A More Adventurous Birthday Than Expected

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver:

For Princess Bink's 9th birthday we decided to take a hike. When we arrived at the county park, we discovered that the elk in the reserve there were being fed. It was a great birthday gift for the Bink, because she got up close and personal with a real, live bull elk. Mr. Elk came right up to the fence and allowed her (and her siblings) to feed him grass through the fence!

Unfortunately, later Princess Bink got her fingers nibbled, but not by an elk. She was helping prepare her own birthday dinner when she accidentally cut herself with a kitchen knife. Mom cuddled her and held her, applying direct pressure like the experienced Mom she is, but we still needed to visit the doctor's office to get the bleeding stopped.

The injury did allow us to see a new side of 6-year-old Oksana who never left Princess Bink's side. Oksana accompanied us to the doctor's office, 'reading' books to her sister all the way (actually, Oksana can't read yet, but she has a wonderful imagination and made up 'stories', complete with inflection). She was a great support to Princess Bink.

Princess Bink finished off her day on a happy note, opening gifts and eating Blue Bunny ice cream and red velvet cake decorated by her dad. (It says "Pink-4-Bink"). In the picture below, Bink is holding her new doll, Grace. We all think Grace looks a lot like, Meddie Grace, the new daughter of our friends the Nordstroms. Princess Bink had asked for and dreamed of getting this particular doll for weeks. When she received "Grace", she looked at us with her big blue eyes and told us solemnly that she had just adopted her from Ethiopia.