Kendyl's 6th B-day

Yay! Kendyl is SIX. My, how the time flies...

This is the first year that we haven't done a full blown party. We decided it was time to stop the precedent of a huge party every single year. I thought she might be upset, but as her birthday came and went she didn't even really mention it.

We got a huge snowstorm the night before Kendyl's birthday, the night before her special treat day at school. We purchased Eagle's cookies (Kendyl's favorites) and were all ready to take them to share. Mother Nature had other plans and school got canceled. Oh well, surely we can find something to do with 24 delicious cookies, right?

We were already scheduled to meet the Moore's for a birthday dinner, but I decided to surprise Kendyl with a trip to Kingdom of Bounce AND with her best buddy, Madison! I picked up Madison, swung through McDonald's, grabbed the birthday girl and her sister, and we were on our way! The kids had a total blast. The place wore them out for sure, but it was nothing but giggles the whole two hours we played!

They must have gone down this slide at least 100 times!

There were 5 or 6 other bounce attractions that they played on too, but the huge slide was a fan favorite. We called it quits and headed home to finally let Kendyl open her presents. She seemed happy with her IPod dock, crafts, new game, and lava lamp that had been opened the night before.

Here she is posing with her unopened gifts.

Here's Lauryl making certain not to miss a shot!

and Madison helping the Birthday girl read her cards (sooo cute watching them sound them out!)

That evening we headed to Red Bird (aka Red Robin) for a b-day dinner with the Moore's. The waitstaff sang happy birthday and our nice waitress brought out sundaes for all 4 children alleviating any potential issues:-)

The next day we were set for Kendyl's party with our immediate families. Rob and KB played in the snow some and the girls played while I cleaned and prepared for our visitors. Earlier in the day Kendyl mentioned her ear hurting in passing, but I thought she meant the outer part and after I looked at it she brushed it off. Exactly 1 hour before her party she started bawling say how bad it hurt. I called the nearest Urgent Care centers and sent she and Rob to the one with no wait. Confirmed ear infection. So weird. Can't say our kids have ever had an ear infection without a fever.

I went ahead and ordered pizzas and we ate while we waited for them to get home. Felt weird eating without her, but she had been adamant that we were NOT to call off the party!

Here she is with her stripped cake, as requested! I was sooo excited with how cute it turned out! You can tell in her eyes that she's not feeling all that great.

She made it through the celebration only to crumple in ear pain after everyone left. Not the best b-day party you could ask for, but at least she was okay during it. She's always excited to see her grandparents, cousins, aunt, uncle and Mindi!

Fortunately she woke up feeling good on Sunday and we were able to take her to Spaghetti Warehouse as she had wanted to see our summer nanny, Amy. We had a ton of cake, cookies, and ice cream left at home but that didn't stop Amy from gathering her co-workers and singing Kendyl a proper Happy Birthday. It was a nice end to a jam-packed birthday weekend!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart, we love you!