A Happy Birthday for Natalie

Natalie is 6 now. I see so much of myself in her, which is so wonderful and so scary at the same time. She is extremely well behaved and mild mannered in church and school (as I was), but it's a different story at home (which was also true for me).  She really loves My Little Pony right now, so this is how we set up her presents on the morning of her birthday. I swear I always try to start traditions, and they never stick, but one that we do have is a trail of candy leading to presents in the morning. Natalie chose Rolos. She actually woke up on her birthday, went downstairs, and opened her presents all by herself while the rest of us slept. I would have never guessed she would do that! I didn't really mind. It's her day right?

She brought some Oreos for her classmates. I am a little bit anti-cupcake when it comes to school birthday treats. They have to be store bought, so they don't taste great. They are messy. And they usually have crazy neon frosting that stains. We will just bring packaged cookies, thank you.

This was a little brotherly love on Natalie's birthday. He left these on her bed, and she screamed so loudly I came running to see who had lost a limb.

No birthday parties this year for us. Natalie chose noodles and parmesan cheese, french bread, and strawberries for dinner. Then brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. For her birthday activity she wanted to go on a hike, which worked out great because we had tentative plans for one with Nate's friend from his fellowship. 

The more I see of Maryland and Virginia the more impressed I am. It's so beautiful and green.

We went on the Billy Goat Trail. There's a lot of rock hopping, which the kids absolutely loved.

This here is a dirty little billy goat.

We were all very hot and tired by the time we finished. Another fun family hike in the books.