Emma's Nearly 6 Party

This girl of mine will turn 6 tomorrow. We celebrated today, since we will be on the road again at the crack of dawn. Jon's family loves these "pink cookies" made from Larry's House of Cakes in Marion, IL. We bought 3 dozen and made a cookie cake for Em. I also bought myself a Cream Horn. I almost fainted from pure delight. There was cream on my nose, around my mouth, powdered sugar dusting my shirt...I digress...back to the birthday girl.

We had to get creative to make the candles stay upright on the hardened icing. We held a caramel till it got nice and soft, then pulled off small pieces and made little balls to hold the candles and stick to the cookies. It worked well. Mostly. After I lit the candles, I got a little anxious that my fingers were going to get burned by the dwindling match. I hurried and blew it out, simutaneously blowing out Emma's lit birthday candles. Oops. I didn't even get to make a wish. They lit easier the second time anyway.

After the first round of cookie-eating we fed some nice ducks.

Then came the geese. They were large and in charge.

We ran from them.

But they weren't really that bad after all. Emma has been wanting to meet "the other Emma" cousin for a very long time. Emma and Emma Kate became fast friends, even if they both have to come running anytime an Emma is called for.

Just before we left for the party we were at the mall and the kids were asking for quarters to buy sweets from a candy machine. Jon told Emma she could have one if she could tell him which president's face was on the coin. She asked sweetly, "President Gordon B. Hinckley"? We gave her the quarter anyway. It is her birthday, after all. Almost.