My newest 5 year old

OK, I'll admit, I'm a bad mother. Yesterday was Carolyn's 5th birthday and I was going to blog about it. I was even on the computer yesterday morning and thought "I should do a blog post" but did I?? Of course not. I'm really good at the should part of should do but when it comes to the do part I can get a little off task. That being said, I did not actually waste the day and do nothing.

After spending time on the computer I decided that what we needed to do to celebrate the day was go out and about. Carolyn had told me she wanted a unicorn for her birthday and of course that is something every 5 year old girl has to have (in my world at least) so failing to find the magical creature the night before--whole other story there--we set out to the one place I knew unicorns lived.....Toys R Us. Now I tend to avoid said store like a vampire avoids bright sunny days but Carolyn did not want to go to Target and I knew Wal-Mart did not have the item needed. Matthew had started a summer program this past week so it was just me Carolyn and Andrew. I'm not sure why but only taking two kids in a Toys R Us isn't quite as bad as taking three but maybe it's just me. Also, going to this store in the middle of the week during the late morning hours is a lot less chaotic than trying it on a weekend or during a shopping season. We had fun wandering the aisles and looking at toys. Carolyn did find her unicorn so "George" came home with us. After unicorn hunting it was time to head across the road and go play at the Mall play area. The kids like playing there but once again it is better to do midweek than weekend. Both kids enjoyed running around and jumping and playing with the other kids there. By then it was lunch time and I asked Carolyn if she wanted to get a birthday crown and of course she said yes. There is a Burger King in the mall but I really did not want to walk down and do the food court at lunch so I told Carolyn we would do the one outside the mall. My other reason for doing that one was due to the drive through option. One of my favorite tips for fast food restaurants, especially those with play areas or busy lunch lines is to first go through drive thru and get the food. Trust me, it is worth the extra step. You walk into the place with your food so all you have to do is find a spot to sit and presto, you are eating. After lunch was finished then it was over to the Hy-Vee next door to get the cake. My kids really like Hy-Vee cakes so they always get on on their birthday. I make a cake for them when we do the family party. The Hy-Vee I usually go to did not have the princess cake I wanted so I used a different one instead. As we were getting ready to pay for the cake the cashier saw that this was a birthday cake and he went and got a balloon for Carolyn. I love Hy-Vee. Bonus--fourteen cent per gallon gas discount.

All this activity had worn poor Andrew out and he was asleep before we made it home. The Birthday Fairy (hey, it got her to go to sleep the night before) had brought Carolyn a special coloring book and markers so she spent her time coloring. Hubby got off work early and picked Matthew up and came home so we could grill hamburgers and steak for supper. After supper came the cake and presents. Carolyn got some very nice clothes and a few toys... not too bad for a five year old. After that we got ready and headed off to class. The staff at the Wellness Center all wished Carolyn happy birthday and she got to pick a prize out of the birthday bucket. By the time we got home and ready for bed, Birthday Girl was tired.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart