My presents were a cardboard fish, a plant in a pot that Elise had hand painted, a couple of nice books, a watch and a key chain Elise made at school. Quite a haul! Oh, and I got pretzels dipped in chocolate, again made by Elise at school. She volunteered to help me eat them. Go figure.
After a nice breakfast, we went to the "Mini Metal", a bike race for kids that follows the Test of Metal, a serious 70-km mountain bike race. Last year, Elise did not finish this race (a "DNF"). She was very intimidated by the crowds and jostling and, through tears, asked to stop early, which we of course obliged. She was visibly nervous about doing it this year, despite being a stronger rider, but we pressed her to try and promised some kind of reward afterward. We went early and she did about five training laps - confidence built quickly. She rode the "race" and finished! A better experience than last year, most definitely.
Later on, we went to Alice Lake to get some exercise and ran two laps around the lake, which I'd guess is between two and three kilometres, if not more. She did well, and only needed to stop four times: once to pee, once to take off her jacket, once to pet the goslings, and finally to pick some salmon berries.
Before dinner, Elise and I went to see the new movie Madagascar 3, which was her prize for entering the Mini Metal. It was great, and we both enjoyed it. A good day...
Finally, a couple of weeks ago we went to Josie Clifford's birthday. I've included a few photos from the day. The first is the kids from the party (Josie and her sister Sophia in the middle), the second is Elise climbing the clothesline pole (this is her new thing, and she's darn good at it), and the last is the cake. Click on the picture and look closely at the look on Elise's face and the way she's gripping her plate in anticipation. She's my daughter, that's for sure!
Summer is just around the corner, but you'd never know it after the June we've had. Yuck...
