Happy Birthday to Emma!

Well, our baby girl turned seven years old yesterday. Hard to believe she's that old. She looks so much older than seven in this picture, to me.

Here she is with her lovely assistant, Thomas, showcasing one of her gifts: the Playmobil airplane, complete with lavatory with a see-through door. (Apparently the Playmobil figures don't have privacy issues.) She also received the matching airport, not pictured. Papa and Nana and Mommy and Daddy went in on that gift.

Emma loves to draw. And draw. And draw. If you stay still long enough, she will draw on you. So we got her a couple of her very own sketchbooks.

She also received an American Girl doll. This one is Molly.

Blowing out her candles. She chose the cake, which technically is cupcakes. It's a shark/buoy/fish/channel marker motif. From the book Hello, Cupcake....one of our favorite cake resources.

Here's a close-up of one of the sharks. He looks pretty ferocious doesn't he. I'd hate to be swimming in frosting and come across him.

But alas, poor Jaws was no match for my crew. Emma made short work of him.

And Thomas spared no mercy in devouring his companion.
It was a strange gathering without the Easons, who are on their family megatrip and blogging about it too. But we had Papa and Nana there and we all had a good time. Emma picked homemade chicken noodle soup (with homemade noodles courtesy of Audrey) and buttermilk biscuits for her birthday dinner.

Grandma and Grandpa Finlayson gave Emma the American Girl doll and a lovely Sunday dress. Grandma and Grandpa....this is just for you: