Saturday, June 29, 2013

Everyone Should Have A "Birthday Day"

My husband and I started a tradition a few years ago with the grandkids.  Instead of buying them things they don't want or need we take them each on a Birthday Day every year.  They get to choose an activity, a place to eat, and a shopping spree at a store of their choice with a set amount of money to spend.

The kids really love it and look forward to it each year.  It has become such a fun day for them that my stepdaughter wanted one also, lol.  Last February was her first Birthday Day:)

Yesterday we took our granddaughter for her Birthday Day and what a day it was.

Mike and I picked Ella up at 9:30 for her big day.  Our first stop was at Claire's for earrings.  This is one of Ella's favorite stores:





Whew....we made it out of there easy.  Ella has another store she wants to go to later on today.


Then it's off the go bowling.  Ella has never been so she is pretty excited about it.  Once her shoes were on she really liked the bowling alley floor, lol.  She showed us some tap dancing:)  Hey it's her birthday day and it's all about her, her choices, and having fun today:):)

Here she is bowling and the ball is staying out of the gutter.  That's a good thing:)  She wanted to be  a big girl and not use the gutter bumpers:


She did pretty well throwing the ball for her first time:


Here I am trying to give her a few tips:


Ahh...happiness:


Ella and her side kick, Papa.  They are best buds:)





It looks like she is enjoying herself:)



After the first game we thought she might want to stop but she wanted to play a second game.  I'm glad she got a better score on her second game.  That is always encouraging for kids:)



Then it was off to lunch.  Ella picked a new Chinese Japanese combo restaurant that just opened.

My two hams, lol:



And a free birthday dessert for the birthday girl which she was willing to share with Papa:



Since the free dessert was not planned, we took Ella to the place she really wanted to go....The Marble Slab Creamery:)


And then for her last wish of the day with us.  Mike and I took Ella to an antique store a couple of months ago and she really liked it.  She told us she wanted to go back for her birthday day because she had her eye on something.

Sure enough when we got there, Ella went right to the booth that had her "princess" phone:


There are lots of things to look at here so we did spend some time there:


Ella even had two of the owners helping her find certain items.  She had miniature tea sets on her mind:)

Ella with her choices:




I'm really glad she had such a fun day.  It's a nice tradition for Mike and I to do with the kids.  They really seem to look forward to "their" day each year.  We get to spend one on one time with them and they get to do what they want.

Our next Birthday Day is in December for our grandson.  We told him yesterday he needs to start planning what he wants to do.:)


We have had lots of good times and good memories with the kids on their birthday days.  We have been bowling, camping, horseback riding, to the movies, and of course we eat out each time with them.  Shopping is pretty much the same.  Ella likes Claire's, AJ likes Game Stop and their mother likes the Kitchen Store at the Outlets.


I think everyone should have a Birthday Day...don't you?:)

9 comments:

  1. What a great idea! I especially like the photo of Mike and Ella at the restaurant. Hang on to that because I'll bet that one is going to turn out to be a keeper to Ella - both now and when she's older. Sounds like all of you made some great memories!

    LilyLady / Kathy

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    1. Thank you. We think it is a really fun day for the kids and we get to spend one on one time with them which is nice.

      I am starting a Birthday Day album. I will give each of the kids their own album when they get older. Now if I could just get Mike to take some pictures of me with the kids or they might say Lisa? Lisa who, lol.

      Mike and Ella are the hams of the family. I have so many pictures of the two if them hamming it up, lol.

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  2. Happy birthday day to Ella! What a fun tradition to start I did something similar with my kids. Fair warning it gets more expensive as they get older but still a good day of memories.

    Thanks for sharing her special day with us. :)
    Jaxson

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    1. It really is about the memories. I think they forget the "things" as they get older.

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  3. The idea of Birthday Day is great...for kids and adults! Of course, if I take my wife out for Birthday Day, I have to underscore the "set amount of money to spend" concept...LOL!!!

    Glad you had such a great time, and thanks for sharing it with us!

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    1. I sign up for all the birthday clubs and make Mike drag me around for my free stuff:):)

      Birthday days are fun. Mike and I don't really celebrate holidays so we make their day special:)

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  5. Great idea! I'm impressed that a youngster, Ella's age, would want to go to an "Antique" store ... a young lady after my own heart! lol. I think it's great that she values the things of the past. Going to the antique store is like a history lesson for me. She's precious, btw. Thanks for sharing! =D

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    1. Thank you for writing in. The first time we took Ella to that store I had to explain cassette tapes and 8-tracks to her. It made me feel pretty old, lol.

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