Somebody is turning five this week!

Ever since we told Olivia a week or so ago that her birthday was coming up, she's been very excited. When she talks about it, she gets giddy, talking a mile a minute about how she's now going to have a surprise party in the basement, remembering Emily's after-school gathering in December. We'd debated how much of a big deal to make of her birthday, knowing that this will likely be the first time her birthday has been acknowledged. In the end, we decided not the up the ante if she's expecting/hoping for a little basement surprise. Like her sister, she'll also have a weekend party with (mostly adult) relatives, but we decided not to set a precedent with an expensive kiddy party. Yesterday, however, she attended her first Chuck E. Cheese party and I was curious to see if her expectations had changed... Fortunately, today she is still rambling about the good 'ole basement surprise and the pink cake we're going to make together :) I caught some of her excitement in this video clip.

I'm also posting some pix of our little camp out in the basement. We recently had a four day weekend and just for fun, I asked the girls if they wanted to have a family slumber party/camp out in the basement--the girls slept in a tent while we slept on the pull-out couch. I'm always amazed by how such simple things can get them so excited. It was a hit (with them, not my back!) so we slept down there two nights in a row :) I'm also posting some pix of our little warm blooded girl who prefers to strip off the clothes I pick out in favor of a swimming suit...