A Birthday Celebration

Dear Children,

Livia had a birthday this month. She is now six years old! It’s hard to believe, because I can still remember her as a baby. Baby Livia would tackle every obstacle head-on, wearing a big smile, and with a gleam in her eye. In many ways she’s still like that, only she’s bigger now and doesn’t drool so much.

Livia’s birthday provided us with a good reason to use the Friendly’s gift card that we had received for Christmas. You had been to restaurants before, but you had never been to one that catered to children. Here they gave you crowns to wear, and your own special menu that had only things that kids like, such as hot dogs and hamburgers. And every meal came with an ice cream. The staff sang a birthday song to Livia when they brought out her ice-cream sundae. You both loved the place, and Marshall wants to go there for his birthday.

You especially enjoyed your ice cream. Livia finished her sundae, then kept scraping her cup with her spoon, trying to get every last bit of ice cream. That girl really likes her sweets! Marshall got a build-your-own sundae, which came with little cups of fudge sauce, M&M’s, and gummy bears on the side. He poured on the “tar” and then carefully stuck the candies into it. But he saved a few candies for us, because he’s nice like that.

Afterward we went to the store to buy Livia some Pokemon cards, because that’s what she wanted more than anything else. Marshall also got a set of cards, but he had to pay for part of it, because it wasn’t his birthday. He felt his money was well spent, though, because he got an awesome card, which he brought to school the next day for show-and-tell. We worried all day that he might lose the card at school (or that someone might take it from him), but he came home with a big smile on his face. The other kids had been impressed. It was great to see him so excited.

Livia is thrilled with her cards, too. I think she likes them as much for cuteness as for their battle strengths. That might give Marshall the advantage when they play against each other. But, since Livia often wins at other games, perhaps it’s for the best. Everybody deserves to be a winner, and everyone should know what it feels like to lose from time to time. Win or lose, I hope you will both continue to enjoy your cards for years to come.

I don’t know if dinner at Friendly’s followed by a trip to the toy store will become a new birthday tradition, but it sure was fun this time.

Love,

Mom