Wait, what? She's NINE?!

The last year has truly flown by!  Reagan decided this year she didn't want to have a big party and decided to just have three friends over for her birthday for a sleep over.  The fun started with up-do's, make-up, nail polish and glitter at Sweet and Sassy for Ciara, Isabella, Shelsey and Maggie.  Then they got to pick a station to make something.  Most of the girls picked to make scented lotion and one made a bath bomb.  They smelled so good!  The salon did a great job and all the girls had fun.  Reagan has been begging to wear make-up and the salon for her birthday was a good day to be a princess for a day.  Then wipe it off and be my little girl again...this mom is NOT ready for make-up!

After the salon we went to an early dinner.  You guessed it - she wanted Otani's!  She absolutely loves the Japanese steakhouse and it is a must for her birthday every year.  She was even able to get one of her friends to try her California roll for the first time!  Luckily they know us there well so they always make it a special event.

After dinner we went back to the house and the girls decided to try a science experiment with the bath bomb kit I bought for them to make and take home.  Although they had fun, the activity ended quickly when the powder wasn't hard enough to stick together in the mold.  Not sure if they didn't measure the baking soda correctly or the water but we only got about four to work correctly.  That's why it's called an "experiment" right?!


After that they decided to go play in the basement for a while so I had time to get the cake and fondue fountain working.  I always forget what a huge hit the fountain is!  And what a mess it is LOL.  But totally worth it and the girls had fun dipping their strawberries, marshmallows, bananas and rice krispie treats.

Reagan chose a unicorn theme so she had a unicorn cake with her unicorn plates, napkins and decorations.  She is absolutely obsessed with unicorns!

After dessert the girls decided to get in PJs and watch a movie.  They decided on Descendents which is a Disney movie that is much like a  musical.  Overall the girls got along really well and had a lot of fun.  The following morning they rode bikes, took the dog for a walking then the girls went home so we could get to my parents' house to help them take down a monstrous tree that was infected by the Ash Bore.  It's killing all the Ash trees in Virginia.  Truly a horrible disease.  We had so much fun working together as a family to get the tree chopped down, limbs piled high and the larger pieces stacked into wood piles.  Although it doesn't look that big, it was a HUGE tree and took the 10 of us over 4 hours to clear it.  It was so fun working together - and I actually used the chain saw for the fist time!  Wow, I underestimated how hard that is to do!