Party for Mad Dog

Yesterday we celebrated Maddux all day; I'm sure she'd have it no other way! We woke up and let her pick her clothes for church: her red, white & blue tutu (that she's worn every year, including her first birthday, by the way), a blue shirt, some fancy sandals, and various necklaces and hairpieces. We had breakfast, followed by Maddux opening a gift from Eli. He had picked out a special "Olivia" play set which she loved. Lehr was teaching her class at church, and she enjoyed the possibility that it could have been in her honor. We then went home for a quick lunch, after which Maddux opened her gifts from us and the grandparents. We got Maddux a PaperJamz guitar, which plays "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (one of Mad Dog's favorite songs), a book, and a small purse with a few dress-up accessories.

Given the potential for rain, we opted to move her 'party' to mid-afternoon instead of dinner time. Each of the four years Maddux has celebrated a birthday, we have kept things pretty low-key, holding a small celebration in the yard or at the pool. This year we went with the pool theme, as it was too hot to do anything other than be in the water. A few neighborhood friends and D came to share in the festivities with her. She had a blast jumping off of the diving board with everyone, mixed with hanging out with other friends who just happened to be at the pool. At some point we pulled the food out and Maddux ended up grazing the rest of the afternoon. Even when her friends were in the pool, she'd randomly end up sitting in a chair with a cup of fruit. The cake was the highlight for her, of course. Eli and I had picked out a Hello Kitty cake mold about a month ago. (And then Lehr and I stayed up until midnight the night before making and decorating it). We used strawberry cake to make the inside pink for Maddux. She chose to blow out her four candles one at a time...way to milk every second out of it!

The pool party wrapped up around 6; we went home to change and grab a quick bite before we did some fireworks in our driveway. We knew it would be too late after Independence Day fireworks to shoot our own off, so we decided to combine them into Maddux's celebration. The kids loved them, though Mad Dog did go stand near the garage a few times (we were up at the top of the driveway so we could use the cul-de-sac for the TNT), just in case it was too loud.

A very fun day, filled with Maddux telling everyone "I'm four now" while holding up her four fingers. Life is good.