Violet's 5th Birthday in Chicago

Talk about an extended birthday!!!!

Violet's 5th birthday started on Saturday with a birthday party at Potter's Haven Art Studio. All the kids selected a piece of pottery to paint while the parents looked on.

Violet painted a dolphin that looked pretty rough at first. But after they sprayed it with glaze, the dolphin looked good. Violet does have that artistic gene.

She probably could have done an even better job if her eye hadn't constantly been looking at the mountain of gifts to open and the birthday candles to blow out.

From Potter's Haven we all went to Ted's Cafe Escondido for dinner.

The wait staff gathered around and sang a special happy 5th birthday song to Violet while she wore the traditional Mexican sombrero.

And let's not forget Lincoln. He took his turn with the sombrero just like it was his own birthday.

The next morning, Melissa, Violet and I boarded a plane for Chicago.

Violet's getting to be an expert at flying. In her short little life, this is her 6th? time in an airplane. Melissa would know for sure.

To keep Violet occupied for the hour and 20 minute flight, Melissa and I both had the idea of getting small gifts for Violet to open. It amazes me how much Violet knows about all the different kinds of surprise toys. I'm trying to read the directions and she's explaining to me how they work. She said I need to watch more commercials.

Michele and Courtney met us at the airport because I was too afraid to navigate the train system. In case you don't know, I accidentally got on the wrong train the last time I was in Chicago. If Michele hadn't yelled at me to "GET OFF", I would probably still be riding the rails from 2 years ago waiting for the Pink train to take me to the airport (which it doesn't)!

We must have walked for miles in Chicago doing a little shopping and eating cupcakes while heading to the park for Violet to climb the rock wall. I should have taken better notes as to where we were and what we did. Before heading to the hotel, we had deep dish Chicago pizza at Giordano's. I love Fun House pizza but this pizza was amazing. So much cheese and the crust was to die for.

The City of Chicago dyes the Chicago River green for St Patrick's day. The streets were pretty crowded on the 18th. I can just imagine how crowded downtown Chicago was on St Patrick's Day.

The next day we headed to the American Girl Doll Store - the main destination of our trip. Violet's eyes just lit up when she spotted the store from 2 blocks away. First we had lunch in the cafe. They really do it up big here, even providing chairs for the dolls. Violet brought Mia and her bitty baby, Bella. Michele brought her "imitation" AG doll, Little Michele, so there was 8 of us for lunch.

After lunch, Mia needed to get her hair done. It's funny to see how elaborate this place is and how much they cater to young girls. And let's not forget the boys. There is now an American Boy Doll!

But I must confess, I too got sucked into the hype wanting desperately to purchase Maryellen - an American girl doll from 1954 (the year I was born). I didn't buy her but I'm hoping this might give Michael and Melissa an idea for Mother's Day!

Michele is a big Lego fan so we definitely had to make a stop at the Lego store. While Michele and Violet built mini lego characters (or whatever they're called) I went in search of something to drink and a place to sit. If you ever go on vacation with Michele, you know exactly what I mean. That girl never stops to rest.

While making our way back to the hotel, we kept changing our minds on where to eat for dinner. Each place was closer and closer to the hotel. We ended up going to the Sugar Factory which was right across the street from the hotel - Yay! Courtney has lived in Chicago for many years and has never eaten at the Sugar Factory. She thought it was just a big candy store.

I didn't realize how famous this place was. While waiting for our table, we had fun playing "red carpet".

The Sugar Factory is known for it's huge everything. The server was explaining happy hour to us. Drinks were half price and each drink held 6 shots of liquor. That's right - I said 6 shots. I didn't have a drink but Melissa and Violet shared a birthday shake complete with candle.

Violet had "the best birthday ever" and the rest of us had fun too. It's going to be pretty hard to top this birthday trip. I think Melissa mentioned Hollywood for her 16th birthday. They may be pushing me in a wheel chair, but I'm going too! Happy Birthday, Violet!