Dorothy's 5th birthday: the Recap

I was SO PROUD of myself you guys for setting a sweet little birthday table that I took at least a thousand pictures.  Want to see just the best ones?  Well, okay, you twisted my arm.

 And then? I woke up this morning and added the cake and took EVEN MOAR PICTURES

 Dorothy was sleepy but thrilled to see it all. (So was Beatrix).

 The boys are always up for any excuse to wear a party hat.

 Look at all those candles!!

 I feel like she really grasped the gravity of turning FIVE WHOLE YEARS OLD.

 I made a 3-layer cake!  And I am just SO PROUD of myself.

 Jack was right there with her opening all of the gifts. It was seriously adorable.

 Cooper was absolutely everywhere always with a pink donut.  I think he ate 4?

 Oh, the anticipation.

 OH MY GOSH!

 THE GIRL OF THE YEAR?!

 HOW DID GRANDMA AND GRANDPA KNOW?!

 Seriously, everywhere.  Always with a donut.

 See how blurry Beatrix is?  That's fast than she usually moves ever.  She was hoping Cooper would set down his donut.

 PONIES?!

 I LOVE Jack's face here because he picked this pony out, and he was so excited to watch her open it

All of the boys chose this dress and shoes and bow-- how adorable are they?!

 When you're five you get cake AND ice cream AND donuts for breakfast, FYI.

 Cooper's little face here!  Also all 4 kids loved the paints and markers on the table.  It made me think about family dinners a bit-- I have a good idea and I'll keep you posted.

 She's so serious about her art.

 And then they vanished, leaving me to feel like the grandma in Brain Candy.

Ben picked her up from school and took her to McDonald's because she has been totally jonesing for a Happy Meal.  He offered Chuck E. Cheese, but all she wanted to do was go home and play with her new toys.

 And boy did she.  Also!  If you have a little kid into Calico Critters, I LOVE the Target brand Woodzeez EVEN MORE because the tiny little clever accessories are not quite as tiny as the CC brand.

 When the boys got home we surprised everyone with a trip to Chula Vista in the Dells.  Clearly they were thrilled.

We drove all the way there, changed into our swimsuits, and checked out our room (adequate, but not as nice as the Kalahari).

Then we braved the weird underground walkway from our room to the water park

It was about 5:30 when we finally got inside.  And Jack said, "Oh wow! Did you guy know this place closes at 7?"

Duuuuuuuuuude.  No.  We so didn't know that because we assumed it closed at like 10 because WHY WOULDN'T IT?!

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  We water parked the shit out of that place for 90 minutes.

And then we left our swim suits and cover ups in the hotel room and drove home to sleep in our own damn beds (because it didn't open again until 10:00 am and the kids wake up around, oh, SIX).

We were the first happy assholes at the arcade when it opened at 9:30.  Also, Dorothy calls it an arcave.

Turns out there are few things I find more adorable than how seriously children plan out their arcade ticket purchases.  Whoopee cushions, fans, and crappy candy for all!

Dorothy conquered her fear of large slides on this trip, and she tried and tried and tried until she could do the obstacle course pool on her own.  Hashtag growth mindset.

(I only have a picture of Cooper doing it because it was really hard to get pictures of anything at this water park, especially because I kept surreptitiously retrieving my phone because this place lacks indoor cabanas, which, major bummer)

Also, it was SO COLD in this place! I need my indoor water park to be AT LEAST 84 degrees and humid.

Cooper discovered that he LOVES water slides

 And so do Harry and Jack, of course (although they all stopped going down when the lifeguards thought a kid was stuck in the orange and black slide, because they never thought about the possibility of getting stuck before and I was like WELCOME TO MY WORLD).

You guys, they even got to eat Dippin' Dots, the ice cream of the past.

 HOW IS SHE FIVE YOU GUYS HOW!!??

Jack insisted we stop into one of the many, many candy store lining the main street of the adorable Dells, and he was right.

We avoided these, though, because seriously.