Baby hangover

Ruby's Birthday, the end. Being born on Christmas day I've never had a proper birthday party, no pools and pizza, no cupcakes and sleepovers, more often than not it was a home baked pie and hugs at my grandmother's farm. Therefore, it was pretty satisfying to plan and execute this little gala for Rubes and document it to hold against her in her teen "I hate you Mom" phase.

Though these little monkeys were up cackling 'til midnight they rose at the crack of dawn, quickly morphing into ballerinas and cowboys, not a hint of fatigue on their chubby faces. I scraped up some eggs and hid behind my coffee mug, happily dropping eaves on their sweet (and very serious) lisping discussions: whether the pony and unicorn in Ruby's Narnian stables were dancing OR fighting with each other, or if Matilda's "heart beep" sounded good in the veterinarian stethoscope.

Not Slumbering, party

Birthday part third: Waffle dinner with an option to slumber, a.k.a. stuff toddlers with candy and syrup then tell them it's bedtime. HAHAHA. Here are a handful of shots of the mild chaos- low light and dancing subjects making for blurry memories. I would have liked to invite at least 10 more sweet kids that I know but I tried to be realistic about my own sanity and the legroom in our little house. The waffles made the house smell like magic, and we topped them with berries and reeses piec-i, maple syrup, butter, nutella, bananas, walnuts and chocolate sprinkles. Kiddos and grown-ups alike were tucking the warm treats into their smiles and washing it down with milk.

We played "dress up", "how many people can we fit into the playtent", "let's see what every single toy in the house looks like on the floor", and "parents furtively sip cerveza while distracting monsters with fun movies". We got them pajama'd in increments, said good nights to mommies and daddies and snuggled into a pile of blankets by 10:30, whence they giggled until midnight and passed out from sheer exhaustion.

I jump for birthdays

Ruby's birthday adventure, part second. If you find trampolines tiresome, please feel free to skip this post because I've just put up an eyeful of flying children. I can't help myself, I love capturing the looks of glee on their faces and the wild flapping of clothes and hair, it's like I happened upon a troupe of merpeople floating weightlessly through barbie-infested waters. Wearing silly hats.

I Canoe.

I just let the boat do all the work. That's my secret.

Part first of Ruby's 4th birthday celebration...on a boat! You too can have a thrilling boat-scapade on Ladybird Lake with your small family for an honest price, includes sunscreen and a push off.

This was the monsters' first time trying out their sea legs and I reckon it was pretty memorable. We donned our piratey'st straw hats, dragged our hands in the cool water off the port bow, spotted egrets, giant man-eating swans, a myriad of multi-racial ducks, kayak racers with boats instead of legs, and about 10,000 (very un-grabbable, dangit ) adorable turtles. Evan did the lion's share of the rowing and I blindly snapped photos and held fast to a certain Jungleman and his life jacket. Those swans really are not to be trusted.

I stamp it emphatically "success" considering nobody fell overboard, burst into tears, got a fishing hook in their lip or wet their huck finn cut-off jorts. We slaked our sailor's thirst at The Galaxy Cafe and dined on fish and sweet potato french fries, glowing with adventure.