Saturday, June 15, 2013

Daniel turns 5!

Daniel wanted a 'Peter Rabbit' theme for his party this year. He loved helping me pick out the food they should eat and the games they should play so that everything would be just like the TV show. 



 Veggies--carrots, snap peas and jicama:

 Fruits baskets--apples, strawberries and plums:

Mrs. Puddleduck's oat cakes (oatmeal cookies):

Bunny snacks:

Bunny bubbles:

The kids played a few games that Daniel and Andrew helped me to plan. First, they had sack races and hopped like bunnies.



Then they carried cotton tails (cotton balls) on a spoon.



Daniel didn't like that relay but he did find another use for his spoon.

Zechariah was not going to be left out of that.

 The game they all liked was 'Run, rabbit, run'. Andrew was Mr. Todd and all the other kids were the rabbits. They had to run and Mr. Todd had to try to grab their tails (velcroed to a lanyard around their waist). The rabbits could also grab Mr. Todd's tail and then it would be their turn to be the fox.

If only that cotton tail was a football, the scouts would be looking at Seth.

Cutest bunny in the patch:

These two are pretty even in talent and competitiveness:

Tag team!

Tail? What tail?

Leah surprised them all!


Seth cracked us up with his engineering expertise. Within about 5 minutes he had turned a hula hoop and two jump ropes into a swing that actually worked. He's like McGyver.

 After dinner, it was time for cupcakes. Daniel had been waiting for these all day. He helped me make them and couldn't wait to dig into his flower pot of 'dirt'.
 

Birthday boy. He's 5!



Daniel has been wanting to be the center of attention and to be able to open all the gifts since Andrew's birthday in January. 

Ninja Turtles!

Zingo and a super hero tote bag to color. He is in heaven.

Daniel had a great time helping to plan his party. He had a fun day with his friends and he is finally FIVE! (now he's asking when he turns six.)


Thursday, June 13, 2013

New friends, old friends and FOOD

We had a crazy busy day today. Right after lunch, we met some new friends at a park. I was a loser mom and took no pictures while we were there. Mostly, because I was having fun talking to Heather and really, how many pictures can you take of your kids at the park?

After that, we drove into the city to have dinner with friends at the Ethiopian Diamond. We had a couple of hours before we were all meeting up so we headed downtown to Buckingham Fountain.




Daniel tried to make a new friend.




The boys had ice cream at the place that used to have really cool flavors like chocolate chip merlot. Now they have character ice cream bars that I'm pretty sure have been in the freezer since last summer.


We still had some time before dinner so we stopped at the beach. The boys were convinced they were at the ocean and wanted to look for starfish. 




Andrew wrote his name in the sand:

Daniel couldn't stop running up and down the beach, dancing, and chasing the sea gulls.






And then, right after this, the waves won and he fell in. It's not really an outing unless Daniel comes home soaking wet or dirty. He teaches me a lot about letting go and not being so worried about things like cleanliness and rules.

During dinner, I was super busy talking to my friends and stuffing my face with injera. I didn't take many pictures--a few with my phone. Mostly, we just had a really good time. 




The owner is so nice. She sat and chatted with the boys. I begged her (again) to open a restaurant in the suburbs.

These two used to live together at the care center in Ethiopia for a short time. They don't remember each other from then but we still love to keep them connected.


I think the care center nannies would love knowing that these guys are still in touch.