This was Noelle’s family birthday year, and we had so much fun celebrating her!  We started out getting mani/pedis together.  She was in spa day heaven!  Then, she wanted a date with Mike and me, so that’s what she got!  She looked so classy in her Oscar de la Renta dress!

Noelle did an awesome job in AR (Accelerated Reader) this year!  She reads a lot and ended the year with 109 points!  We never have to make her read or worry about her making her points each 6 weeks.  She’s an amazing student!

 

We are so proud of Noelle and love her so very much!  I hope she remembers this night in particular as one of her favorite child-hood memories.  We had a blast! 

 

First, we had dinner at The Magic Time Machine.  This place is crazy, goofy, and so much fun for kids!  They encourage you to explore the restaurant in between courses and even give the kids an autograph book for the waiters to sign who are dressed up as characters.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it smells kind of musty and feels a little old, but the charm and playful atmosphere make up for it!

Every meal comes with a trip to the salad car.  We started our dinner here.

After our salad, we couldn’t wait to go explore!  There are so many different themed booths, but we only took a picture of a few.  This one was for Valentine’s Day.

Everywhere we turned, there was some little detail.  These crayon stars were on the ceiling in a random hallway.  Our waiter says he notices new things he’s never seen before every night he works.  I’m a very detail-oriented person.  Most of the time, it’s not fun because I notice imperfections that don’t bother anyone else, but in places like this and Disney, it’s a huge advantage because I get to enjoy more!

 

Here was the Halloween booth and Charlie Brown section.  Then, we moved on to the circus themed room.  The booths in this room were part of a carousel.

Here is a spaceship booth along with a Mexican fiesta booth.  So random and fun!  You can see how this is a kid’s dream restaurant!  And it isn’t frowned upon to get up and walk around, which is so nice when you have curious little ones!

 

This hallway was super odd and fun.

 

They took our picture at the beginning of the meal, and then at the end, they brought it to us to see if we’d like to purchase it, and when I opened the envelope, this is what we saw!  Lol!  Noelle loved it, and it topped off a super fun dinner with the birthday girl!  If you haven’t been to The Magic Time Machine, or have just forgotten about it, you should go!  We give it a thumbs up!

 

The next stop on our birthday date night was for dessert at Five Sixty, in Reunion Tower.  Mike proposed to me here 13 years ago, and this was our first time back.  Noelle was so excited riding the glass elevator to the top of the ball to the restaurant! 

Our beautiful birthday girl right before we sang happy birthday to her.

Our booth was a semicircle facing the window.  The view was incredible!  For those of you who aren’t locals, the restaurant seating rotates around the tower providing a 360 degree view of the city every hour.  It was so beautifully peaceful.  You really feel alive up here.

Noelle fell asleep in my lap after such an exciting day, and then the couple to our left got engaged right in front of us while we were reminiscing!  We were all clapping and whistling.  It was such a special way to end our night.  Mike had to hold Noelle on the way to the elevator, and it just reminded us of how quickly time flies.  So thankful she gets to be little for just a little bit longer!

Her birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, and since she has art class on Tuesday evenings, we went to her favorite restaurant, Cheesecake Factory, on Monday night. 

She wanted to try the red velvet cheesecake and said it was her favorite flavor so far!  She is an amazing big sister and always takes such good care of Anna Kate and Rose! 

 

On Tuesday after school, Malia’s mom, Susie, surprised Noelle with a homemade lemonade birthday cake.  The girls got to put on the candles all by themselves and have a piece of cake for their after school snack, so everyone was happy as could be.  This is what birthdays are all about!  Noelle felt so special!

I did the art class car-pool on the night of Noelle’s birthday, so we stopped by for froyo on the way home from class for one last hoorah.  Anna Kate, Ava, Emily, Brianna and Rose had a blast wishing Noelle one last happy birthday for this year! 

I’m thankful we haven’t reached double digits quite yet.  I keep telling her to stop growing up so fast, but she’s not listening.    Love you, Noelle!  We’re having so much fun being your parents and sharing our lives with you.  It’s never boring and always highly entertaining.  You’ve got such a bright future, and we look forward to loving and encouraging you every step of the way.  Happy 9th Noelle!!!