Eight is Great

A week or so ago, Aubree turned eight.  It was never my intention to allow this.  Eight is such a significant milestone;  she is now old enough to be accountable for her own choices and be baptized!  I tried to convince her to stay seven.  Doesn't "seven" seem like such an innocent, cuddly, safe age?  She could not be persuaded.  Sigh.  

On the up side, it is exciting to see her grow and develop into her own person.  She is such a great kid and I thank Heavenly Father for the blessing of having her in my life every single day.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I pulled her out of school early to go to the pumpkin patch with us on her birthday, because I'm nice like that (but I still made her go to her violin practice that evening, because I'm mean like that).  She was initially reluctant to leave school early because she really wanted to ride the bus home so the kids would sing to her.  Eventually the promise of farm fun beat out the allure of being the singing spotlight.

She patiently waited all day till Mark got home to open her presents.  Aubree definitely gets her animation/excitement from me; watching her open presents is hilarious:

Amazed, open mouth #1 (a personalized CD from Dad)

Amazed, excited, open mouth #2 (American Girl doll clothes from G'ma and G'pa Winters)

Amazed, open mouth #3 (American Girl roller blading set)

 Aubree also got some Lego Friends, but she loved the American Girl stuff the most.  Later in the week I was reading Harry Potter aloud to her and we reached the part where Harry is trying to conjure his patronus and has to think of his most happy thought.  Aubree commented, "If that were me, I'd just think of when I got my American Girl roller-blades!"

After opening presents, we had not-cake.  Instead, Aubree opted for pudding pie and homemade ice-cream.  Yum, yum, yummers!

We don't do friend birthday parties for the 8th birthday, so we spent a lot of time discussing other fun birthday options.  Finally, Aubree decided, "What I really want to do is go to Royal City!"

A few calls and texts later, her birthday wish was granted.  We left after school got out on Friday, and came back late afternoon on Saturday.  Bryce had a soccer game on Saturday he was reluctant to miss, so he stayed home with Mark.  Maggie, Bryce's friend in Royal was completely crushed.  Her mom, Ashlee, told me that she spent the days leading up to our visit praying that she would have fun, even though Bryce wasn't there.  When we pulled in the driveway, instead of coming out to visit, she hid in their living room sobbing into a pillow.  No doubt, Bryce had a great time being home alone with Mark, but when we got back and told him all the fun stuff he missed and how sad Maggie was that he didn't come, he stated, "I'm definitely never going to miss again!"

Aubree and her girls picked up right where they left off last time we visited.  They each pulled out their American Girls and started an elaborate make-believe game that carried on until we left the following day.  Part of the imaginative play involved both the girls and the dolls having some fairly serious injuries.  Good thing they're adept at making casts and slings.

Gracee and Jaylen love to sing and are very talented.  Aubree thrilled at the opportunity to join in with them.  

Friday night we went to the local High School football game.  I don't think I've been to a high school football game since the year after I graduated high school; it brought back a lot of fond memories.  The kids had a blast running semi-wild in the field behind the field.  The big kids make a sport of climbing over the dividing fence.  Guess who wanted to join in?

We got back home late and scrambled to get kids to bed.  I stepped into the bathroom for 10 seconds to get Thane's toothbrush wet, and in that time he managed to get into my suitcase, pull out my mascara, open it, and apply it to both eyes.  The picture below is how he looked after my best scrubbing efforts.  When we got home the next day, Mark's first question when he saw Thane was, "why is he wearing make-up?"

 Saturday, Ashlee took us on apple-picking adventures.  We visited a number of her dad's orchards.  It was a cold, rainy day, but the girls were initially excited to join in.  The first orchard we visited had Fuji apples.  We split up and started gleaning, but soon heard the girls squealing with excitement; they had found a yet unpicked orchard.  That made picking almost too easy.  Thane joined in, hauling his rainbrella, and eating so many apples I worried he might get a bellyache.  

After the first orchard, the kids opted to stay warm in the car while Ashlee and I picked.  We also got a few Pink Lady apples and a bunch of Honey Crisps.  We ran out of bags, so we just filled up the back of my van!  I still have apples left a week later, despite sharing with friends and neighbors and making applesauce, apple butter, and other assorted excellent apple dishes.

We also stopped by a potato shed.  They weren't actively harvesting the potatoes when we visited, but going into the storage shed was amazing.  That place was HUGE!  The piles of potatoes two or three stories high were a site to behold.  We filled enough bags to allow me to share even more with friends and neighbors.  

 We went back to Ashlee's and while the kids played, we worked on making applesauce and dried apples.  Ashlee borrowed her friend's industrial size dehydrator and we came home with a box full of apples.  Admittedly, the cinnamon-sugar dipped apples didn't last long.  How spoiled are we??!??

All in all, Aubree made an excellent choice for a birthday activity.