Birthday girl

Our girl has turned three - who can believe that?

Thank you to everyone who sent a pressie her way - Olivia was a very lucky girl.

We spent the morning at gymnastics. After that we picked up her Dora the Explorer ice cream cake - Dora was for Olivia, the ice cream was for Ashley!

We took everyone out for a birthday lunch at the Riverhouse, which was nice, even though she only wanted to order chips. Oh well, that is pretty standard.
Upon hearing that it was her birthday, the staff came around offering a bowl of ice-cream or "rainbow sherbet" for her, "on the house". She chose the rainbow sherbet. Would you believe that she is not really a big ice cream fan...very unStrauss-like, isn't she! Don't worry, they brought out a bowl for Alex as well - very insightful of them, don't you think.

We had one last surprise for her, which was to take her to Toys'R Us and choose a big girl bike. It was a bit of a task in the end, since T 'R U is FILLED with a thousand enticing objects for the little person and steering her back to the bikes was a bit of a struggle in the end, but "the chosen one" was found in the end (shown here). Olivia seems to really like it. We had to "ride" down to the shops the other day. She had never requested going for a ride there before, but she apparently wanted to show "everyone" her new wheels. She has resented the stroller with full fury for quite some months now - she reckons strollers are for babies. I know it is true. She is capable of walking longer distances by herself, but I shove her in it so I can go for a good walk...walking is necessary for my overall sanity.

Anyway, enjoy these recent pictures of us all; they were taken in the last month. Hope this email finds you all well, and have a Happy Easter.