Birthday weekend

The last weekend in April could only have been better if E, E, H, and V had been in St. Peter for the fun birthday celebration for Ethan and Owen. Okay, a little less coughing by Paco/Dad/Larry and me, would have helped, too, but that's beside the point.

On Friday, the Owatonnans (Owatonnites?) came in time for supper. Miles had a sleepover with Grandpappy and me (of course Rosie stayed, too) while the rest of his family camped out at Grandma Doreen/Grandpa Dave's house. Miles brought a matching game to play, which he is an expert at, so he was the victor whenever we played.

 

On Saturday morning after breakfast, Annie, Westy, Miles, and I went to the public library to see the cool fish tank and to look around a bit. When we got back home, Miles swept up the "oatmeal" seeds that are all over everything in our yard, on the driveway and sidewalks, and in the garage. He and Rosie rested up in kiddie lawn chairs when Miles was finished working. For an old and well-loved dog, Rosie is very photogenic, don't you think?

Next came lunch, naps, and party prep. Ethan and Owen's celebration of their advancement into the Tremendous Threes began promptly at 3:33 this afternoon. Look who was waiting in the doorway to greet us!

At the very moment we arrived at the party palace, Hannah and Vivi sent this picture to show their celebration solidarity. Very chic, chicas!

Within a few minutes of Grandpa Dean's arrival, he was swarmed by little boys wanting to get in on the latest iPad action. It was toss up as to whether technology or Dean's skill in talking like Donald Duck had the most lure, but he clearly had the charm!

The kids had lots of fun playing, whether downstairs in the "basketball room" or upstairs engaged in Ring-Around-the Rosie. Notice Westy. He was never more than six inches away from the bigger boys.

The birthday boys sat at their special table with their cousins. Personal pizzas, fresh fruit, and crunchy vegetables made the perfect birthday supper.

What's a birthday without cupcakes these days? Owen and Ethan helped their mommy bake and decorate the cupcakes, and they added candles with Daddy's help.

Two three-year-olds, smiling while everyone sings "Happy Birthday."

Same three-year-olds, posing for pictures while cameras click away.

Sweet Ethan (the older brother), and ...

... sweet Owen, the younger brother.

Blowing out candles.

Next, of course, came present opening. Miles took this picture. Thanks, Miles! Westy sure loves to be right in the middle of the action. What happened to his shirt??

New bike helmets!

 After all the presents were opened, Uncle Tanner and 

Ethan enjoyed some Magna-Doodling together.

Westy tested out Owen's Magna-Doodle.

And then came a rousing game of Candy Land.

I don't have a picture of the boys waving good-bye at the door when we all left for home this evening, which is probably a good thing because E and O were nudie and ready to jump in the bathtub. So, I'll close with a photo from May 16, 2009, when they were tiny munchkins. Happy Birthday #3, little boys. We love you.

 

 

Not feeling so well

Some days are worse than others. After more than a week of a cold that won't go away (coughing, fever that finally broke, aches and pains), Dad/Larry/Paco was starting to make progress with the help of an antibiotic and the usual over-the-counter cold remedies.  Today he's having a setback, complete with increased coughing and no energy. 

A few minutes ago, he hauled a dining room chair into the hallway near the front door (Or, as Ethan and Owen refer to it, the front-back door). He plopped down on the chair and announced, "This will make it easier for the EMT's to find me when you have to call the ambulance." 

Maybe I'll just drop him off at the hospital right now. I'm in the midst of getting snacks and dessert ready for my book group, which meets here in a couple of hours. Dad/Larry/Paco can sit in the hospital lobby until he decides it's time to get help. It will save the cost of an ambulance ride.

(Should anyone think I'm being uncaring, Dad/Paco/Larry asked me to take his picture.)

Hoppy Easter

Every spring our yard is over run by rascally rabbits. For the last three years, a bunny family has even taken up residence in the space under our sun room. And if that weren't enough, today several more hoppity friends stopped by to say hello.

Here's Miles Bunny...

and Westy Bunny.

Meet Ethan Bunny ...

and his brother, Owen Bunny!

Let's not forget Auntie Aunchie Bunny, or...

.

Uncle Funny Bunny. Er, I mean Uncle Charlie Bunny, 

who happens to be putting on a shark puppet show.

Here are the boy bunny cousins, posing together to say,

"HI, HANNAH AND VIVIAN!"

After the rabbits ate dinner together, they went out to hunt for Easter eggs.

 It was chilly and blustery, so the littler bunnies had to move fast 

to keep from blowing away. They hunted high...

... and they hunted low.

 

They collected the eggs they found and took them to Uncle Tanner, the Egg Man.

Auntie Annie did the close-up photography for the egg hunt.

Twenty-eight plastic eggs filled with tattoos and candy 

kept the young bunnies occupied. And quiet.

The littlest bunny enjoyed his treats, too.

Uncle Tanner, who claims to be a "self-taught street performer" 

amazed and delighted us with his egg juggling routine.

 After most of the candy had disappeared, the boys took part in the weekly Sunday clock-winding ceremony. Grandpappy always appreciates their help, since he usually has to do it all by himself. In their jerseys, the boys look like the starting line-up for the junior clock-winding team.

Thank you to everyone who helped with dinner preparations and clean-up. I appreciate it very much. Happy Easter to all the little cousin bunnies 

in Minnesota and in North Carolina!

