birthday plans

So, as you may already know, my Bluebird turns four on Wednesday.

It's been a little strange, planning her birthday this year. Every other birthday, our children have been surrounded by family. We were so blessed.

And now...

And now.

No family. No Davenports, even, or any friends for that matter.

So. What to do. What. To. Do.

Jonathan took the day off so he can spend it with us. We told Blue she could decide what she wanted to do for her birthday and then we gave her a ton of options: the zoo, the aquarium, the movies, the park...

She decided we should go to the zoo.

So to the zoo we will go.

She has a doctor's appointment (just her basic 4-year checkup) that morning so we will go after that. But I am glad Jonathan can come with us so he can meet the new pediatrician.

Then we will go to the zoo. I'm thinking of buying some face paint at the party store and painting their little faces. And she'll need a sparkly tiara and a ton of balloons so everyone at the zoo will know it is her big day. And we'll have a blast at the zoo--Blue can ride another pony, we can go on the carousel, feed the giraffes... It'll be a great day.

I bought a ton of Jasmine birthday stuff--which was next to impossible to find, but I managed because I rock. So we have a Jasmine cake topper. And on Tuesday she is going to help me bake her own birthday cake and decorate it and then we will stick Jasmine on top. So we'll have cake after the zoo and I bought Jasmine plates and napkins and two huge Jasmine wall decorations and princessy streamers and stuff to decorate the apartment for the caking and gifting ceremony.

The gifts were a little tricky, since we had planned on getting her a bicycle. But while we were picking out my bicycle, she would not try to ride one. She wanted to, but she kept chickening out as we tried to put her on one. So that was good to know! We will hold off until next year on the bicycle presentation. So, no bicycle this year. Which left us with no major present, but several minor ones. Some Jasmine jammies, a Jasmine and Aladdin doll set, a Jasmine puzzle and two different Jasmine costumes. It doesn't seem like much, seeing it typed out but she really doesn't care, I think. Every time I ask her what she wants for her birthday, she looks a little confused. Like, I want presents for my birthday; what do you mean?

So that is the birthday plan. And then after we stuff them with cake and ice cream and scrub the face paint off of them and put them both to bed (hopefully happy and exhausted) I will probably collapse onto my bed and bawl my eyes out because I miss our family and friends so much.