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For the record, Ellie's birthday is not until June 4th, two weeks from now. But since we are moving, and next weekend is a holiday, we had her birthday party today. It was supposed to be pretty small - three neighbor families with children and a long time friend with almost adult children. Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about tradition. I made Ellie a birthday cake using the same recipe that my mom always used for my cakes. My neighbor, M, frosted the cake for me.
We had the party over at L's house since ours is currently a pile of boxes. Longtime firend D brought her three almost adult children and some visiting family, so we had a full house. It was a lot of fun. Ellie and Richard, 6 months, played downstairs while the 2-6 year old played upstairs. It was really nice to see everyone once last time. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Ellie and had cake.
After all that cake, Ellie needed a bath. Thankfully, L had everything I needed, including a change of clothes for Ellie since I had not thought about that.
Once she was all clean, Ellie opened her presents with a little help from her friends. After all this excitement, Ellie was very tired and we went home and all took a nap. It was a really fun day and made me feel a lot better about leaving and the fact that Ellie's actual birthday will be spent in a hotel in Puerto Rico. Thanks to all my friends for their help!

Pictures can be seen starting here.