I am now the lucky mother of one very sweet eight year old. The last stretch of September and the beginning of October are a fairly busy time for the Russell family, with my birthday and Harriet's birthday in September and then my niece James, my dad and Mila all together at the beginning of October.
On Friday the ninth, Mila turned eight and had a sleepover party at her dad's, which, by all accounts, went very well. I got my hands on her on the Saturday, which happened to be my dad's actual birthday and he was up staying with us so that was a bonus!
We headed out to Mission Bay for some playground fun and a picnic lunch with bacon and egg pie (Mila loves pies) and veges and raspberry suckies and other such yummy things. We also set up Mila's new soccer goal and had some fun kicking the ball at it and whoever had the misfortune of being goalie. But the weather wasn't overly pleasant, so we moved on kinda quickly.
Next stop was Lilliputt, where we all played minigolf on the original course, which was way quieter than the T-Rex one. Both girls got a hole-in-one on the first hole, so that was a pretty good way to get things started. Ultimate winner was Ben, with Grandad a close second. Us ladies were a little off the pace, it's gotta be said. Still it was fun and I think the girls enjoyed it, although Mila did look set to throw her club on a few occasions.
We headed back towards home after that, stopping for ice cream at the Tannery. I had a golden syrup flavoured ice cream, which was delicious. June-bug went for chocolate, Mila had cookies and cream, Dad had a lemon curd one and Ben opted for strawberries and chocolate. Overall consensus is that Kohu Rd ice cream is the biz.
After that it was just home for some gardening, more football, chicken curry for dinner, birthday cake and a movie. All in all a pretty sweet way to celebrate a pretty sweet kid's big day.
I swear, I can't face my children's birthdays without thinking back to the day they were born. For Mila that means memories of an atrocious labour that seemed to last an eternity, being admitted to hospital and then finally having my little girl wrapped up beside me (actually, not so little, a whopping 9+ pounds).
I remember looking at her and feeling the weirdest rush of emotions- she at once seemed so alien and familiar. I thought she was weird looking but also the most beautiful thing I had ever clamped my eyes on.
I wasn't great at parenting a young baby its gotta be said, but it didn't seem to put Mila off. She has been my staunchest supporter and ally from the get go. She gives me the best cuddles, and the best advice when I lose my way. She is great for a laugh, she loves a practical joke (as long as she's not the butt of it), she loves family, friends and most of all every kind of meal be it savoury or sweet. Everyday I think how lucky I am to have her.
Happy birthday Mila!
And it's been a while, but here some things I've been loving over the past month
* My new yoga course at The Yoga Ground. I'm halfway through the eight week course and starting to feel like i'm finding my feet... or hamstrings, or glutes, or triceps.....
*Our vege garden, which is slowly starting to take shape. Dad has helped us plant some seedlings and we have built a couple of raised beds to accommodate a lot of veges over the coming summer months. I'm so excited!
*Tacos. Specifically the mushroom one I had at Mexico, when we all celebrated my friend's 40th and the pulled beef one I had at Miss Clawdy's where we went for a bang-up meal for Dad and James' birthdays.
*Friends, wine, summer plans. Dreaming and scheming about New Years Eve and camping fun over a glass or two of wine in the late afternoon sunshine with a friend, is the perfect way to round out the weekend imo.
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