Happy Birthday Kahlil!

Kahlil turned seven on Wednesday. He was woken by a call from his Grandparents (who are living in Italy) and then saw a note hanging by his bed. This note started a treasure hunt where he had to follow the clues to find each present. His first gift was a small magic set and book that I thought he would get into but the day revealed that he is too honest a boy to be a magician as he loved sharing the secret even more than doing the tricks =). I was still lazing in bed with a sleeping Kamala and he would come in to ask for a little help when necessary but when he found the second present of a (small) Lego Star Wars ship, I must have fallen asleep and he came back to show me the finished product that he had sat down and done himself. After finding his other gifts (a raincoat, new book and some money) using his clues, we all got up to make cake. It has become tradition that on anybody’s birthday, making a cake is what we do together as soon as we wake up.

The rest of the day was relaxed and dinner was made from Kahlil’s favorite food – smoked chicken – which we ate when Carl returned from a hike with a researcher who has been with us off and on over the past two years. That’s when we did the official singing of Happy Birthday and putting a candle in the cake (which had been picked at for most of the day). The day was simple and joyful and Kahlil went to sleep happy. And I marveled at how important all the little things are and how grateful I am that Kahlil can appreciate and enjoy those things as well.

















Now Kahlil’s one and only request for his birthday was a new bike – and not just any new bike but a mountain bike. The bike he has had since he was 4 and on which he learned to ride without training wheels has now lost it breaks and has a broken chain and tire. So I was sent in search of a kid’s mountain bike by my parents who wanted that to be their gift to him. I know NOTHING about bikes so I called in the help of some friends and the result was a great, newly refurbished mountain bike. Since its arrival on Thursday, I think Kahlil’s bottom has only left the seat to drink, eat and sleep and only when absolutely necessary! He has been riding in hot sun, pouring rain, wet grass and muddy puddles and the smile on his face is permanent!



















Here’s to a few great days, seven great years and many, many more to come!!