eleanor turns seven

this year on january 29,  eleanor isobel turned seven. SEVEN. in a way it seems as if she has been around my whole life, but it also feels like she is still a toddling babe who just learned how to use the potty and count her fingers. neither is true. she is seven. she has not been around as long as i have and she is no longer a tiny tot. she is a little girl. in the thick of her childhood. 

usually we have a themed party for her ...generally it's pink and sparkly. i make a cake and her cousins and grandparents come over to celebrate. well, this year we changed it up a bit. we decided to skip a party and go away for the weekend. we stayed overnight at an indoor water park. she. had. a. blast. her cousins were able to come along, too and it was the sweetest time. i did not get one photo of her because i barely touched my phone the whole weekend. it felt good to just exist and have fun. i did manage to take a photo of wolfgang right after he woke up from a nap ... he fell asleep on his daddy while floating along the lazy river. it was a precious sight. for the first time, eleanor went down the BIG slides. you know the really tall, enclosed ones ... oh my. i was nervous as first, but after going down it once alone she was a pro. like i said before ... she really isn't a toddler anymore. we had such a good time that we will probably do the same thing next year. swimming in the middle of winter? it was exactly what we needed. 

the day of her birthday she woke up to a room filled with balloons and a few gifts. we got her a set of fairy wings, a tiara and this. i also baked her a small chocolate cake the night before and we sang happy birthday and made wishes. i think her favorite gift was that i canceled school for the day. she bounced around the house and ate cake and wore her fairy princess ballerina costume. she was a happy, sweet, thankful girl.