Svea is 6!!

 Svea turned an unbelievable six years old just last week.

Birthday breakfast of the traditional monkey bread.

And then Svea spent the first of her birthday money: she bought a water buffalo for a lady in Pakistan.  No kidding! (She will be paid back by the lady; Svea gave her a loan.)  This happened thanks to Aunt Lane and Uncle Chris sending her a gift certificate to Kiva.  Svea was very proud of her purchase (:

 After breakfast we had some presents!

Svea is so fun to watch open presents.  She loves cards (:

 Svea especially loved the gigantic kitty card from Grandpa and Grandma Zeke!  That kept her giggling for quite some time!

And don't even get me started on all the Indian stuff from Grandma and Grandpa Daisy!  This was just the beginning.

We interrupted present-opening for a drive down to the cities.  We stopped at Hub Hobby, the store of Nate's childhood.  The rest of us had never been there before so we weren't quite sure what to expect.

What a treat.  There was so much great stuff packed into this store.  We walked up and down every aisle so as not to miss a thing, and while doing that an employee filmed us.  We would move into another aisle, and his tripod and camera would magically appear there also.  This happened time and time again.  So please stay tuned for the next Hub Hobby commercial, when we make our big-screen debut.

Svea found the Flatsy dolls right away.

 Viggo was in complete awe of the bags and bags - and bags - of soldiers.  Not just the generic little green WWII guys, but every type of soldier from every battle, ever.  Greek soldiers in a bag.  Roman soliders in a bag.  Iwo Jima soldiers in a bag. 

Bliss.

 An entire aisle of crafty stuff!

An entire aisle of Playmobil!

I didn't want to photograph the entire store, but I must tell you there were games, Legos, puzzles, goofy gadgets (Nate had to hold back from buying a fart machine to bring to work . . . sigh), you name it, it was there.  Hub Hobby, by the way, isn't paying me to blog about how wonderful their store is, but . . . they should.

 Then we found the train section.

Please note Godzilla attacking the train.  Not pictured:  aliens abducting cows (seriously!).

These next photos are dedicated to my dad.

 Need a train engine?  This was only one small part of what they had to offer.

They were super duper expensive.
I had no idea toy trains cost hundreds of dollars.  Like, hundreds of dollars for one car.
I mean, of course they're not toys.  They're models.

 Need a train part?

 Then there was a fun I-Spy circus section with a whole list of miniatures to find in the display.  Elin found a teeny-tiny Santa sitting in the red bus.

 Then we went to the fanciest restaurant in town.

Yes that's right, we spared no expense!  IKEA! 
Only the best for our birthday girl.
We watched the planes land at the airport next door while we dined on lingonberries.

 Then we hit the Mall of America (conveniently located across the street) and went to Svea's birthday destination of choice, the aquarium there.

Oh, the lion fish.  I used to be terrified of these when I was a kid.  They kept them in a dark room in the back of the pet store in the mall where creepy music was played.
I was a wimp.

Moving on to the next creature feature, jellyfish!

 The big highlight at the aquarium is a tunnel that you can walk through, and, if you have enough cash, spend the night in.

Whoa.

Three guesses what Elin said she wanted to do for her birthday.
All I'm saying is I'm not sleeping anywhere near the lion fish.

Svea made friends with the octopus.  I forgot to ask a staff member what his name was.  We knew what the octopus's name was at the aquarium in New Jersey (George), and I just kind of wanted to know what this one's name was.

I guess we'll just have to remember to ask when Elin's birthday rolls around.

 I could have watched this octopus all day.  And it was extremely active, which was pretty unusual.

George only moved at feeding time.
Let's face it:  George was usually a big let-down.

 This octopus, on the other hand, whom I am choosing to christen Sven Svenson, was over-the-top amazing.  Sven moved all over the place!

Oh my goodness!  I just realized why Sven Svenson is so superior to George!
Sven Svenson lives in Minnesota.  No wonder he is so happy!

 We went through the tunnel twice.

And then oh my goodness, we saw a nun.

This wasn't just any nun.  This was an adorable, in her early 20s nun.
I have never seen a nun like that.
So I pretended to take a photo of the tunnel, but I was secretly taking her picture.

I take pictures of religious people that probably don't like being photographed . . . the Amish ferrier who came to care for the horses at Lake Beauty, Amish people out East in Pennsylvania Dutch country, and now . . . the cute little nun at the mall.  I don't know what my problem is.  I just can't help myself.  They're just so wonderful in their habits and homemade overalls and hand-woven straw hats.  It seems completely unfair that they are against photographic documentation.  Why?  I just want to share the joy of them with the world.

Back to Svea's birthday outing.  Little blue tree frogs.
Very cute, extremely toxic.

After two walks through the aquarium, it was time to go.

We went to the Lego store in the mall.  Svea spent some birthday money here!

 We came home and Lego assembly began.

Dinner and more presents.
Svea requested zuppa tuscana for her birthday dinner.
That is potato and sausage soup, but it is so much more fun to say, zuppa tuscana!
No pics of the zuppa available.  It was eaten too quickly.

 Then time for more presents.
Big boxes had arrived the week before and Svea was completely mystified by them.

Do you know what this is?

It's candle-making supplies.  Nate researched candle-making, and bought Svea shredded soy wax, wicks, scents, coloring, and glass votives.

Svea is so crafty, and Nate wanted to surprise her with something fun that they could do together.  So far there have been three candle-making sessions since her birthday a week and a half ago.  The box of votives had 36 total, and I have a feeling we're going to run out quickly.  Svea has a long list of beloved people she wants to give her homemade candles to!

 Aunt Meme and Uncle Bo surprised her with mermaids galore.

And we got her some hot pink cowgirl boots, which are seriously cool.

Grandparents Daisy sent Indian everything.  We are now up to our ears in soy wax, mermaids, and Native Americans.

Thank you to everyone who sent gifts and cards!!  Svea is so blessed with so many wonderful people who love her!

 Now we move on to dessert.  The day before Svea's big day, I was up to my ears in Hobbit-cake-making mayhem.

Svea and I read "The Hobbit" this winter, and she loved the book like crazy.  She requested Bag End for a birthday cake.  I am not a fancy cake maker (that's my sister's line of expertise!), but for Svea . . . well, how can I say no?

 After 8 hours of cake-making insanity it turned out okay!  Svea was totally thrilled and that's all I wanted.

 I picked up the Gandalf's cart Lego set at Target.  I was considering making Gandalf and Bilbo out of marzipan but . . . no.  I had to draw the line somewhere.

 It is really hard to believe that Svea is 6!  She is so full of love and creativity.  We are so thankful for her.

Just don't ask her to smile for a picture.  Take my word for it; she has the best smile as long as a camera isn't pointed at her.

The end!