Erin's Eighth Birthday

On Saturday, Erin turned eight! I got up that morning and she and I went to Starbucks for a treat. Erin really likes Starbucks, but doesn't often get anything from there so it was quite a treat. She chose a cream cheese danish (my personal favorite) and an Izze juice drink. When we got back from Starbucks, Erin opened her presents from us.













After she had opened all of her presents, this was her favorite.













Erin told Jeff that she wanted a Starbucks bear. She insisted that they had them in the stores, but we did not find any. Jeff checked online and found that a lot of people have bought them as collector's items and are selling them for exorbitant sums. He happened upon one lady who had a set of bears from Valentine's Day and was selling them for about what they would cost at the store. Obviously, Jeff got them and Erin was thrilled!













Here is a shot of all of Erin's pink loot.













Erin is most definitely our "girly-girl." Whenever I ask Sarah if something pink belongs to her or Erin, she reminds me, "Mom, Erin is your girly-girl, I am your tomboy." So when Jeff asked Erin what she wanted for her birthday, she announced "pink stuff." Well, pink she got! Here is the birthday girl wearing her new, favorite necklace.



















After she opened all her gifts and we played a couple hands of go fish with her new pink playing cards, we went to the Build-a-Bear Workshop. I checked my email Saturday morning and found that Erin's bear, Purple, also had a birthday, and her gift was a $5 accessory coupon. So Purple went to the store and got 2 new pairs of socks.
Next, it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's for gift opening, round 2. Notice all the pink again?


























See the cute pinata? Not for long...



















We were going to hang the thing in our backyard in the newly cleared area, but the kids had other ideas...













Kyle demonstrates pinata hat fashion...



















...and Sarah demonstrates her boxing skills with pinata donkey legs.



















After opening her gifts at Grandma's, we went out for birthday dinner at Castaways.














Here's the back of the restaurant. We were on the deck, right near the water.













Looking out over the water. It was one of those sort of hazy days, but it was really bright. There was a lot of activity on the lake, so the scene was constantly changing, and the breeze was wonderful.


























Nice face Erin!













When we got back from Castaways, it was time for cake. Erin's pretty pink cake with a bear, like she asked for.














Here is Erin stuffing her face with cake.














By the time we had finished the cake, we were exhausted. Both girls spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's, per Erin's request. Erin seems to have had a good time. One birthday down, 4 more to go...