Elsa turns 7!

Elsa got to start her birthday bright and early with a trip to the dentist for a check-up. She actually likes going to the dentist and they gave her extra tokens for the prize machine since it was her birthday. We had a fun mother-daughter breakfast date at the Waffle House before I dropped her off at school.

This girls LOVES breakfast foods. Especially waffles and pancakes.

Elsa still loves nutella and requested crepes with nutella for dinner. She loved opening presents and got lots of fun gifts from family. She requested a strawberry nutella cake so I layered homemade chocolate cake with nutella, strawberries, and whipped cream. So yummy. Elsa is such a sweet girl and an excellent helper. She will always do whatever task I ask her to do and she's always concerned about others. She can easily play with any of her siblings and loves to take care of Oliver and Simon. We love our sweet Elsa girl.

Defy Gravity

It's been a few years since I've done a big friend party for any of the kids. I feel a little guilty, but also kind of happy that I've avoided it. I've never thought big friend parties need to happen every year, but we're probably due for one soon. Elsa was happy to keep things simple this year when I suggested she could choose a friend to bring to Defy Gravity, a trampoline park. I took the girls there after school the day before Elsa's birthday (Elsa brought her friend Brooke who lives next door and Amelia came too) and they had a great time. There were only a few other people there which was really nice. We went out to dinner at Chick-fil-A afterward and it made for a pretty fantastic evening.

durham birthday tour

The weather was gorgeous on my birthday so I took the boys and headed to Durham to check out some bakeries and Duke Gardens. We had lunch at Toast and it was delicious. We had a yummy panini and the most delicious roasted beet, citrus and goat cheese crostini, as well as a honey and goat cheese crostini. Ben was able to meet us at Duke Gardens and it was fun to see the blossoms starting to appear and watch the boys explore. We picked up donuts (my birthday cake) at Monuts and then stopped at Scratch Bakery and tried their tangerine meringue tart which was divine. When the girls got home from school we had donuts and then saw Big Hero 6 at the dollar theater. Ben spent most of his time wandering the theater hallways with Simon who is not ready to sit through a movie yet. We had dinner at Five Guys and then headed home to open presents. Kids always make birthdays more fun and exciting and I was happy to spend mine with my favorite people who always make me feel loved. Ben arranged for a babysitter the following night and we went out to dinner in downtown Raleigh and then saw the play "Peter and the Starcatcher" which was fun.