Maisie is 9!

Last week was Maisie’s 9^th birthday!

Instead of a friends party this year, she asked to go up north to The Edge. The Edgewater is a hotel with a waterpark that she and Ella love! Happily, her BFF Ophelia was able to come with us. It was a quick trip – the girls were off school on Friday the 30^th, so we went up in the morning, hunted for agates on the shore of Lake Superior...

watched the bridge go up, and then got an early lunch at Grandma's.

Lunch complete with hot chocolate - it's colder by the lake!

By noon we were swimming and playing in the waterpark!

Ella, Maisie, Tiki Tom, and Ophelia

Saturday morning the girls got up early. After a quick breakfast, it was back to the waterpark for a few hours, before it was time to head back to Minneapolis for trick or treating. We had so much fun at the Edge with Ophelia. It was a great alternative to a birthday party!

Maisie’s actual birthday was on a Tuesday, so we went to dinner at her favorite restaurant (a buffet place on Lake Street) with Gramma Liisa. Our server caught wind of the birthday, and they brought her out a little dessert plate with the most amazing candle! 

It looked like a firework at first, and then opened up to reveal a flower, with a little candle on each petal.

It was so cool. Maisie was completely delighted!

Then this weekend, we had dinner with Auntie Laura, Dylan, and Dan at their house, which was awesomely fun. Check out the Portal cake they made for her – she loved it!

At 9, Maisie is just a great person. She loves Pokemon, anime, her family, koalas, reading, drawing, and cooking. She’s beginning to act a little tween-y sometimes, but still loves to snuggle and be read to.

At Convergence 2015 - she loved this person's cosplay of Lucy from Fairy Tale, a favorite anime.

She’s smart and funny, a caring friend, and a fierce fencer.

She told me the other day that she’s glad that I’m her mom. I told her that I’m glad she’s my kid, and it’s true! She’s a wonderful person and I can’t wait to see who she grows up to be.