Lake Vermilion. 2. Birthday!

Elin's birthday lands at the end of June so that lucky duck gets a party at the lake.

{We had celebrated with my parents and sister's family in Illinois the week before at Stockholm Inn in Rockford, IL. My dad reserved a Carl Larsson room. It was so pretty. I carefully packed my camera. When we got there, of course I wanted to start taking pictures.
No memory card in my camera. My mom only had a couple pictures available on her camera. My sister's camera battery was dying. It was a bad night for cameras. You will have to take my word for it that it was wonderful and that Elin had a great time.}

So here's birthday attempt #2, complete with camera card.

This little girl is such a blessing to us.

Birthday morning kayak ride.

Nate put her in the kayak with me and off we went.

I think a kayak ride on your second birthday is a pretty sweet deal.

Happy in the kayak for about half an hour; then time to get back on the pier and be with Grandma.

Beautiful live harp music.

Svea and Elin waiting for present time with the best guy ever.

For her birthday, Svea gave Elin some binoculars.

Mainly so Elin would stop borrowing Svea's all the time.

They were put to use immediately.

And since then, I have not had to separate two screaming girls from crying over who gets the binoculars. Best $8 I've ever spent.

Viggo took a break from reading his current Star Wars novel to read the cards. What a nice big brother :)

I gave Elin a child's broom set. Because I am tired of trying to hunt down the adult versions at our house, or having to take my broom from a very upset little girl who would prefer to take care of all the housework herself.

Now we each have our own broom and can hopefully have many pleasant afternoons of sweeping the floor together. :)

Waiting for cake.

Grandpa is the Dutch oven pro so I asked him early on to please make a birthday cake for Elin.

This part makes me a little nervous. Hot Dutch oven over head . . . not for the faint of heart.

And that's how you make a birthday cake at Lake Vermilion.

Happy birthday to YOU, Elin! Far better than any store-bought cake ever could be.

When it was time to sing, Elin was loving all the attention. She looked at everyone and smiled. She knew this song was all for her! She was so happy. She is such a wonderful little girl.

Happy birthday to you, sweet Elin. We love you like crazy!