Lena is SEVEN!

Lena was not the only one thankful to have a much more "normal" birthday this year. While last year's birthday quarantine was certainly memorable, it was so nice to enjoy the day in accordance with the birthday girl's expectations.

And expectations did she have! I have always appreciated Lena's decisiveness (mostly because I'm usually indecisive), and in the case of her birthday, it took the guesswork out of how to celebrate. Her first grade sense of justice coupled with her adherence to "how things ought to be," dictated that we follow our typical birthday rituals with little deviation. And that was perfectly fine with me.

Speaking of first grade, Lena is doing great in school. I love hearing about all the goings-on in her classroom, like who sits at whose table and what books she got to check out in the library. She is fully a reader now, magically moving from merely sounding out words to devouring chapter books in a flash. She recently described her personality as "reading and art," which make it clear where her interests lie.

One of the arts that she continues to participate in is ballet. This year, she got to join her sister on the big stage for Nut Remix where she made her debut as the cutest mouse ever. Lena also graduated to a bigger bike and can move pretty fast on that and on her scooter...when she wants to, of course.

January 19th landed on a Thursday this year, which meant that Lena got to celebrate with her friends at school. But first was the customary special breakfast and the annual socks-and-underwear gift. After school, she convinced me to take me to take her to a favorite bakery and insisted that we eat our treats outside just like we did last time (two years ago). The girl has a good memory.

Birthday treats in the sunshine

We then snuck in a quick sheep photo shoot, lest we forget that sacred tradition. Again with the good memory, Lena made sure to get things set up exactly right. We went to dinner at a new(ish) barbecue joint in our neighborhood, which was a great birthday meal for our little carnivore, and then came home for cake and presents from family.

In all her birthday glory

The celebrating continued into the weekend with a birthday tea party on the deck. Elsa and a friend were excellent hostesses, leading the girls through a craft and joining them for hot chocolate (in fancy tea cups, of course) and snacks. Fortunately, the rain held off that afternoon, so the girls--in all their tea party finery--were able to play at the park and burn off some of the energy they gained from the butterfly cupcakes.

Everything about the occasion was simply lovely, much like the birthday girl herself!