Kaydree's 8th

Yes, I went on and on about Kaydree's baptism day...but a quick word about how we celebrated her 8th.  She was a very lucky girl to have Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Papa all in town together.  First, I made her the richest cake I've ever tasted in my life.

Double decker brownie cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting and imported reese's peanut butter cups (smuggled in by the one and only Tom Carver, since you can't find them here in the NL)

Kaydree finally got the bigger bike she's been needing.  I found one that was her favorite color and just her size for a steal on markt plaats (the dutch craig's list).  Perfect, since she'll grow out of it quickly and need a bigger one soon enough anyway.  Shhh...don't tell her it's used.

For dinner, we did what any Rotterdam family with a houseful of tourists would do...we went to the harbor and boarded the Pancake boat so we could cruise around and stuff face for a few hours.

The kids took full advantage of the ball pit, naturally.

  Kaydree is such a fun girl.  Right now she is an interesting mix of strong-willed and shy, opinionated and easy-going, sweet and sassy.  It's really nice that she's at an age that Ryan and I can stand back and watch her make more and more choices for herself.  It's so neat to watch her evolve and develop her own unique character.  She loves purple, American girl books and movies, swimming, and crafts.  Her best friends at school are Jenny and Ellie.  She is working hard to learn her times tables and write in cursive.  She is such a beautiful person, inside and out.