Ali's Fifth Birthday

It's hard to believe but two days ago, my baby girl turned 5!!! The old adage "it seems like yesterday" - well it really does seem like yesterday that she was born. My baby girl is turning into a beautiful, smart, compassionate and funny young girl, whose warm spirit and gorgeous smile light up the world! Ali, I am so proud of you and everything that you do. The world (or at least my world) has been a much better place the last five years, since you have been in it!




We had a great day. Ali's class has a very special routine for birthdays. The birthday girl's mom or dad comes in to read a book to the class during morning meeting. Ali has been reading Madeline a lot so I was surprised when she chose a Henry and Mudge book as her birthday read, but she loves H&M as well!






Then, in the afternoon, the mom or dad comes back with cookies for the class, and each girl gets to ask the birthday girl a question, as well as the teachers. Then, it's time for afternoon meeting, and the girl sits in a teacher's lap (Mrs. Lewis) while the teacher reads all of the cards made by the other girls during "directed learning" during which period the birthday girl is excused from work for the morning and gets to play (a huge deal). Each card is unique and beautiful.

After that, I took Ali to the Devon Horse Show and Fair, where we watched dressage, went on rides and played games (she hit a balloon with a dart and won a big prize (I and the other adults around weren't so successful!)).






We then had dinner at Margaret Kho's, her favorite Chinese and Japanese restaurant in Wayne (one floor is Chinese and Japanese is upstairs) - she chose the upstairs so she could walk up the stairs by the two story high indoor waterfall (a favorite of hers and a friend who goes by the initials CJ), finished off by a chocolate cake from her favorite bakery across the street.

What a magical birthday for my beautiful princess!