Elise's birthday week

Elise's first cupcakes that
she made from a recipe!
All others were from
her own recipes. :) They
turned out great!

Poor Elise. Looking ahead a month or two ago, we noticed that her birthday was going to be jam-packed with scheduled events we couldn't really skip. Which is a far cry from the "day completely free to do anything I want, and macaroni and cheese for lunch, and a hot dog for dinner, and nearly constant sugary treats" that Elise was dreaming of.

So, like all good parents, we completely overcompensated. Partly because we'd been planning (for, like, 2 years) to go to Great Wolf Lodge anyway, and partly because of a homeschool week with ultra-low rates set for the exact week of Elise's birthday, we booked a room for the Sunday evening before Elise's birthday, and Matt took the Monday off. And not even a standard room--for just a couple dollars more, we got a Kid Cabin suite, adding exponentially to the cool factor (not that we needed to but, like I said, we were overdoing it).

Great Wolf Lodge!

Predictably, Elise lit up when we told her, as did everyone. The last time we'd been, I think the older two had been ages 1 and 3--but Kalina, at least, remembered. Elise remembered hearing of the experience and was excited to actually give it a try as a legitimate swimmer.

After a minor hiccup (okay, major to Naomi, who'd discovered about an hour too late that she'd left her beloved prairie dog at church that morning and wouldn't likely recover it until the next week), we were on our way. Kalina had planned games for the 30-minute drive and someone had packed trip snacks for it. Which was all fun in its ridiculousness.

Elise's alternate reality: that
this poster had been put up
for her. Reality: It was put
up for the kid across the hall.
Bad mommy, I didn't know
they would do such a thing!
At least we found her the
free birthday wolf ears.

We weren't prepared for how packed the place would be. Expecting it to all clear out once the birthday parties were over, we nevertheless had a great time in the water park both days. Everybody did something brave--Naomi loved the smaller slides, Elise the mediums, and Kalina two of the three huge slides (but never without a parent, of course--no complaints here!). We all enjoyed the lazy river (rarely lazily, though) and kind of the hot tub, although it was very kid-safe and therefore too cool to ever actually warm you up.

Wasn't our hotel room the best?!?

The room was everything we hoped it would be (except the weak ceiling, which didn't hold up well to the nearly constant rumblings and jumpings of the rambunctious family above us). We ordered pizza, opened a present, played a board game, acquired Elise's free happy birthday Great Wolf Lodge wolf ears, also acquired birthday treats of everyone's choice (except my and Matt's, as we were still a little too queasy from cheap pizza), attended the famous storytime and also worked on a MagiQuest adventure.

MagiQuest was made possible by our friends and neighbors who loaned us three wands. Wands that would have otherwise cost $22 each. Wands that allowed us to play a fun game throughout the hotel, opening treasure chests and lighting crystals and the like. It was "magical," late-1990s-style.

Grandpa found a winner gift!

A pre-birthday s'mores.
Elise started the fire!

We enjoyed the pool as long as we could the next day, rushing home to make it to various afternoon appointments on time. After which we celebrated Elise's birthday with Grandpa. After which we took a deep breath, and continued our plunge into Elise's epic birthday week. She adored, by the way, the whole idea of birthday week, almost as much as celebrating it.

Elise is a little terrified of birthday
candles.

The next day was Tuesday, our slight lull. We "only" made birthday cupcakes and decorated them to look like coral reefs. And by the way, the cupcakes were "tie-dye," (multi-colored layers of batter) cookies and cream. And they required a run to the store to acquire Oreos. They took, like, 3 hours start to finish and I think we had to sweep the floor twice in that time. So, a bit of a slow day. But they were amazing, decorated with marshmallow coral reefs, graham-cracker-crumb sand, sprinkle starfish (repurposed from Christmas stars) and red hots as fish. Elise was kind enough to make a plainer version for the grownups, and both versions turned out great. We each had a pre-birthday cupcake, but we didn't sing or light candles.

I think Elise had already opened a few
gifts by this point. Birthday week.

Oh, and we also enjoyed the birthday gifts Elise had already opened, testing walkie talkies and a jump-ball-thing and clay charms and a game.

Wednesday was Elise's actual birthday, and we managed a present or two before rushing off to co-op. Elise opened some flip-sequin shoes just in time to wear them out the door. She also adorned herself with the Great Wolf Lodge birthday ears and the Birthday Girl button. Just to be sure. She was sung to in at least one of her classes, and somehow received a bunch of random tattoos as a gift from someone. The fake kind--after all, she's not yet 18.

Now she can shoot her own
food! Too bad cupcakes
don't grow in forest.

Back at home, I released Elise from school, but kept her sisters to do at least a couple subjects before giving in to the exuberance of the day. Matt rushed home from work so we could open the remaining gifts, light 9 candles, make a wish and pound down a cupcake apiece before Elise's theater class. Which, ironically, she was going to need to keep mum about her birthday in, because the class is for 9- to 12-year-olds and she wasn't quite 9 when the class started. Yes, we got permission--from whomever answered the phone that day, at least--but we didn't want to risk it. Fortunately, the class had a "babbling" exercise, and she was able to babble quietly to herself that it was her birthday that day, which mostly made up for not getting to wear the birthday button.

