That’s right, my baby girl is now a big five year-old.

She thinks she’ll be going to kindergarten on Monday. I’m struggling to explain to her that she’ll have to wait until the fall. For her, that seems like a really long time. To me, it seems all too soon. I can’t believe she’s FIVE!

It seems like only yesterday when she looked like this:

Wow…

We were going to have a party for her today, unfortunately, the whole family has been smacked down with a terrible cold. Claire seems happy enough regardless. She loves all of her presents, especially the robotic kitty she’s holding in the top picture. It purrs, meows, hisses and kneads its paws when petted. It’s so cute, in fact, that Robert is relenting on his no pet policy. We may have a real cat around here in the near future. Claire and I are both excited about that!

I baked a quick and easy cake for my girl and she and Sam decorated it. It’s not fancy, but Claire is delighted with it.

Looking at the clock, I realize its past time for serving her a piece of that special treat, so I’m going to rush off now to spend Q.T. with the birthday girl.

I spent a glorious week in Maui with my family.

I drank a few mai tais.

I watched the kids enjoy the beach.

I went snuba (snorkel + scuba = snuba) diving with my husband and swam with a manta ray.

I was swept up by the romance of the place at a luau. My daughter and I were flattered by handsome men and bedecked with flowers. Plumeria smells REALLY good.

I got married to a lovely man who made me drink coconut juice and kissed me on the lips.

Luckily, the other wife and their kids seemed really sweet.

The dancers were amazing. One of the fire dancers paid special attention to Sam.

The island was incredibly beautiful and the plant life was lush. There were leaves big enough to huddle under during a surprise rain storm and the trees were immense.

The kids jumped on trampolines, climbed a rock tower and went golfing.

Claire was the only one who managed a hole-in-one using her unique golf swing.

I also went careening over ravines on a zip line, but don’t have any pictures of that. I’m just glad I survived!

All in all, it was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had.