Michael's Birthday

We just got home from hosting a 4 1/2 hour birthday party and I still have energy left! (Enough to post for the first time in months.) Michael turned 8 on Monday. We celebrated as a family then. Tonight we took three of his friends (and one of Katherine's) to a State Park 1/2 hour from our home. Even though the weather has been rainy and tonight there was a 50-60% chance of thunderstorms we risked it. In the end it was a beautiful evening -- perfect temperature, no bugs, great kids, on a few drops of rain.

We started by taking the kids on a 1.5 mile self-guided nature hike. We've been on it before a couple of years ago and loved it. I gave each of the kids a pencil and little notebook to take notes on what they saw. I was amazed at how often the little boys would stop to write notes in their notebooks. It was darling. Finally as the thunder rumbled in the distance and a few rain drops fell I had to encourage them to just hike!

We then built a fire and roasted hot dogs. The kids loved roasting the hot dogs, and they were great around the fire. I usually get so nervous with kids around a campfire that we don't build them even when we camp for several days. But they all did so well! We then ate dinner and roasted marshmallows. Then we sang to Michael and he blew out the candles on his 'Campfire Cake.'

What a great Dad!

As James and I cleaned up and put out the fire I gave each of the kids a new flashlight. It was just starting to be dusk. And they chased around with their flashlights. Then we opened the gifts and headed home. It was so nice to be out. I just wished we were camping and could have spent the night.