My apologies, dear readers and birthday girl, the month of August has apparently gone into turbo mode and we are nearing its end and I have yet to write up a blog post about our sweet girl turning 8 years old.
The night before her birthday, Annika was CONVINCED that she'd be too excited to sleep. Fortunately, she was incorrect and had no problems resting up for her big day. She rested up so much that Eric and I didn't see her until after we got home from work... it was so odd not to see her the morning of her birthday, but it seemed cruel to wake her up early just so we could say happy birthday.
The evening of her birthday, we had a little "Olson Four" celebration for her, which included Annika's chosen dinner (chicken pot pie) and dessert (grasshopper pie) ... notice a theme?? Our dining portion of the festivities were followed by the much-anticipated give portion of the evening. Conor gave her an over-sized stuffed unicorn that Annika named "Sparkle Horn" and quickly placed in the center of her stuffed animal affections. Eric and I gave her a Dash robot, which is a robot toy that helps kids learn a few programming basics. She is enamored with robots these days, so the gift was a hit. She can program it to follow paths that she sets up, make noises, change colors, etc.
Because Annika's birthday fell on a Thursday this week, we held off on having a party that included more than the four of us for a couple of days. The Saturday after her birthday, we invited the local extended family over for a BBQ lunch to celebrate Annika's birthday.
It was a lovely day filled with lots of laughter, wonderful company (Eric's parents, my mom, Uncle Troy, Auntie Staci, Ian, Kat, and Uncle Dave), and more food than we could possibly eat. Our little girl was showered with love and gifts ... truly a very good day in her eyes. She received safety equipment from Eric's mom/dad, a cook book and apron from my mom, a Pete the Cat book from my brother and his family, and best of all... big cousin Ian gave her all of his old Pokemon cards (130 in all). Without a doubt, the Pokemon cards was the best of the bunch in her eyes; before bed that night, she spent about an hour and a half organizing her new cards in her binder and taking the time to ohh and ahh over each card.
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Our nephew Ian put a spin on the antipasto plate by
adding little protesters... he never fails to amuse! |
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| The top of Annika's requested bunny cake |
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Side view - Didn't Eric do an amazing job???
(My contribution: The inside is a white cake with pink, purple, and teal polka dots) |
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| Cook book from Nana |
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| Book from the Nelsons |
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| Cousin Ian and goofy Conor |
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| Annika and her hand-me-down Pokemon cards |
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| Blowing out the candles (did I mention they were trick candles??) |
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| Modeling her new apron and safety equipment |
Thank you to everyone for making Annika's celebration so special. We are so grateful for the community that has rallied around us from the minute we told them that we were embarking on the roller coaster ride that is parenthood.
Happy 8th birthday, sweet Annika! We love you to the ends of the universe ... and back.
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