Brenna's 9th Birthday

Another year has come and gone and it's seems to be the fastest one yet.  I feel like I just wrote this post yesterday for her 8th birthday.  But, while the time seems to have passed quickly, the changes have been great.

She's done a lot of growing up in the last year.  She's slowly made the transition from "little kid" to "big kid".  She notices much more about the world around her, which has led to some interesting discussions.  She also continues to grow in her own personality.  She continues to be the most determined and strong willed (yet impatient) child I know, and it spans over all aspects of her life.  She likes to succeed (which is my polite way of saying she likes to win.....at everything!) and we are constantly trying to teach the importance of character, even in the disappointments.  She likes to be right!  She never backs down in a disagreement.  Unfortunately, while I do my best to teach her that it's ok to have your own opinion and you don't always have to agree, she hasn't quite learned the importance of picking your battles!  So, it seems we're always in a debate about some trivial issue.  While all of this may sound like she's a fussy child and she does have her moments, I can assure you that she is very much a happy, enjoy-life-to-the-fullest, joyful kid and looks at life from a positive prospective.  All that strong will and determination makes her confident in herself.  She has no insecurities and I hope she keeps that confidence as we head into those tough middle-school years.  She is very independent and prefers to manage things on her own, while still needing a few reminders from mom on occasion.  She's very smart and learns quickly.  She has a very analytical mind and her favorite games are the ones that require strategy, like Rook or Mexican Train dominoes.  Jacob's not the type to "let her win" and she recently celebrated the great achievement of besting her daddy (and me, of course) for the first time in a Rook match.  God has a special plan for this child and I can see Him working in her life.  She is the greatest blessing God has ever given me and Jacob and we pray for her constantly. 

This year she picked flowers for a birthday party theme and we sat down to build her invitation together.  She decided to have the party at home in the backyard and after much negotiation we agreed to just invite her girl friends.  Decorating for the party is always part of the fun and we found some really cute flower decor to go with our theme.  I usually just order a birthday cake or cupcake for the convenience, but this year Brenna talked me into baking our own.  We dedicated the whole day before the party to putting up party decorations and baking cupcakes.  She had a great time frosting her cupcakes with a rainbow of icing colors.  She decorated each one with a specific friend in mind.

Niagara Falls and Great Wolf Lodge

As soon as we found out we were coming to Canada I stopped off by the book store and picked up a copy Frommer's Canada to browse.  That's when I realized that Niagara Falls was only about a three hour drive from Sarnia.  I came home and told Jacob that we had to go!  For one reason or another, it took us two and half years to get there.  Jacob's time has been limited this summer due to work commitments, so we tried to squeeze in a short two-night trip over the July holiday weekend.

We drove down on Sunday to avoid the Canada Day crowds.  We got an early start and were in Niagara before noon.  We decided to stop off by the hotel to see if they could hold our luggage until check-in while we toured the Niagara Falls area.  We were surprised to hear that they already had a room available so we checked-in and got settled into our room.  Another benefit to the trip was this was our first stay at Great Wolf Lodge.  It definitely lived up to all it's rave reviews from friends and the trip turned out to be more about Great Wolf than Niagara.  She was so excited with the whole place and loved having her own separated little space with TV and bunk bed.  After promising that we would have time to try everything at the hotel, we convinced her to leave so we could go tour Niagara Falls.

Canada Day in Detroit

Just as American's celebrate Independence Day on the July 4th, Canadian's show their nation's pride on Canada Day on July 1st.  This year we mixed up our celebrations and spent Canada Day in the States with a fun day trip to Detroit and we celebrated Independence Day in Canada with a trip to Niagara Falls (post to coming up).

For Canada Day we decided to drive into Detroit to explore Great Lakes Crossing.  It's a large indoor outlet mall and entertainment complex.  Lots of friends had raved about what a great day trip it was. This was another item on my hit list of places I wanted to visit while we're here, and it seemed like Canada Day would offer a great chance to do it since Jacob had the day off and Brenna just got of school the day before.  We left first thing in the morning and made a short detour to Oakland University for a special treat.  We got to enjoy the only Chick-fil-A that Detroit has to offer that doesn't require a security pass (the only other one is in the McNamara terminal of the Detroit Airport).  We walked around the Student Union a little bit while we waited for the food court to open.  Brenna enjoyed the Saints and Sinners Fountain.