Six

I do so love the month of May. The air is warm and sweet with the scent of blossom, the countryside has turned a vibrant shade of green and those long, lazy days of summer are just around the corner. Bluebells are beginning to fade, the woodland pathways are drying out in the warm sunshine and, to my great joy, more and more of our time is being spent outdoors.

Another reason for my fondness of this particular month is Lily's birthday. My amazing girl is now six! I can hardly believe it. It is now six whole years since this wonderful, sweet, happy little girl entered the world one sunny May morning and turned my life completely upside down - for the better, of course! She is such a delight and never ceases to make me smile every single day. She is growing and changing so quickly that I'm frightened to blink just in case I miss any of it, so I'm determined to stretch out every precious moment of her childhood. I just adore her zest for life, her love of the outdoors and her ability to win over just about anyone with a flash of her smile.

Lily's actual birthday was midweek, so the day itself was fairly ordinary. There was, however, an early start so she could open her cards and presents before school. The excitement for the day ahead proved useful in getting us out of bed that morning as we were tired, having spent the previous evening enjoying some pond dipping. Once the school day was over we went for a lovely swim, which was quickly followed by pizza and some delicious chocolate birthday cake.

At the weekend we celebrated fully with two hours of fun and mayhem for Lily and a group of friends at a nearby play centre. I'm not a huge fan of these types of places but there's no denying they serve a purpose and the staff looked after us really well. The children all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and, although she received so many presents, I think Lily took most pleasure from handing out the party bags at the end. 

J. X