Bethany's Birthday

Every Canada Day we get to enjoy two birthdays - Canada's and Bethany's! Today it was her third birthday and it hardly feels like it has been three years since I gave birth to our blondie. Time does fly and it's so nice to have birthdays so that we are forced to ponder and reflect on how good God is. He has sustained her this past year and given us much joy with her constant smiles. Her middle name "Joy" definitely reflects how we feel about her presence in our family.
To begin the day I weeded the garden after which we went swimming at the local pool in the afternoon. Tim Horton's had sponsored a free swim and so we thought we'd take advantage of this offer. All the kids loved it; even Silas who just relaxes in his infant life jacket and kicks his feet. The girls are sure getting to be good swimmers and are eagerly awaiting their swimming lessons which begin in a couple of weeks. Bethany was very proud to be wearing her new swimsuit and loved going down the kiddie slide. After coming home for a snack we headed into town to check out some local Canada Day festivities. The kids got to go in the jumpy castle, ride on an old fire engine, and practice putting out a fire with the real gear. By this time Bethany was starting to tire so it was time to head home for chicken nuggets, fries, and salad for her birthday supper. This was followed by her Strawberry Shortcake cake for dessert. This was definitely the highlight as she has been asking since Naomi's birthday (March 6th) when she is going to get her Strawberry Shortcake cake. What fun to see the delight in her eyes when I placed it in front of her. It's then that I know it's worth the effort that went into making it. After two busy days, the rest of the week seems to be quieting down. Well, actually, with the mention of Strawberry Shortcake, it seems to me that I must get to making the real thing before the strawberries are all picked over. I can't wait to have fresh strawberries on toast with butter and sugar, yummy :)

Opening Grandpa and Grandma M's card and present, definitely her favourite card (the present comes with a shopping trip when Mom takes her sometime later :)

One of her presents from us - a Doodle Pro.

Our local heritage fire engine.

Being patriotic on our fire engine ride.

All done with spraying the fire hose - not too sure about the whole thing :(

The 'Strawberry Shortcake' cake - I had a horrible time trying to make red. I almost dumped in a whole bottle of food colouring and it still came out rose colour. Oh well, Bethany loved it all the same.

Posing proudly with her cake.