Sweet Girl

Weekend before last, we celebrated my niece Anna's 10th birthday. Her parents and I reminisced about the day she was born and how the decade has gone by so quickly. She is such a sweet, caring girl. She's super smart and creative in many ways. And she just has a radiance about her that makes it seem like the sun is shining when she smiles.

She debated over her party this year. Options abounded: a sleepover? a spa party? Olympic-theme? But she decided on a Mystery party, and as usual, her mom organized a great event. The games culminated in a mystery about "who stole the cake." Clues were hidden around the playground in a scavenger hunt style, and the clues pointed to one of the party guests. All the sleuths were in the dark until they began fingerprinting the guests to match the print with one recovered "at the scene." And then it came out: it was me! Anna took it so seriously, she asked me later, "Why did you steal the cake?" Of course, I hadn't really -- and it was always just at the house waiting for the proper unveiling -- but it was cute how she had gotten so wrapped up in the game.

And the cake! OMG, have we been feasting. Bro-in-law Anthony made the party cake -- in the shape of a magnifying glass. The actual day of Anna's birthday, I made cupcakes and took them to school. And that night, we had an INCREDIBLE chocolate cake that IS TO DIE FOR. (I'm actually craving it again tonight.) It's a good thing I'm in high gear with triathlon training, because it's been a lot of sugar!