Happy 8th Birthday, Ella!

After 5 days in Michigan, we drove back to Chicago for the rest of our vacation.  We arrived just in time to celebrate Ella's 8th birthday.  This day was full of big plans for a big girl!

I had to wait until I was 10 to get my ears pierced, but when Ella started asking about it this year, Dave and I decided she was mature enough to handle it and agreed to let her get it done on her 8th birthday.  This was her big gift from us and the thing she was most looking forward to in our travels.

We kicked off this birthday morning with the highly-anticipated ear piercing as soon as the mall opened.  Ella had both her parents and sister, both her aunties, her grandma and two cousins along for moral support.  As she sat in the chair waiting, with all eight of us surrounding her, another customer interested in ear piercing walked up and said, "How many of you are waiting for this?!"

Ella was nervous, but more excited.  After the first ear, there were some tears, but they quickly faded when she got her first glimpse of her new earlobes.  Grandma let her pick out a bunch of new pairs to take home too, which she can try out in 6 weeks.

We intentionally planned to be back in Chicago on this day because we thought it would be cool if Ella could have her ears pierced at the same place I got mine done.

With fancy new ears, we next went out for a fun lunch together.  The servers stuck a candle in the dessert nachos Grandma ordered, then sang, and Ella felt even more celebrated.

  

The last part of Ella's Big Day was a trip to the spa for the girls' first mani/pedis, a gift from their aunties.  I was cracking up watching Delia try to enjoy both the foot bath and the massage chair at the same time.  These girls were all smiles the whole time they were being pampered!  I loved that this was an experience Mom, Kris, Karen, Ella, Delia and I could all enjoy together.

Each day we spent in MI/IL was so great.  When we talked about our favorite things on the way home, it was really difficult to pick.  This day full of girly fun and new grown-up experiences for Ella definitely ranked high on the list, though!