Belated Birthday Party Post

June was birthday month.  Holy moses.  It was crazy.  Seriously.  Too much cake and too many presents.  But so much fun!

Micah (cousin) turned 3 on May 31st, and Olaf turned 3 on June 20th, so we split the difference and  had a little joint party for them on June 12th.  A nice lady here in Plain has a killer awesome indoor pool, complete with water slide, and she generously allowed us to use it for a swim party!  Pretty nice since it's been so cold this spring and there's no way we have been in the water in Lake Wenatchee or the Wenatchee River.  The kids all LOVE to swim.  We decided to only invite family this year, since once we've invited the whole family, including cousins and grandparents, the guest list is already around 30 people.  Unfortunately most of them could not make it on a Sunday evening, so it was ended up just being our two little families and 5 of the 7 grandparents.  Oh and of course Jaimi and Nick and little Dudley too, can't forget that third musketeer.   But we had a blast!

Of course I have no pictures of the swimming because, HELLO, I was swimming and was probably mid-cannonball or going down the slide.  Ha ha.  Olaf has turned out to be a real water nut and cycled the slide and/or jumping off the edge over and over and over and... well you get the picture.  The only slippery moment came when Steve threw Olaf up in the air (as all dads do) and Oly hit the water feet first, arms up.  Well, that's nice and all but the arms up thing meant his water wings went WHOOOP, right off his arms, and he sank a bit farther than anticipated.  Steve pulled him up right away of course but I had a mini heart attack!

Christie and I spent about 2 hours putting the cake together.  Good thing there were two of us on this joint effort because neither of us knew what we were doing with this home-made fondant stuff.  We followed cake directions from parenting.com, and just modified it to be like the boys' FAVORITE Lighting McQueen!  I think it turned out so very well, especially for two novices!  And it was even decent tasting as well.  As you can see in the photos farther down, Olaf was DELIGHTED and EXCITED about it at the party :)

Well we are off to family camp at Tall Timber in a few minutes, so I'll be back later to share some of those adventures.  But for now just enjoy the sweetness below.

 Just waiting for his piece...

3.

Happy Birthday kiddo!


At our house you get to pick your birthday meal, so Olaf requested "CARS" mac and cheese (of course) and peas and milk.  Gobbled it right up!

Love this guy.  Hopefully this weekend will allow a longer post about how awesome he is, and his little party with his cousin Micah! 

ps.  His birthday was actually Monday the 20th... see how slow I am at this blogging thing!

30.

I didn't think I would really mind turning 30.  After all, most of my friends and family had crossed this line a while back, so it's not like I think it is really old or anything :)  but still, on Wednesday when I turned 30, I wished it was 29!  Doesn't 29 sound so much better!  Luckily none of my coworkers knew it was a milestone birthday, or else they informed me that they would have decorated my cubicle in black.  Phew.

I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the day or not.  Steve found out just last Thursday that he'd be leaving for work in Idaho on Monday, so I spent the weekend having a pity party for myself that he would miss my birthday (again) and a big party I have planned for tomorrow (Saturday).  There were tears involved.  Hosting a party by yourself is just not as much fun.  Especially when you invited a ton of people.  I really wanted to just cancel it.  But I didn't. Anyway, I digress.  Wasn't sure that I would enjoy my birthday.

But you know what, it was a very nice day!  Here are some of the nice things that happened:

• The boys were in good moods when they woke up.  We actually got out of the house by 6:45!  7 minutes earlier than usual!

• Olaf gave me a giant hug in the morning without prompting.  Sigh.
• My projected 4 hour meeting only took 2!
• Got to have lunch with an old friend from camp who I have known since 1996 (officially half my life... crazy)
• Steven sent me flowers at work :)  (you like my work lists hanging up behind?  I am MUCH more organized there than at home!)

• My coworkers bought me cupcakes.  Yum.  In red-neck land where I work there are no "Cupcake Royal"s or "Trophy Cupcakes" like in Seattle, so we stuck to the good old Albertson's bakery.  And they were delicious, at 1/4 of the price I am sure. 
• Home-made pizza with my boys, my folks, and Steve's dad over for supper.
• Got a walking foot for my sewing machine and more bobbins! Thanks mom!
• Got a new cast iron skillet.  Thanks Mark! 
• Got my drip irrigation system installed.  Thanks Hubby!
• (Since when do all the presents I desire have to do with cooking, sewing, or gardening?  Who am I?)
• Got kidnapped by two of my best friends, Jaimi and Christie, for an evening hike to the cliffs/osprey nest, and enjoyed a glass (paper cup) of red wine.

All in all... a lovely day.  Thanks to all who made me feel special!

9mos. & etc.

Well Mr. Forest had his 9 month checkup last week. 9 months. What? It is so hard to grasp all the stages that he has already surpassed - I keep trying to lock little details away so that I don't forget what it was like have little babies in the house! Really I just need to take a bit more video I think since it captures them so well.

Forest is starting to scoot. Well, he actually started scooting backwards (Army style) on his tummy about a month ago, but is finally showing a tiny bit of forward progress. He pivots like clock hands quite well on both his tummy and his bottom. So at least he access to a 30" radius of toys now instead of just what is directly in front of him. Of course all that pivoting and reaching inevitably results in a few goose-eggs on the good ol' Saugen noggin... but once the initial shock he gone he usually forgets all about the little bruises he has on his forehead. That's what we get for having hardwood floors.

According to the good old growth charts, Forest is pushing 19.5 lbs (~30th %) and 28 inches long (~40%)... he is so tiny as compared to my roly poly Oly at that stage! Well at least his huge head is on track still, at 19 inches around (~off the chart), he is definitely pacing Olaf. Hopefully he grows into it someday :)

We are in the midst of party planning 'round here -- Olaf has a shared birthday party with his cousin, Micah, on the 12th. Then my bday on the 15th (#30, whoa!) and a party on the 18th, and then Oly's actual birthday on the 20th. And then throw in Fathers Day on the 19th as well. I plan to be eating a LOT of cake in the next phew weeks. Booyah.

My mom and sisters and I did the Susan Komen 5k run for breast cancer research in Seattle yesterday - so much fun! We all actually jogged the whole thing, minus just a few blocks that momma walked. Of course she walks so danged fast it was pretty much my running pace anyway. Favorite part of the run - dance jogging past a little brass band who was playing "The ants go marching one by one" as we ran by. Felt like doing a little jiggety jig :)



This was mom's 4th walk I think, my second, and Kirsten and Kendra's 3rd. It's becoming a tradition for us girls I think. We walk to celebrate my mama, who has been breast cancer free for 13 years now!





Mom hopped on the Harley for a little ride while I chose the sidecar.  The thought of her actually driving that thing was terrifying, as my face shows :)

Sunny Saturday

Finally some decent weather in Plain! Oly informed me at 6:45am that it was most certainly "hot" outside and that wading pool time was needed. So, with the addition of some cold irrigation water plus some hot water from the house, we had the perfect temp at approximately 9:30am. Forest and I watched while the crazy boy splashed!

























P.S. I don't know why these were all a bit fuzz-tastic...  maybe I had a tad of water on the lense of my phone?  I don't know.  Ah well.  You get the picture.  Ha ha.  No pun intended.


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