What a Birthday!

Yesterday, I turned 35. Amazing.

I actually have felt like a good portion of the last week has been my birthday celebration. It is such a treat to have Papa, Mama, Beka, and the Byrd Blessings here. And I love birthdays with Beka - because I love her, of course, and because in her family, when it's your birthday, you're Queen (or King) for the day, and so the preceding days are spattered with birthday planning. So fun!

So, yesterday morning I woke up, got dressed, and walked out my bedroom door. Miss Chloe greeted me with, "Elle! Baby!" Which, being interpreted, is "Aunt Elle, you need to get your baby!" Before I went obediently to fetch Stephen, I noticed several boxes on the couch. Papa and Mama's computer had arrived. But I wondered what computer parts would have been packed in such a long box. See what I mean?


A few minutes later, someone asked if I had noticed that one of those boxes was for me. Lo and behold, upon further inspection . .


My dear friend Shawna had sent me these beautiful sunflowers. I love them! It was a wonderful start to the day. Thank you, sweet Shawna!


We had decided to go to Meramac State Park for most of the day. Mama and Beka (and me a bit) had done most of the prep work for dinner the night before, so we had plenty of time. So we picked up some KFC for lunch and headed to the Park.


First we visited Sheep Cave. It's a fun cave that is open to the public (no fees, no guide required). It's not very large, but it's especially great for the kiddos.


Here are the cousins just inside (plus Aunt Elle, who didn't want to take Stephen out of his wrap):


A look back at the mouth:

The children exploring near the rear of the cave:

And returning to the entrance:

Boys:


Sweet Cousins:

Silly Cousins:


We moved to our favorite pavillion for lunch:


And then went down to play in the river!

We came home and had a fabulous dinner/party with some beloved folks:






That's a lot of candles (and I got them all in one shot!):


There was also an amazing amount of loot, and even better, lots of laughs and love. We finished things off with a fun game of Quiddler with both sets of our folks.

There were some dear ones that I sorely missed, but it was a terrific day. Much more terrific than pictures and words can tell. If you've made it this far, thanks for sharing the day with me!