A little more from Ellie's Birthday and the Corpus Trip

For Ellie's birthday, we planned a last minute overnight trip back to Corpus Christi, where we used to live. The girls had been wanting to go see their old friends, and it happened to be the weekend of the ballet company's performance of "Swan Lake." So on her actual birthday we just had a little cake at the park, totally impromptu when a friend wanted to meet for a treat and a few more were able to join. Then the next morning we headed off on our little road trip with our girls and two friends. We had a great weekend celebrating Ellie!

Friends brought a gourmet cake from Whole Foods!

Hard to keep those candles lit!

The girls had a yummy Italian dinner on her birthday night,
Katie loves "1-2-3-wheee!" in the parking lot.

Then she opened presents at home.

A piano charm, sunglasses, and a summer art camp!

We headed out Saturday morning for the long trek to Corpus. 

Here we are on Ocean Drive!

We drove by our first rental home there and made a stop at the cemetery to visit little Avery, our friends' little boy who passed away in 2012.

Once we got to the hotel and checked in, after a little fiasco because I booked it the for wrong night, the girls were ready for a dip in the pool! 

We all got dressed up and went to a nice dinner at BJ's.

Then it was onto the ballet for Swan Lake!

Old friends at St. Helena after Sunday morning mass

And topped off the trip with some Blue Bell ice cream at Prasek's on the drive home!

It was a great weekend celebrating Ellie! Happy Birthday, sweet girl!