Sweet & Six

I say it every year, but it's so hard to believe we have two six year olds!  And I'm so behind on updating that I'm a few days away from E&S turning SEVEN.  Last year we had so much fun celebrating them.  They were in the midst of having a great Kindergarten year, and we were at the cusp of grown ups getting vaccinated.  It's so hard to believe this was ANOTHER birthday in a pandemic.  When they turned five, we thought we were in the midst of "stay home for two weeks to flatten the curve".  Boy were we wrong!  So, we decided to have a small celebration on their actual birthday, and pushed off their party for warmer weather + full vaccinations for those of us who decided to get it. 

But anyway, back to them. Our theme was "six and sweet" because despite them being a little overwhelming at times, they really are the sweetest.  And especially with each other - they get along SO well, and whenever they do disagree, it doesn't last long at all.  They light up our world, and we truly couldn't imagine what our lives would look like without them.  We blinked and here we are - two six year olds already!  Happy Birthday sweet girls, we are honored to have front row seats to watching you grow up.

bunnies getting ready to shop

One of my most favorite activities - taking each of them to shop for gifts for each other.

one of their favorite stores - Target :)

Sydney working hard on her card for Ella

Ella's card for Sydney... peep that Ella underlined "th" in birthday because they learned in Kindergarten to underline the digraph.

Exactly what Ella and Sydney are - six and SWEET! We just love them to pieces

Ella one last time as a five year old

and Sydney just a few hours before she turns six

time for a birthday breakfast!

coming out for a fun birthday surprise

Since COVID has really put a damper on so many things, we asked their teacher if we could do an Easter egg hunt for their special day.  She told us they usually do one anyway, so she made sure to have it on their birthday!  It was fun for them to be outside with both of their classes.

we also picked up cupcakes to take to school to enjoy!

we also put the birthday sign in Abby's yard because she shares a special day with the girls!

Opening up gifts... they really love giving each other gifts.

I love their anticipation for each other.... everyone else's gifts are like chopped liver ;)

Ella kept asking for a stuffed animal snake.... so she gets a stuffed animal snake

and Sydney wanted a stuffed penguin!

we invited all the grandparents to join us for a hibachi dinner

after hibachi we came home for ice cream sundaes

I always ask them if they want 1) to have a birthday song together or separate and 2) pick out your own candles.  Sydney wanted 6 candles and Ella wanted the number 6 - oh, and they picked separate songs!

Then after a few weeks (and a delay due to rain), we had a backyard Candyland party for our two sweet six year olds.

They created their own birthday signs for the birthday mantle

since they LOVE to take big long baths, we had candyland bath bombs made for decorations

They had so much fun playing an outdoor Candyland with their cousins (they even helped Daddy make each board piece).

We had such a fun afternoon of playing outside and celebrating our girls with a backyard cookout.

As part of their party, they sweetly collected stuffed animals to donate to the police station.  Look at this big haul!

And then lastly... a six year old check-up!

We aren't allowed in the waiting rooms of doctors' offices right now.... so we play in the car until its our turn.

our favorite pediatrician, Dr Bourassa, giving us a clean bill of health! we don't take for granted that they are happy and healthy