Ellie's Birthday Week

As you know, in the Foelsche-McDonald family, we celebrate birth-weeks, not just birth-days. The subsequent celebrations can span weeks, or at least multiple days and cupcakes.  Ellie's birth-week got off to a nice start with a celebration at Ba and Opa's on Memorial Day.  The girls were amazed with Opa's decorating skills and wanted to take all the balloons home. 

Ellie hamming it up and showing appreciation for her new hat like only she knows how. 

Mastering the "coy" look...

Blowing out her candles in her ice cream cake... 

... and especially enjoying the blue frosting. 

On her birthday, Mommy took off work that day to take Ellie on several adventures, including the trampoline park, McDonald's, and to see Home in the theatre (we had the whole theatre to ourselves!)  It was a delightful day before everyone joined us for a special spaghetti dinner and another round of gifts from the family. Ellie was especially delighted with the Lily Bobtail bunny given to her by her sister - now Peter will have a close friend! 

She also loved the Izzy the Ice Cream Fairy book Evie had picked out...

...and actually wanted to stop opening gifts to start reading her presents.  That's our Ellie!

Her final gift was a pony dubbed Maximus, of course, and Pascal, another buddy to join the sleeping friends. 

Then it was time to blow out her candles and make a wish!  What a birth-week this was, and it's not even quite over yet!

Ellie's frou-frou Gallery Opening

The family was delighted to attend Ellie's big art show at MHCP last Thursday.  Ellie poses by her masterpiece (center) - everyone was impressed at how she stayed within the lines of the overlapping circles. 

But the biggest surprise was Ellie's portrait of her hero, Daddy. We think the hairstyle was inspired by Riker on Dancing with the Stars, but certainly she captured Daddy's playful character with his winking eye.  She also shared that she "loves it when Daddy gives her screen time in the morning." 

Mommy, Evie and Ellie get ready to blast off in space in the rocket designed by her class.  Then the family headed over to North Old Town for a fancy French dinner at A la lucia. 

Not to be outdone, Evie also had a great start to her week when she graduated to the next level of her swim class (with 10 bobs!) and got to ring the bell.  What a big smile!

Cousin Birthday Celebration!

It was celebration time in Jersey this weekend as the McDonalds gathered to celebrate JJ's 7th, Stan's 6th, and Ellie's 4th birthdays.  The cousins had fun playing ball outside before we headed out to the Point Pleasant boardwalk for more excitement! 

The girls take a moment before the gates open to smile for the cameras. 

First stop: the spinning dragon!  Uncle Dave knew how to make that dragon spin like a tornado. 

Yippee!  Ellie was the only brave soul to take on the Tornado rollercoaster with mom! 

Daddy, Ellie and Evie take flight on a spinning balloon. 

Stan revs up his motorcycle engine! 

Ellie blows out her cupcake candle!  

Aunt Dellie and Ellie read one of her favorites! 

Mother's Day Joy

What a wonderful week of surprises for Mom. Earlier in the week she got to attend Ellie's surprise serenade at MHCP...

and then on Mother's Day taste the delicious chocolate chip cookies made for Mom - that spelled out Mom.  The girls had also made delightful cards and Daddy lead them through making beautiful heart thumbprint necklaces. Evie also made a gorgeous painting in art class that looked like a Matisse!

Ellie proudly reads the inscription in the book she gave Ba that she dictated to Mom.  It was quite poetic, making the present even more of a treasure!

Three generations of smiles!  The moms are modeling the dashing corsages made by Ellie in her preschool class.  

The girls show of their footwork, ur artwork that they created for Ba. 

Enjoying a beautiful day - thank you to Daddy, Evie and Ellie, Ba and Opa for making this Mom the happiest of mothers!