Thompsons: Happy Birthday Spunky Ellie!

The past two days have been a birthday celebration for our 3-year-old girl! We love having Ellie's birthday over Memorial Day weekend every year. It gives us a chance to get out of town and spend the long weekend with family.

First stop: the "largest flea market in the world!" (as the sign boasts at the Brownville, NE flea market). We went for sunglasses. We left several more dollars poorer but richer in things we found that we couldn't live without :)

Steve and I even got to have an impromptu date night to see the new X-Men movie in 3D.

Ellie started the day by opening her new scooter from Nana and Papa. Ironically enough, she was so distracted by cousins and lots to do that she spent all of five minutes testing it out. Then Hunter enjoyed it while Ellie was entertained elsewhere.

For the birthday festivities, we enjoyed a bbq in the backyard.

Then it was time for presents! As is likely common with little girls these days, Ellie was thrilled to get Frozen and some of her favorite songs from the movie. The birthday-theme for birthday #3 was puzzles - one of Ellie's favorite things. She got a personalized puzzle and couldn't wait to put it together when we got home. Ellie loved the pretty, fun, and thoughtful gifts from her cousins, brother, Nana, and Papa.

For her cake this year, I attempted to create puzzle pieces. Ellie's only request was for a pink cake with pink frosting. Done and done! I was happy to find pink velvet cake and hot pink frosting with sparkly sprinkles. Add a bit of crossword puzzle fun and some magic wand candles and - voila!

The kids played on the trampoline with Papa, made experiments and creations in the water table, got dirty and had a whole lot of fun playing together in the backyard.

We also had the chance to take the kids to Legion Park where the flags were on display. It's tradition to go, talk about why we celebrate Memorial Day, and look for my great-grandpa's flag. The park is pretty massive and you never know which flag will be where, so it's always like finding a needle in a haystack to find Herman Hauptman's flag. Luckily, we had plenty of people there to split up and scour the park for his flag. When the flag was found, we rounded everyone up to come see it.

Today is Ellie's 3rd birthday! We started the morning with her breakfast of choice: Cinnamon Toast Crunch. She was excited about the cereal, the birthday card with a mouse wearing a tutu and holding a magic wand (thanks Nana and Papa!), and her book and sunglasses gifts Daddy picked up for her at the flea market. She's so easy to please.