O's Birthday. Take 3. Rolling... and... ACTION!

With the camera still rolling on our not-so-baby girl, we ended her celebrations with a bang!  Celebrating with Pat's family began with Grandma's famous spaghetti and meatballs.  Yum!  Of course we had dessert too.  Olivia requested strawberry cake.  (Again.)  She wanted that for her birthday last year.  So, last year I made a "poke cake" with strawberry jello.  Very yummy!  This year my obsession with Pinterest came in handy and I found a new idea for a cupcake that had a brownie bottom, and strawberry cake layer on top of that.  Frosting topped it, and it was pink for Olivia of course.  Pat's mom also made a raspberry cheesecake that was WAY better than my cupcakes!

Henry couldn't be left out of the sweets!

Gifts were next.  From her Aunt Kari and Uncle Tom she was gifted a cute doll with outfits to change her into.  It's fun to see her getting more bigger girl gifts, but it's another reminder that she isn't so little anymore!  From Grandma and Papa, Olivia got a cute outfit and new leg warmers.  The also gave her a canopy for her bed.  She was excited to play under it where they had it temporarily set up for her to see it.  I'm not quite sure how she'll respond to it once it's up at home.  Will she get distracted by it and have a hard time falling asleep, tangled up in it, or maybe even be scared of it... We'll soon see.

Above two photos by Sophia Clark

The best part of this celebration was a visit to Grandma's work after dinner, dessert, and gifts. Mary works as an occupational therapist, and her work is filled with toys, games, and activities that work to strengthen kids' small and large motor skills. It was like visiting the biggest and best playroom ever! There was a trampoline, slide, climbing wall, ball pit, zip line, swings galore (and not the kind you'll find at a park, but a crazy assortment of all kinds), and a strage looking contraption that can only be discribed as streatchy blankets strung from the ceiling. You climb in and hang in them. I can't really use words to explain some things, so hopefully pictures will help...

This thing freaked me out a bit, but I had to try it, and it was so much fun!  I really would have loved Olivia to try it more.  We did get her in there with me for a bit, but she was a little scared by it.

Super Sam!

Of course our girl loved the giant chalkboard.

Henry even tried some things like the ball pit and trampoline.  Turns out he liked observing much more.  He loved watching his cousins and sister swing, and would giggle as they swung towards him.

Olivia could have played with the swings the whole time!

But Mary kind of entered "Occupational Therapist mode" and insisted that Olivia try more large motor things too.  She encouraged her with jumping off the ladder into a pile of pillows.

Olivia found it funny to throw the balls from the pit at me!

And as always, just spending time as a family was fun in itself!

This birthday celebration was sure filled with action!  I'm so thankful for this unique opportunity.  We all had a blast!  The fun didn't even end there, as Grandma and Papa loaded the kids into the van and took them to their place for a sleepover!  Olivia is still there now, and no doubt, is having even more fun making memories with her cousins!