Happy Happy Birthday!

What a cutie our little 5 year-old has become! Well, she was cute all along, but you get the idea...
Early morning present opening. Amara was so excited that the day before her birthday she asked if she could go to bed early (like 10AM) so she could just sleep and her birthday would be here sooner!
She loved this little kitty that was Ethan's gift to her. She'd been saying she wanted a little kitty, and also that she needed a new animal/doll that she could name Lisa. She carried it around all day with her.
She also got a bike! Maybe the helmet and knee/elbow pads were the biggest hit though?? (We had some major bike issues - there was a problem with the one we bought, but we didn't know until we tried to assemble it the night before her birthday. There was a lot of calling and driving around to try to make it right!!)
We decided to take a ride on the BART train, which the kids had been requesting for awhile now. Ethan insisted on carrying this umbrella, but started dragging it like it weighted 50 pounds after just a couple minutes.
We made a stop at Union Square. It was a bit rainy, but it turned out fine and we managed to stay mostly dry. Love the giant Christmas tree and other decorations.
All the wreaths.... always feels nice and Christmasy.
We stopped at Mel's diner down by the Metreon for lunch. Ethan's utensils did some dancing to the music.
This may have been my favorite moment of the day. I came into the living room and found that Amara was wearing her knee pads and had put her elbow pads on Ethan's knees. They were both preparing for some dancing ritual.
The kitty's been strapped into the knee pad. She won't be losing that kitty anytime soon.
Watching round 2 of presents. Alan's parents came in the evening to celebrate Amara's birthday.

Here she is pretending to eat her cake. She was really into this pose! Barbie princess actually came out pretty good and Amara really enjoyed it!

And thanks to everyone who traveled here and worked hard to get everything ready for her!

Happy birthday little girl! We love love love you!!