Birthday by the Bay

I got a beautiful day for my birthday and we spent the afternoon at Clayton Beach.  The weather could not  have been more perfect.  After we played at the beach for awhile we got pizza in Fairhaven and had a picnic at Marine Park.  A lovely  day!

Birthday Serenade

Tulip Tradition

We made our annual visit to the tulip fields with Ava this week.  Definitely our most enjoyable  experience yet.  Last year as a 3 year old she had a hard time enjoying the beautiful flowers while leaving them attached to their stems, and we ended up having to make a hasty and somewhat noisy retreat.  This year was much different.

 As a 4 year old she was fine with leaving them intact, and this time the real delights for her were the many vast mud puddles.  She had put together her own eclectic outfit, and luckily it included rain boots.  She splashed happily through each one, and was only lured away with talk of ice cream, being served in Tulip Town.

Happy girl at Hovander

Hyacinths

Are my favorite flower.  This is because:
*they are beautiful and smell heavenly
*they remind me of my grandma
*they come along just when you need them most

I went with my neighbor Lousia tonight to hear Alexander McCall Smith, the author of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series as well as other series set in Scotland, and, it turns out, a multitude of other books, including some for children and some professional texts.  I had expected him to be interesting and entertaining, being such an eclectic and multi-talented person, and my expectations were exceeded!  I bought this book:

and he autographed it.
Extra bonus:  David Lanz was also there, to perform some of his beautiful piano music.

Cutie Patootie

Spent a lovely hour or so with Ava at the Barkley Starbucks today.    Much of her time was spent making her way through the mountain of whipped cream perched on the top of her cup. But we also found time for talking, people watching, dog and bird watching, coloring and sharing a slice of lemon pound cake.  Sweet times!