Our precious Hamish-girl is One Whole Hand! Can you believe it? We can not. Instead of a party this year, we had a Family Birthday Day, the weekend before the actual birthday, full of all the things she loves with one special friend--P, of course. Hamish got to pick most of the activities, with a couple of surprises thrown in for extra fun.

First up, pedicures and donuts!


Nothing quite like starting the day with flowers on your toes, pink frosting, and sprinkles!

From there, we headed to ClimbNashville, the birthday girl's request. She really wanted manicures AND pedicures AND ClimbNashville. But I talked her out of manicures. The pedicures survived inside shoes and socks. The manicures wouldn't have!



It was P's first real time climbing. She'd been before, but hadn't made much progress climbing. I was so proud of Hamish's encouraging spirit. She loves to climb, but she wanted to make sure P was having fun too. They had plenty of fun climbing as well has hanging and being silly.


P's little sister and babysitter were with us, so lots of fun was had by all. The Manimal is still uninterested in actually climbing, but he loves D. And Kyle brought snacks, which is always the best part. He and Kyle even did some sit ups.

 

After we'd had our fill of climbing, we went to Bobbie's Dairy Dip for lunch. Everyone had as much french fries as they could handle.

 

After lunch, P and fam headed home. We wanted to sneak in one more family favorite before a little birthday rest time, so we headed to the creek at Belle Meade Plantation for a quick dip. Hamish actually had a bathing suit in the car. The Manimal was without his "babing suit" though, so he played in shorts until he soaked them. Then he went classy with just a diaper.


We love a creek, and this one is great. Nice bathrooms nearby. Shade. Easy parking. It's lovely!


From the creek, we went home for a little afternoon rest. After that morning, everyone was happy to snooze just a bit. Then it was off to the Half Family Surprise Birthday Dinner. Kyle gave Hamish some clues:

1. It'll be kind of like Ecuador.
2. It's going to be fun.

Hamish was indignant: "But everything you do is fun! That's not a clue!"

The Rainforest Cafe, with its animatronic animals and simulated rain storm, was a HUGE hit.



We ended our night with a chocolate volcano cake.

On the morning of her actual birthday, a school day, we still celebrated with breakfast cake and presents.Nana watched the kitchen floor celebrations via FaceTime.


The birthday girl got a bike, a grown up Bible, a pink parasol, dress up clothes and more books.

And birthday cake for breakfast. Happy, happy 5, sweet girl!