Seven years old

Lydia is seven years old today. She enjoyed ice skating on her birthday last year, but wanted to include friends this year, so Nicole planned an outing with a few classmates. She'll have a bigger party tomorrow at taekwondo.

We started the day with sourdough waffles. I tried using my new cast iron waffle iron (cast waffle iron?). Unfortunately, I didn't get it hot enough before the first waffle, and it stuck, so the old waffle iron was pressed into use while Dad and I cleaned out the new one. In the end, we made two successfully with the new iron.

Lydia's friends Katie, James, and Harper arrived starting around 10:30, and we caught the 11:04 bus downtown. We got off at 3rd and Pine and walked in the rain to Westlake Center, where there's a candy store with Harry Potter candy. Most of the kids opted for conventional candy, though. There we met Lydia's fourth friend, Sadie, and her family. They joined us on the monorail to Seattle Center.

At Seattle Center is Fisher Pavilion, which converts into a skating rink for the holiday season. Everyone got on skates, and much fun was had. Karen arrived a little later to join us and teach Rachel some new moves. Colin spent most of the time using a walker, which he could get going surprisingly fast. I'm afraid he may have crashed into more people than we realized. Eric tried the walker for a little bit, but mostly wanted to hold both my hands.

Parents came to pick up all the friends, and Karen left from the pavilion, so the six of us were on our own by about 2:30. (Dad went down to Burien to sample tea during the party.) We stopped at the armory and got bagels, then quickly moved along to catch the 2:53 bus a few blocks away. Nicole almost missed the bus, as she had wandered up the street to look at a pottery studio, and the bus came three minutes earlier than anticipated.

Back home, Eric took a nap, and Lydia opened her presents from Mom, Tanya, and the Taylors. Thanks! Nicole worked on the chocolate carrot cheesecake for tomorrow, and the kids read for a little, but mostly played, until the cake was out of the oven and it was time to go to dinner. Lydia wanted dumplings, so we headed up north to 145th and Greenwood, where Little Tings Dumplings can be found. We ordered four plates initially, 15 dumplings apiece, but that clearly wasn't enough, so we ordered another, and then another. Everyone ate well, but Eric still wanted more "eatballs".

We continued our version of 13 desserts with cajeta tamales to finish off the night. Now our spunky seven-year-old is in bed. She has stopped singing "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas", and may even have fallen asleep.