the REAL birthday day...

we had lunch at chuck e. cheese with the rogers...

first things first, find a great table and eat some pizza with friends. then...

say "cheese"!!

have private dance party with chuck e.

check out all those tickets just for dancing with chuck e!!
and don't forget about kenzie and jack. they had lots of fun too! they loved the merry-go-round and especially liked riding it together. :)

this might have been the best birthday lunch ever!! we basically had the whole place to ourselves. mari and i were able to sit, talk, eat, and sip on coke all while our kids were spending loads of tokens, earning tons of tickets, having a dance party with chuck e. himself, and walking away hours later with handfuls of cheap toys (i am pretty confident all ended up in the trash before the day was over) and smiles on their faces. success!!! :)

then dinner with nana and gramps at benihana...

the birthday girl with nana and gramps before going into dinner.
blowing out the famous birthday budda candle after being serenaded by the lovely japanese birthday song. gotta love benihana!!

this is our second year to celebrate miss o (as my mom calls her) by going to dinner at benihana on her real birthday. i think it can officially be called a tradition and one we plan to continue for many years to come. we all had a really great time. our fun chef/cook (whatever you call him) made our experience so much fun and we all agreed that the food was really great. yummm!! again, success!!!

so that sums up the real birthday!! what a fun day celebrating our sweet olivia! now on to the birthday party- that's this friday night. (i admit, it is ridiculous that she is doing anything else to celebrate, but that is how we do birthdays around here. the fun is never ending!!)