Elsa is EIGHT!

This is great news because EIGHT is GREAT!

It was another weird year for the birthday girl, but she took it all in stride. She rocked virtual school until it was time to complete the second grade in-person. Despite all the changes and differences--which to be honest are becoming new routines--Elsa had another great trip around the sun.

The most significant event of her past year was her online school experience. We are eternally "greatful" to our pod school friends for making it a fun time, full of learning and laughter. School through a computer is a huge challenge, but the social connections we were able to maintain at the schoolhouse made it bearable and even enjoyable. Even though Elsa was excited to return to school, a little part of her was sad that the pod school closed. Fortunately we continued our organized playtime after school to keep some of that magic going.

Elsa continues to be a voracious reader, which I love so much. It has been fun reading some of her favorites with her, although I could do without the "spoiler alerts." She also continues to be a graceful dancer. We are so glad she was able to continue taking ballet classes all year. Biking, hiking, and climbing continue to be favorite activities, and this year, she was also able to add fishing and sledding to her repertoire. Outside has proven to be the safest place to be, which is just fine with this girl. But when we are indoors, Elsa has taken an interest in cooking and baking, with some delicious results. In addition to all of her extracurricular activities, Elsa is a great big sister. A true first-born, she is a leader, and her siblings are (mostly) willing to follow her lead.

Another thing that hasn't changed is Elsa's love for all things birthday. This year, we decided to forego the traditional party we used to host in the "before times," so instead Elsa invited a friend to take on the ropes course at Shelby Farms. The girls had a great time, and I think Jon did, too. In fact, he was in such a charitable mood that he sprung for popsicles and a trip to the store Five Below. I don't think he knew what he was getting into, as he described the latter experience as a kid-version of Supermarket Sweep. They loved every minute of it and came home with lots of treasures.

With a quick pause for Mother's Day after the ropes course adventure, Elsa woke up on Monday morning, May 10th, to the usual birthday fanfare. Door decorations, special breakfast (thanks for the biscuits and gravy from scratch, Jon!), and gifts from us all occurred before school. We even had time for the sheep photoshoot, this year featuring the great neighborhood traveling dinosaur astronaut birthday shirt.

Total birthday pro

The same friend who did the ropes course got to come over after school for a bit, which gave Lena the Sprinkle Queen time to decorate the cake she'd helped bake over the weekend. After a fun playdate, we had what is becoming a great birthday tradition--marinated duck from the local Chinese restaurant--for dinner.

One silver lining of these pandemic birthdays is that we get to "see" our family through the wonders of Zoom. I know it's kind of awkward, especially when we can't share the cake, but we do get to share our celebrations, so we really appreciate taking advantage of a great opportunity.

So much birthday happening in this picture

After enjoying that cake, it was time to get into some birthday pajamas and (finally) open gifts from family. Thank you for making the birthday girl's night! She was thrilled with all of the great thoughtful gifts.

Overall, it was a--you guessed it--GREAT birthday.