Lucy's 4th Birthday

The girl was so incredibly excited to have a birthday and turn four. We've been counting down the days to her birthday for a few weeks. Most of her friends have already turned four, so she's gone to their parties and celebrated with them, and stored away all their ideas on how to celebrate. She just could not decide on a theme this year, so all of her favorite things got lumped together and we decided to jam it all into one day.

We got her three bouquets of flowers (lilies, daisies, and sunflowers) and put them in her room to surprise her when she woke up. She came running into our room after she woke up and yelled, "I'm FOUR!" We took her back in her room so she could have breakfast in bed, which consisted of a Bagelful (her new favorite), two Tinker Bell vitamins, and chocolate milk. We sat and chatted with her while she ate. The boys were still asleep, so it was just Lucy, me, and Dave. She looked at us and said, "I love the lilies and I've always wanted my own sunflowers." We didn't mention the names of the flowers, she just knew them. Then she opened her new clock (just as much of a present for us as for her, so she'll stay in her room) and yelled, "A digital clock!" She did call it a digital clock, no joke. We don't call them digital clocks, but apparently she knows. Then she talked about going to the dinosaur trail and explained to Dave that "The dinosaurs are extinct and that means they aren't around anymore." Sometimes, she seems like she's 12, not four.

After breakfast all the kids got baths, we opened more presents, and we were out the door by 8:35 to go to the museum. We got to hear all the speeches and see the ribbon cutting, which was definitely not intentional. We're members of the museum, so we thought going early and beating the general admission people would be to our advantage, not so much. The kids loved the dinosaurs, it was pretty packed, so we moved through the exhibit rather quickly. We saw the bears and the lemurs and then went home. The kids had lunch and great naps.

Mama and Papa McKay were here by the time Lucy woke up from her nap. She opened presents with them and had to have another wardrobe change into her Cinderella costume for the tea party and birthday cake eating portion of her day. My parents and our neighbors came over for the party. For the tea party, I made scones (blueberry, cranberry, and chocolate chip), Devonshire cream, cucumber sandwiches, roasted red pepper sandwiches, and had some grapes, too. Then we had a Barbie/Aurora birthday cake with birthday cake ice cream. I had to pop the legs off of Aurora to fit in the cake. Thank goodness Lucy didn't find out!

Then, yes there is more to this birthday extravaganza, we changed AGAIN to go to the Durham Bulls game. The Bulls were playing the Orioles AAA team, so we had to go. Dave, his dad, and Gus were actually supposed to see the same two teams play each other in April for Gus' first baseball game, but I went into labor and we had Judson instead. My parents, Dave's parents, and all five of us in Club McKay (Lucy and Gus said we could be in their club, too) loaded up and went to the game. The kids met Diego, Wool E. Bull, and the Blue Monster. They had a rainbow slushie and a hot dog. Seriously, they go for the food and meeting the characters. Judson just spits up and makes faces. This time we lasted until the seventh inning stretch. We had a great day. It was absolutely exhausting, but so much fun! The kids got another bath and were in bed by 10:30.

Words cannot describe how much we love our little Lucy LaRue. She is so sweet, kind, smart, funny, and witty. I love watching her develop and seeing her personality unfold. I often think about what she'll be when she grows up. Mainly, because she wonders aloud about the same thing nearly every day. I doubt she'll study elephants, play soccer, and have tea at UNC, but who knows. That wouldn't be a bad gig. I love that God has given us a front-row seat in watching her come into her own. I couldn't ask for a more perfect little girl to have in my life.