Happy birthday, Issa!

We had a fabulous weekend celebrating my very favorite nine year old. Aunt Shannon, Nana, and Papa Rich all flew in for the occasion. Aunt Shannon won special bonus points for arriving in time to have lunch and celebratory apples and juice at school.

Saturday morning, we girls all took Issa shopping for some new clothes from Nana and Papa. It has become a tradition, and we had a ball. Issa definitely has her own style as you'll see soon.

When we got home, Issa and Nana decorated her ballerina cake:

And Aunt Shannon and Evan played:

We had Nana Mac and Cheese and Caesar salad for dinner--the birthday girl's request--and then she did a fashion show of all of the treasures from Aunt Shannon and Nana and Papa. A few favorites:

She wore that vest to school today!

This one is from the Descendant's collection. She thinks she's pretty cool:

And mid-fashion show little brother lost his second tooth:

After the show was finished, We enjoyed cake:

That smile...

Sunday, we went to brunch before we declared a science day. We did the whole Diet Coke and Mentos thing:

You can count on the Bowers to draw a crowd with some explosions. We also made elephant toothpaste with all the kiddos.

Once we were out of things to explode, we headed inside to work on a crystal kit:

In between there was so much laughter and just being.

We reluctantly took Aunt Shannon to the airport and then took Issa to use a Claire's gift card from Aunt Carol and Uncle Todd. We managed to hit an all jewelry on sale for $5 sale. Issa was beside herself. We went straight from the mall to take Nana and Papa to the airport, which was followed by much pouting.

It was a great weekend. Issa had a fabulous birthday, and we all enjoyed the weekend together. I'm still trying to figure out how my baby can be nine already, though...