I'm forever blowing bubbles...

There's a song by that name from nearly 100 years ago... not sure why I know it or why it's going through my head right now. Maybe it's the fun Angie, Ethan, Owen, and Gpappy had blowing bubbles yesterday. E and O were very excited to receive giant bottles of bubble solution from their friend Isaiah, and to try them out in our driveway (with varying degrees of success).

Points to ponder

The magnolia bush, now a tree, is in bloom outside the sun room window. Like everything else growing in the out-of-doors in Mn this spring, the flowers are making an early appearance -- due to global warming, I'm sure. I have a love-hate relationship with the tree. The flowers are beautiful. White, fragile, fragrant pompoms. But how can it be normal for a tree to have flowers, especially big ones, before it has leaves? What was Mother Nature thinking? 

Speaking of Mother Nature, she may or may not be responsible for the content of the picture below. How could anyone, even Mother Nature, have predicted the fascination preschoolers and toddlers would have for technology? Here are four hot and sweaty little boys, huddling on and around Mommy/Auntie Angie to find out what's new on the iPad.

Visiting NC

We're back from our visit with the NC branch of the family. From what we've heard, it was warmer in MN than in NC while we were gone. That's not usually the case, because mid-March and state basketball tournaments often mean snowstorms here. It's great to have the unseasonably warm weather in MN, though, especially with the St. Peter Saints boys' basketball team playing in the state tournament at this very minute. Go Saints!

Speaking of "Go Saints!", we discovered that Hannah Rachel Dellon is a die-hard Carolina fan. We heard a lot of "Go Tarheels! and "Boo Duke!" while we visited, complete with thumbs-up (UNC) and thumbs-down (Duke) gestures to make a solid point of her preferences. Hannah was thrilled when the Blue Devils were drummed out of the NCAA tournament a few days ago. I foresee a heated conversation with Uncle Charlie and Auntie Angie about this!

Our visit fell partly on St. Patrick's Day, which got a multi-day tribute from Hannah, the local St. Pat's Princess. She turned many heads by wearing her sparkly green crown to el parque.

Even though Vivi didn't wear a crown, she was in full action mode on her trips through the slide tube.

We had a special lunch with Larry's cousin Linda on Saturday at Panzanella, a yummy restaurant in Carrborro. Linda brought Vivi a cuddly mama lamb and baby lamb, which were an instant hit.

The St. Pat's Princess received a cuddly mommy bunny and baby bunny from Linda. You can see how much Hannah loves her new spring pets!

After lunch we all took a tour of the UNC Botanical Garden, a lovely and quirky site not far from where E and E live. Lovely because of the flowers and plants, and quirky because of numerous  (and humorous) pieces of outdoor art found around the grounds. I should have taken more pictures, dang it. If you look closely at the photo immediately below, you'll see Evan tracking down an especially quirky piece of art, one that darted around quite quickly in the foilage.

It may look like Hannah is sneezing or wiping a bug off her nose, but actually she is getting a good whiff of rosemary. The herb garden had dozens of rosemary bushes-- yes, bushes-- planted throughout. Rosemary and other herbs are grown for industrial purposes like in cosmetics, shampoo, etc.  The little pots of herbs I plant in the summer to enhance the flavor of salads and pasta are miniscule  in comparison to the mammoth bushes grown for commercial use. Who knew?

 

And here is Evan on a gigantic chess board. He's trying to figure out why one of the chess pieces is wearing a shamrock crown.

Yup, it's the Irish Princess chess piece, ready to make a move.

Vivi loved playing chess, too.

The Botanical Garden has a colorful morning glory whispering bench that fascinated Hannah. She talked to her daddy through one morning glory, and he listened out of the other. Here are Evan, Larry/Dad, Linda, Irish Princess Hannah, Elisabeth, and sleeping Vivian enjoying the bench.

Larry/Dad/Paco and I were excited to see the progress on E & E's house. These two shots are from the car as we drove by on Tuesday, and unfortunately they don't show the house very well. But, as you can see since the Kodak site photos, much has been done to frame the addition, and cover it in Ty-Vek (or whatever the brand is!). Hannah gave us a grand tour of her new room, Vivi's, and the bathroom in-between. Can't wait to see future pictures as more and more is accomplished.

 

On Monday morning we took a trip to a science museum for kids. Again, I was remiss about picture-taking. But, I did capture Hannah building a really cool building. She spent a LOT of time focusing on her creation, figuring out ways to make the long flat blocks balance in different ways so she could build up and up and up. Her finished construction project has a Jenga-like quality to it, don't you think?

I really had to save the best picture for nearly last. We had pizza for supper on Monday evening, assembled almost entirely by Chef Hannah. Instead of a chef's hat, you might notice the bicycle helmet. No comment. Charlie will have one, I'm sure. It's the first time I've seen anyone needing a helmet to spread sauce on pizza crust, though. I guess NC has some strict cooking laws.

This photo of Hannah is the REAL last picture. For most of Tuesday morning, she and Vivi stayed at home and played with Grandpappy and me. Hannah decided to draw pictures for her cousins in Minnesota, in part to thank Ethan and Owen for sending their artwork along, and in part to let all four cousins know how much she misses them. She made a picture for Grandpappy and me, too. Thanks, Hannah! Thank you to E, E, H, and V for a great visit. See (most of) you in May in Minnesota!