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!

Tuscany

Of the parts of Italy, we saw on our Italian Adventure, Tuscany was my favorite. This region is just beautiful. You have Florence right there with more culture and art and university students than you know what to do with. Drive about 30 minutes south, and you are in vineyards. What more could you want?

We stayed in a small village outside Florence, and we had 3 of our meals at Bellavista in Impruneta. We weren't the only ones repeating here either. Their homemade ravioli with truffle sauce was to.die.for. I am getting hungry just thinking about it! The Florentine vegetable soup was out of this world. The three of us that made it to Easter Lunch enjoyed eating a "blessed egg," which is in fact a hard boiled egg that has been blessed by the local priest. Confused? Intrigued? We were, too, but as they say, "When in Impruneta..."But the best part is that by the end of it, we felt like family with the owners. (And you can see them on their website or visit their blog!) So, if you are in Florence, it is worth your time to go to Impruneta and eat at Bellavista. You will not be disappointed!

In our free time, we enjoyed walking down this hill between olive trees and towards vineyards collecting sticks and going on adventures. Twice we happened upon pheasants who swished out of the brush or tree and flew away. When it happened when I was there, it was literally in a tree a foot away from us. Wil, the hunter, was of course drooling over those birds.

We sampled a local wine (and ordered a lot of it) at their winery which is housed in what we might call a castle. Dreamy.

View from said castle. Can you imagine washing dishes and looking at that everyday?

Wil was perhaps happiest amongst all the wines in the cellar. Red wine galore here, friends. And good. We often just had the table wine at the restaurants as we read that it is often really good if not better than your pricier options. If you even remotely enjoy wine, this area is for you.

And that is how the Griswolds do Tuscany.

Ash?

I don't see any ash from this point of view...do you?

Happy Sunday from Hyde Park!

{and ash, if you could relocate asap, I have a friend who really needs to be here now. thanks.}

Today's Delivery

This box of organic fruits and vegetables arrived at my door today thanks to Abel and Cole.

Abel and Cole is an organic delivery service that tries to use as much local (UK) food as possible. According to their FAQ, when they cannot get the produce in the UK (out of season or bananas) they have independent producers they use. From not using air freight produce to asking customers to give back the boxes to be used again, Abel and Cole tries to be as green (and good) as possible. I can log onto the website and shop for meat, fish, other organic items, along with fruit and veg. Each week, they list what fruits and veg will be packed in the boxes. And best of all, if I don't want something random (like Kohl Rabi...what is that?) in my box, or I always want bananas, I can tell them. In this first delivery, I got celery today instead of Kohl Rabi.

So what's in my box today? Pears, oranges, bananas, potatoes, carrots, apples, onion, celery, green lettuce, cabbage, and leeks. Yes. Leeks. I don't know what to do with them, but I'll let you know how that goes down.

This lovely box, combined with my Whole Foods trip today leaves this girl (who never foresaw any affinity for organic anything) feeling ever so slightly greener!

{Are you in the UK? If you sign up now using Easter50 code, you can get a 50 GBP credit after 4 consecutive weekly deliveries of 15 GBP or more. Not bad, huh?}

The State of Things

We are back in London! And as it tends to do, spring has arrived in bloom while (whilst) we were gone! Don't you remember leaving for Spring Break, only to come home to your car covered in pollen and blooms on the trees and in the flower beds?

I have mounds (literally) of laundry in our room. The washer/dryer sounds as though it might take off any moment now. The suitcases are still out. Wiley's clothes are in piles on my bed. The floors are dusty. Perhaps spring cleaning got its start because we all leave town only to come home to a house that is desperate for a good scrub, and well, you might as well clean out the closets and clean the baseboards as well!

I am happy to say, I reorganized my little closet. I moved 3 sweaters to the left side of the closet, deeming them "too hot" to wear now. Notice, that they are only to the side, not in storage (pretending I had any). I wouldn't doubt London to pull spring out from under my feet and put me back in my cashmere and wool blend sweaters (God love them.) In place of my 3 sweaters, I have added 2 shorts, a white skirt, one "going out" top, and 5 short sleeved shirts. My flats are in use again without leaving my feet numb, however I still don't have any open toed sandals out. And I don't think I'll be brave enough for those for another month.

This morning, through our little Venetian blinds in our room, sunlight was peaking out. I remembered distinctly the first time this happened two days in a row. Maybe in mid- February. Our room was brighter and golden rather than its normal cold, grey tones. Before even getting out of bed, I could tell the day was already going to be better than usual--perhaps to the park, vacuum and mop, do 10 loads of laundry, teach the English to abandon beans and toast along with mushy peas, bake, cook dinners for the rest of the week, blog, solve the world's problems, write 20 handwritten notes, read...anything and everything was possible!

And then it happened again. Astounding! The sun did not forget us!

I woke up to darker shades the next day, and the story continued, a few glimpses of the hope of spring followed by a reminder that winter might not be through with us yet.

Then suddenly, the sunny days happened 5 days in a row. 5 days of turning toward the window to assess the day ahead, and perhaps get a forecast of my mood: good and even better. I heard birds singing again. Was I being dramatic, or did they really stop their song for the winter, insisting on waiting until the warmth came back before they paused on soon-to-bud branches and heralded the news: Spring is here.

Perhaps I missed winter's last stand while (whilst) in Italy--the land of milk and honey, erm, sunshine, pizza, and red wine. I certainly hope so. I don't even want to know actually for fear that it hasn't happened yet. All I know is that at the park this morning, the daffodils were out, the camellias were in bloom, and a few new curious yellow blooms caught my eye.

The sun was peeking through the edges of my blinds this morning. It's been a day that begs you, implores you, to go to the park and stay for awhile.

And in London, I harbor the fear that,perhaps, in the next 5 days only rain would pitter patter outside my blinds. So today, we go to the park. In the morning. In the afternoon.

In between, I conquer the laundry and dust bunnies. But this time with my windows open.