No way.... Madelyn's 5?!?!!

I can't belive that my girl is 5 years old. The years have gone by faster than... I can't think of anything fast enough. Madelyn has grown into a lovely, intelligent, beautiful girl. Ben and I had decided that we would give Madelyn the choice of birthday party or a dinner out and a big present from us. She chose the dinner out and present. Fortunately for Madelyn, though, the Como Park Carousel was running for free today. Como Park is an awesome place, truly. It has a zoo, a conservatory, an amusement park, a huge playground, mini-golf, a carousel, a golf course, and more. We met several of her friends (and their parent and siblings) and went to the zoo and the carousel. It was so much fun to see her interacting with them and she had a great time, except for 30 minutes where she was having a hard time holding it together. That 30 minutes reminded me of when she turned one and cried the WHOLE day. Her daycare teacher told us that she surmised, "It's her birthday and she'll cry if she wants to!" The cranky mood was broken by the two girls that are holding her hands below. I told them to hold her hands and make her laugh... and it worked! Even though it wasn't a party, just an outing, I brought cake and juiceboxes for everyone's snack. That doesn't make it a party, does it? Tonight we're going to Chuck E. Cheese's with one of her friends, who will then spend the night. I don't think I've been to Chuck E. Cheese's since I worked there in high school. I wonder if it's changed any.


The birthday balloon (a family tradition)


waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive


beautiful girls


playing in the zoo


Madelyn refused to be in this pic... it is a great pic of several of her friends though.


The girls that cheered up Madelyn


On the carousel


Snack time


Happy 5th Birthday, Madelyn!