Claire's Day

Claire has been planning this day for months. Any time we talk about birthdays she would start her new idea with... "For my Birthday we are going to..." and it was usually followed by something spectacular like having a slumber party at the Plaza. With each of her new ideas I would follow up with, "That would be great!" But in the end we had to come up with something really special for our Princess. So weeks before I asked her where in NY she wanted to celebrate her birthday and she picked Central Park. That was the easy part so we fill the rest of the day in with New York's finest.

First of all Claire wanted to bring Molly, her American Girl Doll, so Molly was Claire constant companion. Not once did Molly need to take a ride in the stroller. Our first stop was to our little red lighthouse. I read that it was going to be open and visitors could climb to the top for a great view.

So up we all climbed. It was a little unnerving to see Lance and Jack lean a little too far over the rail. One by one they admitted to me that they were a little scared and liked the view from the ground better.

The spiral stair case and the great echo made the trip down a treat.

Jack was so excited to finally reach that door that earlier he had tried to squeeze through the gate to get to.

Lance was excited to find more nooks to climb in and to be able to run in circles around the light house.

After a picnic lunch the kids enjoyed climbing on the rocks and watching a few boats pass by.

From there we took the train downtown to 5th and 49th to where little girl's (and Mommy's) dream's come true... The American Girl Doll Store. Claire saved her birthday money and had in mind what she wanted before we entered the store. In the end Molly was dressed in a new birthday dress, and added a swim suite and PJ's to her wardrobe. Claire was so excited and had to change Molly right away!

From there we went to "Crumbs" and everyone chose their favorite sugar rush. Claire chose Cookies and Cream...

Lance Candy....

Jack Carrot....

And Daddy, Chocolate along with a bite of Lance's. Mommy enjoyed a Black and White. We all sat on the grass in Central Park, sang to Claire, and ate 1/4 of our treats to save the rest for breakfast in the morning.

With that much energy we ran off some steam at the playground and in the sprinklers.

Some of us had a sugar melt down and needed to go home.

To top off Claire's day we walked to Gray's Papaya and ate our hot dogs at the 69th Street station. What a great NY birthday. The weather was perfect and the kids enjoyed being in the city. I can't believe that my baby is 6, I am so proud of who she is turning out to be and look forward to exploring with her through many more birthdays.