When we returned home from class, Elise briskly finished her presents, including the grand finale: a bow and arrow set she'd been wanting. As Matt was leaving on a business trip the next day, and it was already dark out, she had to set it aside with all of her 9-year-old patience and wait for a good chance to use it.

Rainy weather sent us to
the basement for the
pinata!

Being "birthday week," the fun didn't end there. We enjoyed seeing friends at Nature Club on Friday (and receiving a couple cards), finally shooting the bow and arrow on Sunday, and, to go out with a bang, breaking open a homemade pinata Elise had been saving since she made it around April sometime, and which I had, amazingly, remembered to fill. We also enjoyed a couple more cupcakes.

Happy birthday week, with many happy returns, sweet Elise!

At 9, Elise remains, above all, enthusiastic about nature. She's held onto her dream of becoming a part-time survivalist when she grows up, and her plans have gotten more elaborate. They also include the option of moving in with Kalina and writing, drawing and baking to bring in money during the off-season (presumably, winter, as Elise is nearly always cold). We explored the local REI over the weekend, and her plans got even grander.

Elise's sisters know her
well! 

Being so enthusiastic, and living so close to a stream, Elise occasionally feels a bit alone in her obsession with nature. Fortunately, she's matched closely by several family members and even a couple friends who are happy to dive in, quite literally, right beside her. It seems that every time we hold Nature Club we catch a Really Cool Bug right before, and some amazing aquatic species. This past time, a stick bug and a tiny baby snapping turtle that we are keeping for a while, and that Elise spends much of her spare time just staring at, and then holding, and then washing her hands, and then staring again... She has a nice spot with shelves for many of her aquatic critters right by all the big windows. Sometimes the critters migrate to the kitchen table.

Elise loves to read, but this hobby vies, along with drawing, writing, crafting, jump-roping, baking/cooking and indoor roller-skating, with visiting the stream or staring at aquatic animals. She has a lovely way of drawing others in, and strangers have remarked on how kind she and Kalina are at exhibiting their numerous nature finds to other kids, young and old.

At her best, she's enthusiastic, appreciative, kind, insightful, caring, patient, gracious, generous and faithful. Elise has written in her diary every single night for many months--maybe nearly a year--and even remembers to bring it along when we travel. She often understands people at a much higher level than her youth would suggest.

Elise picked out a couple
under-the-sea decorations.
Some of them didn't hold
up so well...

Of course, we all have our rough edges, and Elise is no exception. Her famous eye-rolls have morphed into "huffs," and she, quite naturally, digs her heels deep when there's something the doesn't want to do. Completely unrelated, of course, she stepped down from piano lessons this year, having fulfilled my "just take for a few years because it's good for you and a lovely hobby" ruling and battled me on practicing for 6 months straight. She's now enrolled in a theater class (but NOT musical theater, at her request), instead. Remember how well her "voice" "projected" as a baby/toddler? It's finally going to get put to good use.

Speaking of digging in her heels, Elise has learned her times tables and long division despite long and loud protests each time either of these subjects is brought up. She also constructs alternate realities for herself. "We will have ice cream after dinner." And, twinkle in eye, she doesn't back down.

Elise has the upper-arm strength of an orangutan--another trait she's carried from babyhood. In fact, she's often in training for her career as a survivalist, and her latest routine has included climbing a pole at the playground using only her hands, and then doing 5 chin-ups at the top. To grow accustomed to the reality of eating gross food, and to strengthen herself, she's also been eating more vegetables--although this has been a bit short-lived. Still, it shows she's serious.

She loves mermaids, and especially her new mermaid tail that she uses in the pool. She's also still enchanted by the ocean, and any aquatic life she can find. Elise is more adept than she would possibly like to admit at hanging out patiently and nicely with Naomi, even if they do almost always eventually get on each others' nerves. She sees herself more as Kalina's peer than Naomi's, yet Naomi sure can be a lot of fun--And Elise adores fun. She also continues to adore snacks...and tastes...

We share a love of writing, the outdoors,
animals, books and treats.

Our adventurous Elise is terrified of amusement rides and water slides, a little iffy around horses, and extremely uncomfortable with awkward social situations, a lot like her daddy. She'd also rather not remain at home without a parent around, despite the fact that we've deemed various combinations of the kids old enough. She does pull off the leeches she picks up no problem, rides her bike as fast as she can, and will help gut and eat a trout, making her the exact opposite of her mommy for most of this paragraph.

Elise is a deeper thinker than you'd guess, given how much fun she is, and also remains fairly responsible, partly due to her discomfort with breaking rules (or, getting caught for breaking rules-- "Daddy, can't we touch the fish here? After all, if they catch us and make us leave, we're leaving right after this anyway...") and awkward social situations. She's increasingly comfortable with the idea of shooting her own meat, but still can't handle it when fictitious animals meet their demise. After all, who would write that?!? I mean, what's the point?!? They can write whatever they want, so why do they choose that?!? True story.

And all this adds up to a complex, sweet, amazing, well-loved 9-year-old. Happy birthday, Elise!!