Happy Birthday to Mama!

On Sunday, Mama turned 34!
On Saturday night, I let Markus know that he was henceforth responsible for baking my birthday cake. Every year, I bake my own, and it's just not the same. Of course, he had never baked anything before...so it was interesting. And wonderful! I thought a simple coffee cake would be a good start, so he invited the girls to help him first thing in the morning.



I stood by to watch, photograph and provide a bit of quality control (salted butter was put away, flour was scaled back from a tightly packed-down measure...). The girls had a blast, and I loved it too! Just watching the three of them felt like a birthday present right there. This will definitely be part of future Mama birthdays!

When the cake was ready, they brought me their homemade card and a present.



Afterwards, we all enjoyed playing in the backyard for a good while. Stephanie stayed in the swing for ages! I set up a lounge chair in the sun and knitted. Ellie ran amok while Papa blew bubbles (and pushed Stephanie in the swing). It was fabulous! Simple, good, family fun and a very relaxing birthday.






Late in the morning, we piled into the car and drove out to the Millbrook Winery in Jarrahdale for lunch. Alas, they scaled back their outdoors menu quite a bit, so Mama was left cranky with low blood sugar. Oh well. We made the most of the trip by walking a while on a nature trail in Jarrahdale. The girls really enjoyed themselves until they hit their done mark, and then we trekked back to the car and drove on home.





All in all, it was a very nice day. A low-key day was called for given all the mayhem we've had lately, but next year, there needs to be a party! I missed celebrating with friends and family, though as ever am I so thankful for and blessed by my own little family here. Happy Birthday to me!