Happy 5th Birthday Alyvia!

Our baby girl is 5, it seems unbelievable.  How could this little baby

have gotten this big already?

And how did she come out with all of that dark hair?!  She was beautiful then and is now.  She is the prettiest, smartest and sassiest girl I know :)  She is a WONDERFUL big sister and has a very caring and sensitive heart.  She is the best girl we could have ever asked for and I hope she had a great 5th birthday!  We started celebrating on Wednesday after dance class.  Alan and I had told her for quite a while that she could get her ears pierced (or as Livi calls it, peered) when she turned 5.  So we took her to Claires on Wednesday evening and she did it!

She had to do one at a time because there was only 1 worker at the store.  After the 1st ear she said "I don't know if I can do this again" :)  But she did and it looks so cute!!

After the big event, we went to Osaka for dinner to celebrate-mmmmmmm.

On Thursday evening, Livi and Nana headed up to Chicago so we could go to American Girl on Friday.  Mommy had to work, so I met them at the hotel late Thursday night.  Friday morning we drove into the city and went to American Girl Place.

Kanani came with us and got her hair done at the doll salon

We ate lunch in the cafe with Kanani and her new friend Ruthie

Nana, Alyvia and her girls

It's such a fun tradition that we have started to celebrate Livi's birthday, I love going almost as much as she does!

On Saturday, her actual birthday, we finally had her birthday parties.  In the afternoon we had a birthday Luau for Livi's friends from preschool.  It was our first girls only (no mommies) party!  She was ready at 9 a.m.

...the party didn't start until 1 :)

When her friends finally arrived, the "Hawaii party" started!

We did some crafting first

and then the girls went outside to jump in the bounce house and beat the pinata!

They actually tore the pinata apart with their bare hands!

Then we went back inside for presents and cake!

After cake, the girls painted their nails and played.  I think it was a pretty successful party and I hope they all had fun! 

In the evening, our families and the Shane family came over for a birthday luau cookout!  We kept our party a little smaller this year and it turned out great!  I felt like we got to actually enjoy the party and talk with our families.

The kids got to destroy another pinata

 Colson and Brenner skipped the pinata and had fun driving around the yard together!

Cute Cowser boys!

The kids posed for some pictures before we got more cake and ice cream :)

Alyvia & Dylan Shane, birthday buddies

Rylie, Kinsley, Reagan, Alyvia, Dylan

We were EXHAUSTED by the end of the evening, but it was SO worth it.  I hope Alyvia had the happiest of birthdays that a 5 year old can have.  We love her so much and celebrate every day with her!