Julia's Fourth Birthday

Julia's fourth birthday was on a Friday, so Aaron and I both had to work, but in the evening, we picked her up and took her out for dinner. Every year, we've let her pick the place, and she's become a bit more sophisticated with each year's choice. When she was two, she wanted McDonald's; when she was three, she wanted Cici's pizza; and this year, she wanted Sushi Train. We enjoyed a nice dinner there. I wish I'd gotten a photo of her wearing her birthday crown from school at Sushi Train because it was pretty darn cute. We told the server that it was Julia's birthday, so at the end of the meal, a group of servers came to sing Happy Birthday to her and brought her dessert sushi - rice crispy treats rolled up in fruit roll-up and sliced into "sushi" with gummy bears on top and a candle in the center. Julia looked embarrassed while they sang happy birthday to her. After the servers scattered, I turned to Julia and said, "Oh, Julia! That was so special, wasn't it?!" Julia said, "Yes... but it was also strange... and awkward." Ha! Four going on fourteen, I tell you!

After we finished dessert we went back to the house to give Julia her birthday gifts. We bought her a miraculous medal to match mine, which Julia was thrilled to receive. She'd lately been noticing mine a lot, holding it and asking me if she could have one too. The other gift we bought was a set of Disney Princess Barbies. Julia was completely enchanted with these. They were actually a great buy - we got them on sale at the Disney Store and they are easily the toys Julia has enjoyed most this year. She plays with them almost every day and has loved them well. 

Being goofy!

Julia by the front door... she's grown so much!

The next day, we had a birthday party for Julia at my parents' house. Julia's fourth birthday party was Disney themed. It was the least frills party I've thrown, but we still enjoyed good food and good company and had a wonderful time celebrating our girl. I shared a few photos already, but below enjoy the rest of the photos from that evening.

My parents bought Sofia tableware, a tablecloth, and a balloon, which Julia loved. They also had a rose for her, which she thought was pretty special :-)

The spread - which was super loosely Disney themed... haha! I had everyone guess the which movie each item was from. 

Toy Story "Pizza Planet" pizzas... haha!

"Try the gray stuff... it's delicious!" dip with chips. Olaf noses. Soda from Wall-E.

Snow white's apples.

Talk about a Pinterest fail! This cake was supposed to look like the cake that Fauna makes for Aurora's birthday in Sleeping Beauty

Magical, right?

Umm... yeah... about that. Julia thought it looked cool, though, so I guess that's what counts! Plus it tasted really yummy, so that counts too ;-)

Classic Stephen wrapping job... love it!

My grandmom made this quilt for Julia. Amazing, huh? Julia loves it.