My dear Lena,
I look at these photos, and they seem to be the very essence of you, at six years old.
Happiness and wonder.
Sensitivity and gentleness. 
Joy and excitement.
Enthusiasm and beauty.
Peace and big dreams.
Kids always seem to be in a rush to grow up. I remember being a kid and thinking that there was some great secret only adults knew.
Truth: there’s no grown-up secret. We definitely don’t have it all figured out.
But, girl, I think that maybe you do.
In February, I shared “Clark Kent” where Gus had my glasses. Now, two months later, meet his sunglasses counterpart.
Sorry for the massive overshare, but how wacky is he?
…and yes, he’s always this much personality.
If you’ve been reading A Moose in Moscow for awhile, you know that Lena’s first name is actually Scarlett. She is prefers to go by her birth name, which is also her middle name, Lena.
She dresses herself, which means that she comes up with some unique outfits. I’m always curious to see what she puts together. One day recently, she picked out a red shirt, a red sweater and red skinny jeans. Truly living up to her name.
When I asked her if I could take her outside to photograph this awesome outfit, she chose to add pink piggie socks and red glitter shoes.
I love this girl. She’s sweet.
And also very silly.
Lola, my mom, came to visit us at the end of March. Her last full day with us also happened to be her birthday. We wanted to do something fun and out of the ordinary.
First, we went to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
It was a beautiful day to be outside.
I love hearing the birds… zoomed in really close and you can see this bird in her nest.
Our trip to the preserve was cut a bit short by children demanding lunch. We got barbeque at the same place that we took Andrei to.
Reed and Lena both made her cards.
Reed made his days in advance and really took his time. So sweet to see.
We finished off her birthday by getting dinner, one of Lola’s favorites, jambalaya, and watching the sunset. It was a good one.
Happy birthday, Lola! We love you.
Some days just call for jumping in puddles.
Spring is here and we just can’t be contained anymore.
“Follow the leader, follow, follow me…”
a moose in moscow 