Beautiful Innocence

Lovely Sisters

My good-natured little granddaughter, Annabelle, recently celebrated her 5th birthday at the Science Museum in Richmond. Her big sister, 7 year-old Sophie,  was a key participant in the festivities.

In the next picture Sophie is playing with one of the excellent interactive museum exhibits.

The museum's wonderful room for toddlers was absolutely perfect for Annabelle who is especially attracted to bright, colorful lights. She crawled in her own unique way from one exhibit to another and had a great time as you can see in the next five pictures.

After lots of play time at the museum, we went to a local cafe for lunch where Annabelle received her birthday presents.

Annabelle sat in her wheelchair while big sister Sophie helped open presents. Sophie made a special birthday card for Annabelle and read it to her.

The special card was entirely Sophie's creation. Here's the first page. (Sorry for the uneven lighting conditions.)

Here's the back of the front page:

Here's the birthday message composed entirely by Sophie:

When I heard Sophie read this, I felt like crying. There's nothing more beautiful than the honest, innocent love of a child.

Annabelle has many challenges to overcome, but sibling rivalry isn't one of them.