Birthday Girl

Caitlyn turned eight this week, just days before heading back to school. She had a sleepover with two neighbor friends and two school friends the night before her birthday. It was the first friend sleepover for a couple of the girls, but everyone did very well.  The next day, I took them all out to a fancy lunch at the Tea Room, where they had finger-sandwiches and decorated cupcakes.

Caitlyn got a number of gifts just perfect for her - she loves to draw, color and write, likes to play with Barbies and Polly Pockets, and loves jewelry and fancy hair bows. She was excited to put on her sparkly dress and shoes to go to lunch. With some of her birthday money, she picked out a beautiful Merida doll, from the movie Brave.
So I had to laugh when Caitlyn opened up the gift from one of her neighborhood friends. The girl's mother, who has one daughter and three younger sons, had mentioned to me before what my girls REALLY wanted to play with when they came over to her house. She got Caitlyn a Nerf gun for her birthday. So far, it's definitely been the birthday gift in highest demand at our house.  =)