Amalie turned 9!

 We started the funnest tradition this year of taking the birthday child out for a birthday lunch with only Mom and Dad.  We surprised Amalie and took her to a place called Schmidt's Pastry Cottage we had seen when we had been out and about on a date. Amalie loves bakeries and we thought she would really enjoy getting to have lunch and then choose some bakery treats!  She was an absolute dream to be with, she was so excited when we pulled up and told her what kind of place this was.  She was so grateful and excited for everything.  She even worried about us spending too much money on her, what a sweetheart!

We did something really fun for her actual birthday party.  This year, for the two older kids, we decided to do a birthday party budget of $25, and they would get to plan the party including the decorations, treats and games.  We also had a $25 budget for their birthday present and Amalie decided that in order to still have a decent budget for the party, she wanted her gift to be a big beautiful cake from Costco.  She is super into cakes and cupcakes and was so excited to order this cake.  I love the colors she picked for the roses.

She and her cousins, Kaitlyn and Derek (who were living with us at the time with their family) did a great job decorating while I picked up the cake.  It was adorable, and they planned out a whole cute little carnival thing with games and earning tickets and redeeming them for prizes.  The party was a big success with everyone having fun!  She did a much better job at planning it than I would have!