The real thing

Ok, so as for Emma's actual birthday and birthday weekend - what a whirlwind weekend it was!

For starters, a sweet boy's birthday party on a farm, with horseback riding:

Behind the yellow cage, week-old baby goats:

This chicken's hair is for real.  And it always looks like this.  Now take a second and think about someone you know whose hair this resembles...because we all know someone...

Day-old baby lamb:

The beginning of Emma's horseback ride didn't go so well - she wanted to lean over and lie down on the horse because she could feel that she couldn't balance and felt like she was going to fall off (what a scary feeling that must be, especially that high off the ground).  Of course, Daddy was there to hold her and make her feel more secure.

This looks like a real smile, but it's just a camera smile...in the next picture, you can see her smiling with her mouth, but her eyes are saying, "Get me off this bleeping horse."

And later that night, a calm family dinner to celebrate the doodlebug, including some of the best cake I've ever had:

And finally, on Emma's actual birthday, I didn't take any pictures of Emma opening her gifts from us.  Again, I was too busy focusing on my darling one to really care about the pictures.  But I did snag these at dinner before she ate her favorite food, quesadillas and "chippies."  And the complimentary dessert was one of those fried ice creams with so much whipped cream on top that we didn't actually know what was underneath.  Emma only wanted the whipped cream, so Russell and I indulged on the ice cream.  After inspecting it, I could have sworn that it wasn't fried, but I think I was wrong...which means we accidentally cheated on our Lenten sacrifice of fried food...unless we decide to be those people for whom Sundays don't count, and then we're good.