eight

River turned eight while we were in Hope Vale.

Originally we planned to be in Mareeba, until Aunty Estelle's granddaughter, Hazel, heard River's birthday was coming up and asked, "Are we having the party here?"

And so we did. It made much more sense to celebrate with River's new friends and have lots of kids around rather than spend it just the four of us in a town we didn't know.

I made pizzas and two cakes: one chocolate, one banana.

Aunty Estelle's grand daughter Fenice made a big pot of spaghetti bolognaise. Aunty Estelle set the table with bbq shapes and bowls of jaffas and later served the cake with big scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Plus lemon cordial.

Not usual birthday fare you are used to seeing here but the love behind what our hosts provided was heartfelt and outweighed worrying about any processed food overload.

The kids played in the street while the pizza and pasta were cooking. Once it was ready Aunty Estelle dished out the pasta, some kids coming back for seconds.

No one sat still for very long, quickly gobbling up their food before running back to the street to play.

As the sun went down and the sky grew dark it was time for cake, I was glad I made two so there was enough to go round.

Once the cake was eaten most kids ran out into the night making their way home. Two of Aunty's grandchildren stayed for a sleepover much to River and Sol's delight, the games and laughing continued under the light of the back porch.

So now I have an eight year old. A funny, charismatic, entertaining, fiesty, musical, creative, loving, thoughtful eight year old son who I treasure and find joy in watching him grow and in nurturing him in every sense of the word.

We are back in Hope Vale this week (with no internet access) I will post more next week.

Happy wholefood days to you all.

If you have a children's birthday coming up take a look at this post for some wholefood menu ideas and a carrot cake recipe.

The photos in this post were taken by my husband Peter McConchie.