Sunday, July 13, 2014

Brianne's Bday Bash!

FOUR YEARS OLD!

We celebrated B turning FOUR!  Hard to believe that four years have already gone by……….but the little lady is growing and learning (and teaching us!) so very much!




We partied with friends at ASI Gymnastics in Keller – and it was superb! A HUGE thank you goes to the amazing coaches that welcomed us and made sure Brianne was showered with attention on her special day.  The children loved jumping on the trampoline, barreling/swinging/sliding/leaping/etc. into the giant foam pit, parachute play, and my favorite part was when Coach James had the kiddos pretending to be different animals and running around and then diving to the ground and ‘hiding’ - it was priceless!






I often wonder “should I mention that Brianne has Down syndrome” before attending various events – and usually I conclude “am I also going to mention that she has blonde hair and loves Elmo and her favorite food is chicken nuggets”...because it’s really just a part of who she is; Down syndrome certainly doesn’t define her………..so I generally opt not to mention it unless it’s on a medical questionnaire and I’m checking the box on a medical form.   That being the case, we arrived to her party and I’d given them no prior notice that she’s chromosomally enhanced, and they didn’t miss a beat and simply treated her like any other  Birthday kiddo! I’m so incredibly grateful for that.   Inclusion, acceptance, respect……..we received that at her party - and it was priceless!
 
Many of these birthday party packages are simply a ‘free-for-all’ where the kids run wild and crazy...but here, it was a very structured and group event where everyone moved together to the trampolines (and they tried their hardest for it to be one child per trampoline….we followed the rules for the most part...at least we didn't have any collisions!) and then it was the game of pretending to be various animals, and then the foam pit jumping which was probably the favorite of all the little ones.  Seeing two coaches take this group of rambunctious little kids that they'd never met before through various games and activities was super impressive.  Definitely thankful that the staff was so great!



Then we had parachute play which led to much laughter and squeals of delight.
 

And the finale was a special recognition of the birthday girl where she was presented with a medal and showered with additional love from the coaches and her friends.
B admiring her birthday medal!  Special thanks to Christina for taking some fabulous photos for us!
This was the first year that Brianne has been into Birthdays, so it was wonderful that she was receiving so much attention.  For her 3 prior years, the birthday song sent her into hysterics, but this year – she was so excited and clapped and grinned when we sang to her.




My heart was happy as I watched Coach James have Brianne stand up on the picnic table bench and have Brianne tell her friends “Thank you” for joining us to celebrate her special day.  He made certain the birthday girl was treated to a super special day.  A HUGE thank you to ASI Gymnastics for the AMAZING celebration!

Happy Happy Birthday, Brianne!!!!  We love you soooooooooo very much!

1 comment:

  1. What a great birthday celebration! Looks like a fun venue with safe options for kiddos.

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