birthday

Today is my twenty-eighth birthday. As old as the birthdays of each of my children always make me feel, this one reminds me that I'm actually still pretty young and that I have lots ahead of me in God!

Last week, I told Daniel what I wanted for my birthday: a day to remind myself of the joy of being a mom, a day spent laughing with him, a day free from long To Do lists and full of opportunities to hear the thoughts of my children, a day to relish and soak up This Moment.

I didn't want to go off, just the two of us. It's just not me. I love being with my kids, and I especially love being with them when I don't have anything more to do than just enjoy them.

So Daniel took the kids and I to Lake Placid, and we had, undeniably, one of the most enjoyable days I have had in months. From start to finish, it was simple, laid-back, hilarious, and FUN. The kids had us in stitches left and right-- it's amazing how much they keep us rolling with their funny sayings and quirky habits and plain old cuteness! We ate incredibly good burgers, walked up and down and all over the place, visited the olympics training center, held hands and talked, and-- of course-- shopped.

Boy, did we shop! Daniel and the kids were great sports and let me enjoy myself with lots of browsing. It kills Daniel that I can scour 20 stores and only walk away with a few purchases, but the looking is as fun for me as the buying! Today, though, he didn't say a word about all the perusing. He's a good sport, you know.

On top of all that, the weather couldn't have been more beautiful. It was just perfect.

And, fortunately, Aubrey and I really are feeling much better. I'm still coughing, but not if I don't laugh too much (which was basically impossible today, but oh well!) and Aubrey's glands are still a bit swollen, but we feel 100% more energetic than we did just yesterday.

Future olympians???



I take shopping quite seriously, I'll have you know.



Apparently, Aubrey is not quite so serious about it.



Bronwyn had lots of fun with mannequins!



And Daniel seemed to enjoy it, too, since there are about 12 pictures like this and very few others!



My, how big they're getting!



My birthday buddy.
(Aubrey knows our birthdays are pretty close together. She insisted that this outing and special day was for her, too, and I was happy to humor her.)