7 Days of Blogging: Day 4 (Amaya Turns Five)

'Five already. Hard to believe.' Each year the same phrase rings true. Next year I shall just omit five and replace it with six. It's the same with all parents. I have yet to hear a parent say, 'My kid just turned 5. Feels like they should be 10.' So, this is how we commemorated the five-year anniversary of our little sweetheart's birth.
When we asked Amaya what she wanted to do for her birthday this year, she emphatically replied that she wanted to go to build-a-bear. She has never gotten to "build" a bear yet and has "always wanted to." In addition to that, she has been asking to get her ears pierced for months. We have been telling her for months that we could do that for her fifth birthday, so that was always part of the birthday plan. She added that she wanted to go scorpion hunting, too. Yes, SCORPION hunting. Crazy kid. She also wanted a "beautiful barbie", a Tangled musical jewelry box, a Flynn Ryder doll, and a Prince Eric doll Whoa! We told her that's alot to ask for. It was decided that she could choose to have a "day of Amaya" or have a big birthday party. Since she got to bring cupcakes to pre-K to celebrate and her babysitter had a little party for her, she opted for the day of Amaya. Which turned out to be one of my favorite days ever, probably because I just love days where we spend the whole day hanging out, having fun as a family. This was like an extra-special family fun day.
Of course the day started out with mommy and daddy doing our best rendition of the happy birthday song. Then it was off to IHOP for a big-smiley faced chocolate pancake. (Meals on "day-of-Amaya" were her choice, too). After breakfast, we took Amaya to have her 5-year pictures taken (not entirely her choice, but since it was only 9am and Build-A-Bear wasn't open yet she was cool with it). Next stop, B.O.B. Which was sooooo fun. I see why this place is so popular. Amaya selected a beautiful light brown bear, gave her fairy wand noises and a heartbeat, made wonderful wishes for her, bathed her squeeky clean, dressed her in a beautiful pink ensemble, and named her Lovie. After B.O.B. it was lunch time. Amaya selected Applebee's. After that it was off to Toys'r'us to get her "beautiful barbie." They didn't have her. So it was off to Target because that is where she saw her. She was referring to a "Dancing with the Stars" barbie. When we got to Target, she decided on a different toy anyway. I can't remember the name of it...it was a playset for those pop-able creature things. After that we drove to Buckeye to celebrate with Papa Jerry and Grandma Cindy. We opened presents, went to the Grazie' for dinner, and then did the whole birthday cake thing. On the drive to Buckeye, Amaya took a little snooze and Scott and I reminisced about her original birthday and the time that has transpired since. So fun. It was a wonderful day. Note: We did not go SCORPION hunting. We did that once and that was enough for me. Here are some pictures from the special day.