It’s official: as of Friday, Juliette is FIVE. And my head is still spinning. Not just because I can’t figure out how the past half-decade has flown by so quickly, but also because we partied hard for two straight days and I’m still exhausted.
I awoke Friday morning to the tap-tap of Juliette’s finger on my arm and the whisper of her voice: Is it my birthday now? Can I open my presents? I asked her to give me a few minutes to get things ready and then called her out to our balloon-strewn, gift-laden living room. She got right to business.
I asked Juliette several times what she wanted for her birthday, and it was always “fancy clothes”. So I went with it – frilly skirts and sparkly headbands and a gold donut purse.
And, though we’ve resisted the princess craze to-date, I gave in and bought her the Elena dress she’s been drooling over since the Halloween costumes hit Costco last month. Juliette pulled it out of the box and exclaimed, “This is exactly what I wanted!!!” Shane raised his eyebrows, clearly wondering “Are we really doing this?”, but I reminded him that this is just a phase. We’ll indulge her, maybe removing some of the allure, and then she’ll get over it.
Shane took the morning off, so after gifts were opened we grabbed breakfast together at Admiral Bird. I was able to wrangle Juliette out of the princess dress, but the tiara stayed firmly ON.
After waffles, Shane headed into the office and Juliette and I headed out for a surprise adventure: we were Fair-bound!
The Washington State Fair comes to Puyallup every summer and a piece of me has always wanted to go, mostly out of curiosity. Is it as fun as the commercials make it look? Or is it a sad, run-down relic of the olden days, when Fairs were really a thing?
Turns out, mostly the former. At least for a five year old! Merry-go-rounds and saltwater taffy and tractors, oh my!
We spent a long, long time with the animals, looking at horses and petting goats and sitting down for a dog show when our feet needed a rest.
Juliette begged to go on a pony ride, and while I tried to convince her to hold out for a more legit horseback experience at one of the riding trails near Seattle, she could not be swayed. So I ponied up ten bucks for the birthday girl.
She was ecstatic afterwards. Did you see me, Mama? Can we get a horse?
I had a handful of ride tickets left, so we hit the roller coaster, which was probably as thrilling for me as it was for Juliette. This kid wears me out, but gosh, in so many ways she makes me feel so exuberantly young.
And then I let her hop on the flying elephant, because, FIVE.
We breezed past the llamas, grabbed a swirl cone, and then called it day. We were both dragging our feet by the time we reached the car.
But really, the birthday festivities were only beginning! We dined that night at Chez Rust and raised our glasses to Miss Jules…
And then headed out for a night at the theater. A kind friend had offered us tickets to the Seattle Children’s Theater’s production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and I couldn’t turn them down. We’ve been reading Eric Carle books to Juliette since she was just a few weeks old and I was eager to see the animals come to life. The entire thing was magical – I got a little teary-eyed over their enactment of 10 Little Rubber Ducks – I’ve probably read that book to Juliette a hundred times, and the puppets and music were just so achingly beautiful. They didn’t allow pictures during the play, which is just as well – I want to seal away in my memory the rapt look on Juliette’s face, the way she whisper-gasped, “It’s so, so beautiful, Mama!” when the butterfly emerged from the cocoon.
Saturday was party-day, and we went…big. Bounce house big.
Turns out a 15′ x 15′ castle fits quite nicely in our backyard!
Since Juliette is so into dressing up these days, I told her buddies to come a little fancy, in a favorite hat or an old Halloween costume or whatever their little hearts desired.
I had extra super-hero masks and plenty of rhinestone stickers on-hand, in case anyone left their accessories at home.
Happy Birthday, sweet girl…
Juliette scarfed down her cupcake in about 15 seconds flat, because…
The bounce house beckoned!
She jumped for hours. Literally. It took a candy-filled unicorn piñata to lure her back out.
It was pretty cute, watching the younger kids take their swats.
But I called on the Rust boys when we were ready to crack that puppy open.
Get it, Gryff!
And…mayhem.
The guests trickled out after lunch and then Juliette called for a quick wardrobe change. She posed for a few pics with her best bud…
And then gave him a very Prom Queen-ish wave good-bye.
After all the kids had left we found ourselves with two hours left on our bounce house rental, so we kept the party going.
I tried cleaning up inside, but kept finding myself drawn out back by the sound of Juliette’s hysterical laughter.
I mean, I just couldn’t resist.
Though Juliette was quite disappointed to see the bounce house guy show up to deflate her magic castle, Shane and I were overwhelmingly relieved. This girl’s energy is absolutely boundless (ours is not!).
Juliette opened her party gifts on Sunday, and…it’s possible that she might not grow out of this princess phase as soon I imagined.
New rule:Â Let It Go may be played in the Schnell household once. per. day.
But giggle it up all you want, Jules. Your laughter is my favorite sound in all the earth.
The past few days have been full of, Look what I can do now that I’m five! Do I look taller since I’m five? Do you think I’m reading so good now because I’m five?Â
Yes, baby girl, all of it, yes. You are so wonderfully grown-up and lovely and smart. Let’s rock FIVE.
