Happy Birthday, Bean!

On Monday my sweet awesome Bean turned ten years old!

When I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, her only request was "I want to go to the mall with you." Shopping with my sweet girl? I am totally on board with that!

To surprise her, I went one better than that. I took her on an overnight trip to Seattle.

She got to see her grandparents and her aunt and uncle, and go shopping at some great places. I took her and her Nana to Southcenter Mall for some fun and fab shopping. We bought new bento gear at Daiso Japan, TARDIS socks and Doctor Who bracelets at Hot Topic, and birthday tiaras at Claire's. Then we had dinner together at Cheesecake Factory. Bean and I had never been there before, but we will definitely have to go again some time. My salad was a work of art, so beautifully presented and absolutely delicious!

On Sunday, her Papa introduced us to the light rail system. We took the light rail to the last station and from there walked a couple of blocks over to West Lake Center. Papa treated us to lunch at a little vendor outside ~ Bean thought the begging pigeons were funny, and she got to climb on a neat new playground-art structure. Yes, those trees really are blue! Bean loved that.

After lunch we took the monorail to the Pacific Science Center. We have been there several times before, but this was the first time Bean had been without her siblings. It was a nice change for her to get to spend as much time as she wanted at each exhibit which interested her, instead of having to go with what everyone else wanted to do. We even were able to sit in on a planetarium presentation on gravity and black holes.

After PacSci, we took the monorail back to West Lake Center.

From there we walked up a few blocks, to the iconic Seattle landmark - Pike's Place Market.

Bean hasn't been since she was very small, and she LOVED it there. So many things to look at, so many little shops and vendors to stop at and wander through. She bought herself a Doctor Who keychain and helped me find little gifts for each of her siblings, too. She loved being able to see Puget Sound, and all of the amazing handmade items for sale. She said the fish market "smells like fish!" and the flower vendors "are so beautiful!"

It was a wonderful weekend, and I can't wait to do it again someday soon. Bean is an amazing girl. I am so lucky to be her mom!

On Monday I packed her a special birthday lunch, and took cupcakes and punch to her school. Apparently she forgot to tell her teacher I would be coming, so it was almost like a surprise party. Lots of fun, for all of us!

For her special birthday lunch I packed a pair of panda CuteZCute sandwiches wearing party hats. Bean also has grapes and watermelon, cookies and cheese crackers, and alphabet crackers with the first letter of her name.

To make these cute fruit balloons, I used these picks from ATFS with a green grape and a watermelon ball.

HelloPanda! chocolate filled biscuits and Cheddar Rocket crackers are some of Bean's favorite crunchy sides.

Panda sandwiches are super easy and adorable with the CuteZCute sandwich cutter. And Easy Lunchboxes make packing lunches simple and convenient.

Ten years old! My Bean is getting so grown up. 10 is a lot of candles on a little cupcake! She is such a lovely girl and we are so very lucky to be her parents. Bean is always the first to jump in and help when things need to be done. She is sweet and thoughtful, kind and polite. She does great in school and loves to read. She just finished the entire Harry Potter series last week and is starting the Percy Jackson series now. She also likes Babysitter's Club books, Nancy Drew, and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. She is fun and smart and pretty. She loves arts and crafts too, and is great with animals. All around, she is just a fantastic kid.

Happy happy birthday, sweet girl! 

Products used: