Disneyland Birthday for Brooke

Brooke turned 6 back on December 20th, but our passes didn't allow us to go to Disneyland until January. A little belated, but very enjoyable.


Brooke is already a good mama. She tucks her babies in at night to sleep.

Brooke was very excited to go with a few friends to Disneyland for a belated birthday celebration. This was before the rain came. It was a few Fridays ago (12th ?).

We went on very few rides in the 6 hours they wanted to stay. This is the roller coaster at the back of Toon Town (rode it twice).

Jed, Kelly, and Brooke enjoyed playing for hours inside Toon Town.

The tot lot there allows for their great imaginations to flow. There was also a lot of hiding, chasing and jumping off of low structures.

Didn't buy the light up ears, but definitely tested them out :)

The kids picked these light up multi-colored mickey mouse light sabers as their goody bag treat to take home from the birthday celebration. We may have received a few dirty looks from people watching them battle one another. They love them!

We then stopped at a McDonald's playland for dinner on the way home. Gotta love that these kids want to eat there and not at Disneyland. Jed then stayed at our house to play the Wii and play-doh. Brooke loved how the party just kept on going.

Brooke's friends know exactly what this girl likes: Fashionable clothes all the way. Kelly knew that Brooke wanted something from Princess and the Frog...so she gave Brooke a dress, matching shoes and headband from the movie packed in a reusable cloth bag. Of course she has already worn the outfit and it all fit perfectly. Jed gave her an adorable dress and shiny black purse. She has also worn it and stuffed the purse full of things to keep her busy. This girl loves to accessorize.

Brooke's 6th birthday

Brooke has been celebrating her 6th birthday for about a week now. We started with Grandma and Grandpa Ludloff taking our family on the harbor of lights cruise in Huntington Beach. That was fun and adventurous for us.

Then we went out with all girls to eat at El Torito (kids eat free on Saturdays!) Libby loves the chips so much, I think she may have eaten an entire bowl herself. Brooke loved her chicken dipped in ranch, ketchup or whatever else they had to dip in.

Then we headed to see the Nutcracker at Golden West college in Huntington Beach. It was a full length 2 hour version, but the girls enjoyed it. The sugar plum fairy was fabulous!

Brooke wanted a chocolate chip cookie for her cake.
She helped pick out all the decorating tools and she went at it. She wanted to draw a "Fairytopia fairy" on it with pink frosting.
She is all dressed up because we attended a musical Christmas program that night (Lee, Perry and Libby all performed).
Our nights are filled just as much as our days. Today Brooke went shopping with Grandma Suzette, Sage and Mommy. She found a few things that she liked, but mostly a chipmunk that she named "Flower". The chipmunk sat inside the "Frog princess purse" she got to watch the movie. We went to go see that after the shopping. Sage and Brooke ate big circular lollipops during the show. Yesterday, she enjoyed playing a new Leapster game she received from Uncle Scott. Isn't it great to be six! She still has birthday money to spend from her Nana, but I thought she did great at shopping.

Brooke's final 5th birthday celebration

Dinner for Brooke

Princess phone and coloring book from Grandma and Eddie. The phone has all kinds of activities. Brooke has decided that it will stay on her Vanity table. Does that mean she has seen me put make-up on while talking on the phone (maybe too many times)?

Bathing suit with itty bitty skirt from mommy and Lee (they already sent me to Disneyland with friends). Who can pass up the suits found during the off season?

Barbie car and girl from Uncle Scott and Auntie Gail. The girl has a dog that needs to be taken care of. Yes, it actually eats and then poops. The Barbie, Tanner, has a magnetic pooper scooper that picks up the poop. What a fun gift!

Sage helped her read all the cards.

Making a wish!

The finished cake and cupcakes. Rebecca, that apron really gets a lot of use.

Brooke knows how to really get into her baking. This is the clean up effort. Since you know she likes doing the dishes, she really did wash them all with plenty of soap.

Can you see all the screws and pieces she had to put together?

Vanity table

Picture taken on Thursday, the 18th. She brought snack to school: peanut butter sandwiches, made from Ritz crackers, peanut butter and chocolate Pops cereal and a bag of Cheetos. Yes, they all had orange fingers in the end. Funny thing happened...Brooke was mad at me because I passed out the Cheetos along with the other foods - she thought that should be dessert and only served after everyone was done eating the other food. The ideas she comes up with make me crack up :)

Brooke is one lucky little girl. She has so many people that love and care about her. We started the rainy day off with a shopping trip with my Dad to Toys R' Us. She knew exactly what she wanted, she doesn't care for shopping. He bought it and she couldn't wait to get home to put it together. This girl patiently screwed in all the screws and took a break for lunch and continued to put it all together. It is called a Sleeping Beauty Vanity table. Funny thing about it: the table includes a doll head that is interactive. When Brooke picks up the comb, it makes some comment. It is quite the item she has been looking at for some time.

Tonight we had a family party at my parent's home across the street :) My mom cooked all of Brooke's favorite foods. Brooke made the cupcakes and cake, she decorated them herself as well. She is becoming very independent!

Brooke's birthday celebrations begin

Who takes pictures looking into the sun? The 3 musketeers: Brooke, Jed, and Kelly. Can you believe the ornaments are larger than their heads?

Laura is brave to go on the tea cups, not once, but then again at night before the fireworks!

Notice the new benches for "Small World", now with hand grips.

Brooke wanted to see the real Mickey Mouse!

Brooke and Mommy

Kelly and Mommy

Jed and Mommy

Brooke wanted to celebrate her birthday with friends at Disneyland for her party this year. Some have passes and the others my cousin signed in for "free". She loved the entire day including the fireworks. They just take your breath away. One scary moment of the day was when during Jedi training, Darth Maul looked right at Brooke and pointed. That brought her quickly into my lap. Since she was wearing the "birthday badge", many people that work at Disneyland wished Brooke a "Happy Birthday". That is nice and all until we went on the Jungle boat ride. The funny boat driver kept including her in the jokes, including the part where the natives are chanting. She interpreted that to be singing, "Happy Birthday to Brooke" - I thought that was really a great example of going out of your way to make it special. Inside Toon Town there is a play area called "Goofy's playhouse". The kids had a lot of fun there until you realize we've got more rides to go on. I'm bummed because I can't share with you any great pictures of the castle lit up at night. During Christmas, everything is so dreamy at Disneyland...it even snows after the fireworks! They leave nothing out! Brooke never slowed down, she had so much fun.