4-18, A day in the life of a 6-year old

As you know, yesterday was Emalie's birthday.  She was all smiles from bedtime the night before to bedtime the day of.  She kept saying, "I just love being 6!!"  I hope she enjoyed her special day as much as we enjoyed our special time with her!

At her last bedtime being 5, I asked her what she thought the best part of being 6 would be.  She said, "learning valuable lessons."  What six year old says that?!?  What a smartie she is!

Emalie's birthday breakfast-- her colored Easter egg.... with a photo bomb from her dad.

Her karate school sent her this birthday wish.  She said, "How did they know I like Spiderman."  My response, "Seriously?!?!"  Lol.....

A little Em face amidst all her birthday balloons.

Em and I had special mom and daughter time at the movie matinee:
"Boss Baby".

She received a lot of great gifts (thank you, everyone!).  This was one of her favorites from her brother-- a remote control, red guy on an ATV.  She's been asking for that for about 4 months!!

Her dinner choice after karate class:  the hibachi grill at Mt. Fuji.  

I had to laugh when we told the server it was her birthday.  She said, "I remember- she told me last week".  Hahaha.
How sweet they brought her a birthday dessert.  I was surprised she didn't crawl under the table when the tambourine came out and everyone starting singing!  

The festivities were wrapped up with the cake we made together earlier in the day-- Grandma O's chocolate cake recipe.  Pretty cute how she insisted on spelling out her entire name on the cake with the candies.

I'd say birthday #6 was a success!

4-18, She's 6!!

We don't need a reason to go down into the studio and have some fun, but today we HAD a special reason!  Can you believe she's 6?!?!  Happy birthday, 'baby girl'!!

We were placing bets when that tooth was going to fall out-- Easter, birthday?!
Nope, not yet- but it's getting more wiggly each day!

It's been such a long time since I've seen a sweet expression like this from her.
Makes my heart melt!

Laughing and joking-- that's more her spirit!

Straight on smile-- that's the best. 

Cracking herself up as usual.  Like mother, like daughter.  Ha!

She's been in this 'head smacking' stage for the past month or two.  What a character. 

No session is ever complete without her friends.

We've got a fun day planned for her.  More pictures to follow later!

4-16, Roxborough State Park

We have been wanting to go see Roxborough State Park since my brother first told us about it after we moved here.  He has not been to it himself, but flies over it all the time and has mentioned how neat it looks.  "Neat" is definitely right.  Although the red rock formations reminded us of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Roxborough has a more remote feeling to it.  It was a 40 minute drive from our house, but drew out the feeling of a weekend away.  That's pretty awesome, right?  Have breakfast at home, a small hike and picnic lunch and be home by noon-- all the while feeling like you've spent the weekend camping?  Not too shabby.  We look forward to exploring more of the trails in this beautiful park.

Proof that we can still get the teenager to come with us.... sometimes!

Peek-a-boo-- I see you!  Sven and I decided we wanted to live in this historic home in the middle of the park.  It was just the right size with views out every window.  I'm sure it was a 'mansion' in its day.  Honestly, I'm so thrilled with this image-- it was totally spontaneous and I didn't even have time to change my camera settings.  I love the additional reflections in the window of the trees behind me.  

Turn your head to the left and who do you see?  Hint:  a major Denver park is named after this President because of this rock's likeness.  Leave your guesses in the comments below!! 

A moment frozen in time to remember all of the hikes taken just like this with Em on Sven's shoulders.  Although she's just days away from being 6, we didn't have the heart to have her feet suffer this hike any longer.  Unfortunately, these great hiking boots we purchased for her in Montana last summer somehow shrunk over the winter.  (Imagine that!)  So, Sven's shoulders suffered instead, thus the "this is the LAST ride you'll get on my shoulders.  You're too big!!"  And my reaction, "Wait!  I need a picture!"

Look at this little cutie waiting for us at the end of the trail!

4-16, Easter Medley

I had to rub my eyes in wonder when I saw that my last post to this blog was in January.  That just doesn't seem possible.  As I'm sure it feels to you all as well, time just keeps speeding up.  Sorry I don't share as much of our family life as I used to with you.  It sort of feels like we're in another transition period.  We spend more time at home during the winter months and there just isn't a lot to photograph or share, it seems.  When we lived in Maryland, we were always on the go 'seeing and doing'.  Here, we're more just 'being'.  I'm sure as the summer months approach, I'll have more to share with all of you.  Here is  a start.  I'll actually have two posts for today, since I've split up some weekend photos.  This post is a strange assortment.  Lol.... I guess this blog does capture our lives pretty well after all!

I'll try to save him as much embarrassment as possible, but you can guess what happened in the Krauss Haus this weekend.  Yep, you got it-- a shaving lesson.  Holy smokes.  Where is my little, blonde, curly-haired boy that used to toddle around pointing at planes in the sky?  See, I'll stop right there.  If I don't acknowledge it too much, it can't possibly be really happening, right?

Not to mention he's taller and heavier than me now.  Em's comparison is just in there for comic relief.  =)   

And on to Easter morning, eggs, candy, family and pets......

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend.  As you'll be able to see in my next post, we did!