Birthday Wrap-Up

Well, turning 4 is apparently exhausting...for the mom.

After our big Diggerland adventure, we spent the next week preparing for Wiley's first birthday party with children his own age. Our previous parties had included our friends from Wake (all aged 19-22) with the addition of 3 Teasley children + Wiley. That is like at least quintuplet, probably sextuplet, coverage of children by adults. Not to mention, that getting a cake, balloons, lemonade, and a table was not exactly the most strenuous birthday exercise for a mom. (Although, I do remember hard-core deliberating at Harris Teeter over Mickey or Animal themed birthday cakes.)

A birthday party with 18 or so 3 and 4 year olds + their parents who you don't exactly know super well is downright intimidating. I mean, you don't want to have thrown a totally lame party. Thankfully, we co-hosted this shindig with Wiley's friend Fabian, so I had the benefit of 2 brains are better than one. Allison, F's mum (because they are English), was so great and laid back, and thus fun to chat about parties with. In true London fashion, our garden party was, of course, rained out. But thankfully, a rain location was found and booked a mere day before the party.

The night before, 3 dozen cupcakes were baked and icing made. The morning of the party, sandwiches were assembled (no cucumber sandwiches...thank goodness), and the icing was re-whipped and put on the cupcakes. Whew. And that was before 9:30.

Somehow I did not end up with very many good pictures. Was I in a fog the entire party? Most likely. The kids, however, were on complete sugar highs which resulted in a major crash, at least for us, about 45 minutes post party.

The only good picture I have.

This is how the party ended. I thought this was funny because Wil is in a choke hold by a 4 year old.

Mmm Cupcakes. Mmm Bad Haircut. Mmm We're in the Army now.

Busting the pinata...which was eventually busted by us because there is no way a 4 year old was going to crack that thing in under 4 hours.

Look, Mom, more sugar!

Here is(are) something(s) I have learned: don't schedule a single thing the rest of the day after your child's party. Unless that thing is a family-wide enforced nap time. Because that is all you will want to do. After you have a stiff drink of course. (I kid, I'm being dramatic. But I'm serious about the nap.) It is also a fun social opportunity to hang out with other parents or meet parents for the first time. If it's the weekend, suddenly all the Dads appear! I think that lollipops falling from Buzz Lightyear's derriere might be a safety hazard to 4 year old noggins and I found myself deflecting the hard candy from assaulting the poor, unsuspecting kiddos (who were too hyper focused on nabbing candy to care if they had a goose egg from the strawberry flavored lollipop that landed square on their head). So maybe stick with softer landing candy...like Starbursts. Oh, and candy kept in cardboard box containers do not withstand the fall from B.L. (Buzz Lightyear, not Bud Light)'s derriere very well, and whatever chocolatey goodness was in there will now be spread and crunched all over the floor. After which the younger siblings of the party goers will scavenge as their own treats. Ew.

a little bit crazy

we are moving in 2 weeks.

we aren't packed.

no, we aren't moving back to the states...yet.

wiley's birthday party is in 2 days.

that's 36 cupcakes to make (to be on the safe side).

one bouncy castle rented.

4-5 large balloons to be ordered and either walked home, or take on the bus home.

20 (give or take) 3 and 4 four year olds to be entertained for an hour and a half.

a weather forecast that says "light rain", 70%.

endless prayers sent up for a weather change and strength to get through the weekend.

can i even explain to you how badly i miss my car right now?

or wal-mart?

i could fit a million cheap-o balloons and other birthday stuff from wal-mart in my oversized SUV and be done with that in like 30 minutes. for way cheaper and way quicker than here.

we call these growing experiences, right?

so, if i don't write for a while it might be due to that phrase, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

my lips are sealed.

Four

I can't believe it. We have a four year old! We had a wonderful time celebrating yesterday with pancakes for breakfast with Allyson, a trip to Diggerland, and pizza and cake for dinner! Wiley loved playing with his new remote control helicopter too. I have only been hit by it once, and I am considering myself lucky. Both Wil and Wiley are trying to earn their wings.

We started our morning lounging around after opening presents and having pancakes.

Counted how old Wiley is...

and took a group picture before leaving for the train station...

We took the train out to Diggerland. It is this small little park with just enough diggers and bumper cars to keep you busy but not overwhelmed. You can dig and move dirt, lift up (pretend) ducks, drive small ones, and go on a train. We could not imagine this ever happening in the States...too many lawsuits.

Scooping some dirt!

Driving the helicopter!
On Friday, we took brownies to Wiley's school to celebrate his birthday. We played games with the children, including Duck, Duck, Goose. Yes, I was even the goose. We loved having Allyson here to play and celebrate with us!

Happy Birthday Wiley!