Brooklyn's 3rd Birthday!

Good morning!  Mommy made Brooklyn a special birthday breakfast!!

Making cupcakes for school...

For her third birthday, Brooklyn decided to have a Gymnastics birthday party.  Mommy bought her a special purple birthday leotard!

The kids spent the first 20 minutes doing laps around this circuit...it was genious!  All the kids running around on the floor....

...while all the parents relaxed in the observation room!!  GENIOUS!!!

Brooklyn loved the spring board...

...and the track!

But no one was faster on the track that big brother Tyler!!

After letting the kids burn off all their energy in the beginning, they all lined up on the track...and the teacher let all the air out!!  What a great way to keep them all contained!!

Next it was time for organized games.

Everyone loves the parachute!

Phew...all that fun and we still haven't had cake yet!!  See the pretty Dora cake?

Opening presents...

...and handing out goody bags!

What a party!!!  Now it's time to do it all over again at home!!

She was VERY excited to open her gifts!

What birthday would be complete with some Packer family decals?

What a beautiful little girl in front of her new vanity!  Now she can get "pretty" every morning!!

Jamming with her new guitar!

Face time with Paw Paw and Nanny.

Sporting her new ballerina dress from Uncle Mike....she looks so big!!

The next day, Mommy took Brooklyn out to eat at her favorite "Cheese Dip" restaurant (Mexican) while Daddy was out of town.  It was a lot of fun until they decided to surprise her with a loud Happy Birthday song!!!  

Flashback:  Same restaurant on her 1st birthday....I guess some things never change!!

Here she is watching her new ballerina videos from Grandma....she may have found her calling!!

THE POLAR EXPRESS!!

While at Poppy and Grandma's house for Thanksgiving, they had a special treat planned for all of us...they had reserved seats on the POLAR EXPRESS!!  Just thinking of going on that magical train made Tyler and Brooklyn happy!

We were so excited that we left extra early to make sure we were first in line....

...Poppy and Grandma took good care of us...we were the very first ones there.  It was so cold and rainy that the conductor told us to wait in the car.  Thank goodness for the iPhone!

When the rain finally stopped, we got out and waited in line...we anxiously awaited the arrival of the Polar Express!

After we got on board, Santa's Elves came over to greet us and give us name tags!  Later on they sang Christmas carols with us and served us cookies and hot chocolate.  YUM!

Tyler and Brooklyn took good care of their golden tickets.  They didn't want them to blow away!

Once the train left the station, we decided to take a tour.  We heard a rumor that there was a gift store at the back of the train...first we went down the long hallway...

....then through the candy cane door...

...brief pause for a photo in between cars...

...and then we finally found it!

Poppy was pretty happy with our choice of popcorn!

Soon the conductor came by to punch our tickets.  He was very friendly and even stopped to sit with us for awhile!

Yummy hot chocolate!

We were getting close to the North Pole.  Brooklyn was watching intently for polar bears and penguins...

Those elves think of everything!  The squeegee was very handy to keep the glass clear!

We made it to the North Pole!

Hi Rudolf!

Did you hear the announcement?  The Head Elf said that Santa had had just boarded our train and that they would be coming around to find out what everyone wanted for Christmas!!

After Daddy and Poppy said a big "HO HO HO!" into the microphone, Brooklyn and Tyler got to announce their Christmas list to everyone on the train!  Can anyone guess what Tyler wanted?

SANTA!!  He brought bells for Tyler and Brooklyn...just like in the movie!  Tyler checked to make sure he didn't have a hole in his pocket!

After more than 2 hours, the Polar Express finally returned to the station.  What a magical trip!