Gracie's 4th Birthday

Every year Steve gets excited to make Gracie's birthday cake. Last year we whipped up an awesome aquarium cake for her "Under the Sea" birthday party, and the year before she got a hand-crafted Elmo. This year she requested a princess-worthy castle, so we broke out the cake mix, let her pick out her candy decorations, and got to work.

Steve quickly took control of the creative process, as he is the resident cake-maker around here. During med school applications he told me that if he didn't get in to med school, he would consider opening a bakery as a secondary... or tertiary... option for a lifetime vocation. We still make cakes out of a box, but I think he would have enjoyed culinary school. :)

Moved out to the living room to watch Top Chef while he constructed.

Gracie's choice of candies: Skittles, m&ms, peach rings, and gummy Lifesavers.

I got to do the candy decor, while Steve did frosting and major construction.

Including these fantastic turrets! He cleverly attached sprinkles to them be spritzing them with water--which made the cones a little sticky so the sprinkles stuck to them. Doesn't it look awesome?

When my big girl woke up she got a fancy princess hat to wear for breakfast time, and of course she chose a delicious sugar cereal (Trix) which she thought was the BEST because usually she only gets sugar cereal on Saturdays. Birthdays are the best.

She got lots of phone calls and in-person birthday wishes all day. To each one she would respond happily, "Happy Birthday!" and the person's name. Like when my parents called her, she said, "Happy Birthday, Grandpa!" as one might return a "Merry Christmas." :)

Basically I gave her a ton of sugar. She had grapes and rolls and cheese for lunch, with chocolate milk(!) on the side, and after nap I made her a super special snack--graham crackers with pink frosting. Yum.

We had a church party to go to that evening, so we took Gracie's cake along (she had her birthday party in May before all her friends moved). She sat beside he cake and started at it for twenty minutes, admiring and deciding which part she wanted to eat.

It was way past bedtime when we got home, so we put Charlie to bed and let Gracie attack her presents, as elephant, her favorite and most beloved stuffed animal/friend, looked on from the couch.

Rapunzel was the theme of the evening, with a Rapunzel wedding dress...

and a Rapunzel Barbie (her first ever Barbie, too.)

It feels like just days ago that we were driving a tiny bundle of baby Gracie home from the hospital (feeling suddenly SO vulnerable in our little silver Civic with that cute thing buckled in the backseat!) and she has grown into such a lovely, thoughtful, funny girl, who is so excited to be four!