The “Birthday Week”

Around these parts it’s a bit of a tradition that birthday celebrations last at least a week. It is rare that we have a one off massive “birthday party”, as we prefer to drag things out as long as possible. Last week Effie received a couple of outfits for her dolls that she had had her eyes on for quite a while. And then when we got back from our trip, Memet gave Effie a much appreciated book on how to sew your own doll clothes. Effie immediately went to work on making a kerchief/hat and has big plans for future creations.



Little did Grandma know that by giving Effie her own version of Mario Kart for DS, Grandma herself would turn around and become a player. Shocking! Effie also received some Halloween-themed nail polish from cousins Braeden and Keegan and a Webkinz mouse pad that she is most proud of (“see how easily the mouse now slides around!”) and which has rejuvenated her interest in all things Webkinz - ie: less computer-time for the rest of us.



And here’s a funny thing about Effie and gifts… last year, cousin Mini gave Effie a hoody/dress/not-sure-what-you-call-it thing that got filed away unworn for a good 10 months only to be brought out of the woodwork when she received something similar from Grandma for her birthday this year (she’s a good filer - knows exactly where such things are hidden - but ask her where she flung her pants that she wore that morning and she hasn’t a clue!). So there’s hope yet for all the clothes Fergus has recently received but have yet to be touched!?!

It may look like she's saying "I really don't care about your rock sculpture Daddy!"... but she does care about it... she thinks it looks like a lovely bird!!!

Then we received a bonus, unexpected addition to the birthday week celebration on Saturday when Uncle Pump crawled out of his bear den and made the trek to the island to give us a wonderful visit on a rare warm and sunny day. We managed to wear him out with Nintendo, a walk around the property and a viewing of the “Jungle Book”.