This post is insanely long because the celebration of Aubrey Ruth turning six reached ludicrous levels. I've never known a birthday to drag out as long as this girl's, and the ironic part is that there wasn't even an "actual" party!
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As Aubrey approached her sixth birthday, Daniel and I gave her a choice: a trip or a party.
She has been saying her one birthday wish is to go to the top of the St. Louis Arch, so -- without hesitation -- she chose TRIP.
The closer her birthday got, the more I think she was starting to secretly wish she had chosen "party".
To jazz up the "trip" I decorated the car with some window markers, curly ribbon, and balloons. She LOVED it.
Did anyone notice the
Snackeez in her cup holder?! Aubrey saw a commercial for this thing when we visited grandparents. She's talked non-stop about how she NEEDS one of these. "It holds a snack AND your favorite drink, Mom!" I thought it actually made sense for the road trip, and it sure made for one super happy girl!
Once we were all loaded up, and had FROZEN playing in the headrest DVD player, we were on our way to ST. LOUIS!
First pit stop: dinner.
And what's a road trip without a meal at Cracker Barrel?!
We realized the girls had never been to one. They thought it was the coolest restaurant ever! And the fact that they could order pancakes for dinner blew their minds.
Aubrey was determined to "win" the Peg Game.
GENIUS!
We finally drove into St. Louis past bedtime with two squealing excited girls in the backseat.
Daniel reserved rooms at the
Union Station hotel downtown.
When we arrived, the hotel concierge presented the girls with little backpacks filled with a train whistle (why?!), coloring book / crayons, Union Station water bottle, a sucker, a sticker, and a cookie. As if they weren't excited enough!
The hotel (the old train station) was fun to explore and the girls loved watching the nightly light show display on the ceiling.
Oh, before I forget!
All Aubrey thought we were doing in St. Louis was going to the Arch.
Well, St. Louis has tons of stuff for kids, so Daniel and I planned out a full weekend of surprises.
To make it feel more like an actual "birthday", we let Aubrey open a small gift before we left. Inside was a charm bracelet. Before each "surprise" she would open a little package containing a charm that gave a clue as to where we were going next. As the trip progressed, her charm bracelet would fill up. At the end of the trip, she would have a bracelet full of charms to remember this special birthday.
(I had originally envisioned a lovely sterling silver charm bracelet with precious forever-lasting heirlooms dangling from it. After a quick search, I realized all that was going to cost
waaaay more than I wanted to spend on a six year old, so I went the $5/charm route. )
So, first up...
Charm #1: Gateway Arch
Aubrey was out-of-her-mind excited. Her birthday wish came true!
Her most favorite part was riding up to the top.
Me, on the other hand, I almost backed out at the last second.
The older I get, the more of a wuss I become.
These three faces convinced me to face my fear, and I did it.
I
almost threw-up in my scarf on the way up, but I did it.
We were assigned elevator / pod 6, which was pretty perfect considering that number is super special! :)
The three of them loved looking out the slivers of windows at the top, while I mentally talked myself down from a full-on panic attack. Daniel took the photo below from one of the little windows. I would have passed out if I had looked down like that. It actually makes my heart-rate go up just posting it.
I've never been happier to be back on solid ground.
In the end, I was glad I didn't miss out on such a momentous moment for the birthday girl.
Charm #2: Star / The Magic House
This place was SO fun! Aubrey had an absolute blast!
Especially when she was the only one who successfully worked the be-inside-a-bubble exhibit.
Daniel got pretty excited about it... ;)
Charm #3: Butterfly / The Butterfly House
Fun fact:
St. Louis turns 250 this year!
Which meant there were birthday cake displays at lots of the area attractions.
Of course, when you're 6 and it's your birthday trip, you think the cakes are for YOU. ;)
Charm #4: Penguin / St. Louis Zoo
So, sad news. The penguin exhibit at the STL Zoo is closed while building a new polar bear habitat.
Luckily Aubrey had just as much fun playing on the sign in front of the empty exhibit. ;)
We did end up seeing lots of cool animals, catching a Sea Lion show, touched real sting rays, rode the train, and the carousel so all-in-all it was a wonderful day in Aubrey's world.
And before loading up the car to head back home, Aubrey picked out a souvenir from the gift shop (a rare treat!) and was conked out before we were on the interstate to drive back home...
The whole weekend she kept thanking us and saying it was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.
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The night before she officially turned 6, she lost a tooth!
Would you believe that the Tooth Fairy left her a teeny-tiny birthday present?!
Inside the mini box was this little charm for her bracelet.
There are no words to describe Aubrey's happiness and excitement when she opened it.
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For school, Aubrey wanted to bring a special treat for her class.
She'd been talking about her idea for awhile, and finally we made her vision a reality.
Birthday bots!
We made 24 of these little guys.
The kids in her class went nuts over them, and Aubrey was downright giddy passing them out.
She also got to bring home Birthday Bear from school, which delighted her to no end.
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When she got off the bus, Zubie was waiting for her with lots of fun presents.
She also took us all out to eat at a hibachi restaurant. The girls were mesmerized by the whole experience. I don't think they've ever been that good at a restaurant! It was perfect!
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Then, the following weekend, Grammy and Pop Pop came for a birthday visit. They brought a slew of presents too, and we had birthday cake (picked out by Aubrey from a pic she spotted on Pinterest, ha!). After cake, we went down to the river for the local Dragon Boat races and carnival booths, and then ended with a nature hike lead by Aubrey (of course!).
THE END.
Phew.
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I kinda hope she picks "party" next year...
;)
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And just to document, like I've done for the past two years, here's a breakdown of all of Aubrey's favorites:
Favorite color? Purple and Blue
Favorite toy? Tiger (souvenir from the STL Zoo)
Favorite drink? Pink Lemonade
Favorite food? Breakfast foods
Favorite tv show? Peppa Pig
Favorite outfit? The one I'm wearing right now!
Favorite game? Tag
Favorite animal? Cheetah
Favorite song? Jesus songs
Favorite book? Fancy Nancy: Apples Galore
Best friend? Hope, Wells, Eliza, and Lucy
Favorite thing to do outside? Play freeze tag
Favorite holiday? Christmas
What’s one thing you don’t like to do: Eating bacon
What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher
