasted kind of like Crisco... Maybe our natural eating habits and limitations on sugar are having their desired effect? Balen, on the other hand, plowed through his and instantly demanded that I hand over mine. He is just discovering things like candy and cake...
Abigail then opened her presents. She decided to sort them smallest to largest and open them in that order. Now where does she get THAT from? Hint: It's not me. She was ecstatic with the 3 Mini-Whinnies sets we got for her, and the pink Xbox controller, and the great towel, and the educational exposed dog book, and the musical card (that Balen danced around with for the next 10 minutes), and pink horse shirt, and the other clothes... and that's all I can remember for now.
Then we went to bed all together in our bed, fully expecting a bunch of heels, elbows, and knees; but it was a good night. We didn't have to kick out either of them.
Now the videos and pictures:
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