Lyla's Fifth Birthday

Our Lyla is FIVE!  She's been looking forward to her birthday for weeks (maybe months), and lots of planning went into this celebration.  I've been a little worried about living up to the past precedent set for birthdays given having a newborn in the house and still getting my footing (and sleep!) back.  I think this year's festivities seemed to really work out in Lyla's favor, though, as we ended up having an entire week of birthday celebrations.

We started off last Saturday with Lyla's tea party with her friends.  We went to Tyme for Tea in Niles, and along with some of Lyla's friends and their moms, we had a Victorian Tea service (with some tailoring towards our younger guests).  A low-key tea party/lunch with just a few friends was the perfect amount of partying for both Lyla and I.

The next day we kept the party going by having cake and ice cream, along with presents at Maga and Paga's house.  Lyla requested a Barbie cake and theme for this year, and we were able to make some selections that she was happy with.  I love how pumped Lyla gets for her birthday, and she was more than ready for us to sing "Happy Birthday", to get a chance to blow out her birthday candles and make a wish, and get to opening all that wrapping paper.

For her actual birthday, we were running out of things to do!  Lyla got to set the menu for the day, along with going out for a special lunch with Maga.  We had a play date at the playground with some friends, and we even had time in the evening to get to try out the cotton candy machine that she had gotten for her birthday.

Lyla is still looking forward to continuing her birthday celebration by going out on a special date to have a fancy lunch and go see "Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream" at the Oracle Arena" in a few weeks.  Who doesn't love a birthday that just keeps on giving?!