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| Early morning birthday waffles in all her finery |
This weekend, my little girl turned 7. SEVEN. It hardly seems possible. And in true Juniper style, she wanted a good, old-fashioned, rockin' party to celebrate. One with friends, and games and giggles and other such things. Unfortunately, for about 10 different reasons, it just wasn't possible to plan such a thing this year. Instead, we filled it with as much family-related fun as we possible could. Shall I take you on a little recap?
SATURDAY, July 30th:
This was Juniper's actual birthday. The night before, I decorated with banners and balloons and a felt crown, all ready and waiting for when Juniper woke up. We started with a waffle breakfast (see above), followed by a "fancy" photo shoot:
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| Silly-themed shot |
... and some quiet time to digest:
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| fancy reading |
Then it was out to watch the BFG at the theatres! Linden had to take a few "breaks" from the scary giants, and ended up being passed from lap to lap, but we go to movies so rarely that it was still (I hope) a fun birthday treat.
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| who is who? |
After the movie, it was lunch at Juniper's destination of choice. We ended up at Kelsey's, which Clark and I had, so far, managed to successfully avoid. It was the most expensive mediocre lunch we've ever had. Plus, Juniper was slightly put off that no one had yet noticed or inquired about her crown :)
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| Waiting for million dollar grilled (processed) cheese sandwiches. Yay! |
Then, it was home for a quick costume change, and off to the local wave pool!
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| Juniper went full boho over her swimsuit. |
While Clark and the kids were splashing it up, I was home preparing a very specific cake request. It was to be in the shape of a butterfly; chocolate cake with white mint-flavoured icing, and lots of decorations on top. Here was what I came up with:
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| The finished product! |
Juniper was, I'm pleased to report, VERY happy with the result. "It is even more beautiful than I imagined", she said breathlessly. If only she remains so easy to please!
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| About to blow out the candle |
Sunday, July 31st:
The next day, we were off to Morrisburg, where my uncle Bill and his partner Catherine live. His daughter (my cousin) Ainslie and her family were there for a quick visit, and he invited us to come down for the day to take a trip to the historic Upper Canada Village. It was a blast!:
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| Cousins of various heights, checking out some sheep |
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| Contemplating the broom maker's house |
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| Bill and Linden, taking a silly rest on the bench |
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| Peeking in at the doctor's residence |
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| Linden was obsessed with the horses... |
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| ... happily milked a cow... |
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| ... and was super into the 19th-century entertainment options. I think we would have been happy to set up residence. |
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| tea, anyone? |
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| Up to no good, clearly |
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| The whole gang, post-ice cream at the end of the day |
Thank goodness it is holiday here today - we need a day of rest after that much fun! And while the weekend might not have been exactly what Juniper had envisioned, my guess is that she'll wrangle at least one more party out of some willing relatives when we pass through Fredericton. So the celebrations will no doubt continue amidst the chaos of the next few weeks. See you next week!
