Rylee's 5th Birthday

All summer long we had planned to go to Silverwood (an amusement park in Idaho)--Kailen had a free ticket for reading 10 hours. Well, our summer was so busy that we didn't make it, so we thought we would go for Rylee's birthday and invite the Hoxie's and make a weekend of it. However, typical, unpredictable Montana weather didn't cooperate. We went from summer to winter this year without a fall. It was pretty cold during the month of October and would not have been fun to be riding roller coasters in 40 degree weather.

So, I had to come up with another plan quickly. Luckily, Rylee didn't really have her heart set on anything. We decided just to have the Hoxie's and the grandparents over for dinner, presents, and cake. With the sudden change in plans, I didn't even have time to make Rylee a cake this year. I thought--she will get a thrill out of picking out her own cake because she always marvels over the cakes at the grocery store and Dairy Queen. An ice cream cake sounded really good, so we went to DQ to pick one out. Since it was last minute, we couldn't get a custom cake, so we had to choose from the cakes that were already made--and, they were not fancy enough for her. So, we headed to the grocery store where she proceeded to pick out a "lovely" (sarcastic) red rose cake. All that mattered is that she finally got her store-bought cake. It is funny because usually we spend hours and many frustrations making a great looking, great tasting cake--and my daughters think the store bought cakes are beautiful! Maybe one day they will look back at their cakes that we made and be appreciative. Here are a few pictures to capture the memory.

Rylee got a sleep-over kit from the Hoxies--complete with a wig, sunglasses and a microphone!

For months Rylee was requesting a music box--guess what she got!

Here is the big moment--the lovely cake and singing!

As parents, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make out child's birthday fun and memorable which translates to big parties with lots of people, presents, and beautiful cakes--honestly, Rylee had a great time and never complained once about not having a big party--something to take note of in the future.