What a weekend it has been! Happy birthday to my three little sunshines. The picture above was taken on their birthday last Friday after the girls put on some dresses from Grandma and Grandpa. We took measurements on their growth chart (they've all grown another inch and a half or so in the past six months) and got a little treat for kiddos and mommy at Starbucks before we kicked off a busy birthday weekend. We've been having so much fun!
The kids' birthday party was a complete blast! Garrett constructed the key to our success--a homemade slip and slide--that kept all the kids busy and happy for the duration of the event, as well as manned the grill so no one went hungry. And that was about it. The formula for a great party? Good food, good company, and good entertainment that requires minimal parental involvement. Beautiful! Gabriel, Amelia, and Abigail had a blast all afternoon and we got several positive comments from happy guests, so I feel pleased with how it went. I know I had a good time and was delighted with the turnout. It was the first birthday party we've hosted at home that included some family at the event! It was great having Cabell and Reenie here to celebrate with us. And of course our out of town guests, Kevin and Christie and their little Max, added a fun flavor to the party and the entire weekend. Plus I didn't mind Christie's help decorating a few dozen birthday cupcakes!
Amelia, Abigail, Gabriel, and Max were pretty pooped after a busy Saturday of playing with friends and party hosting, so we took it easy on Sunday morning, then had our favorite babysitter over Sunday afternoon for a long stint of kid-duty while all the grown ups went into the city for one of the most fun Chicago ventures we've had! We meandered down Michigan Avenue and wandered briefly around Millenium Park. Then we headed to the boat docks on the Chicago River to board our architecture river tour. Garrett and I have had a river tour on our list of want-to's since we moved here and it was great to share the touristy attraction with some good friends who were also first-timers. After the tour we enjoyed a leisurely and tasty dinner at Smith and Wollensky steak house, then made our way to the Hancock building where we took an elevator to the 96th floor lounge. There were long lines to wait for the elevator, then long lines to wait for a table at the lounge. Thankfully, parties of four were getting seated pretty quickly so we got a table right on a corner of the lounge, looking north and west over enormous Chicagoland full of twinkling lights and early fireworks. We were all so full after our big dinner that we didn't really want to stay and order drinks, though we figured we should given that we were taking up space. Fortunately, our waitress must of been pretty swamped last night because she took so darn long to come take our order we had about ten or fifteen minutes to enjoy the magnificent view before we decided we'd had enough and made our exit to free up the table for another party. Not bad to save a few bucks and a few calories and still get the full benefit of the view! By the time we got home we were all sleepy and stuffed, but totally satisfied to have had ten hours (ten hours!) enjoying friends we've known since our fairly early days in Manhattan. Different city this time, but same great company!
Not to be outmatched by our fast-paced weekend, today has had some adventures of its own. Garrett drove Kevin, Christie, and Max to the airport so I took the kids to the park to play. I noticed the girls had found some small beads in the sawdust that they were toting around and didn't think much of it until Abigail came up to me crying, saying she got the bead up her nose. I couldn't see it but I tried to have her blow her nose to try to get it out. No luck. I'm not sure she was even blowing---I think she was sniffing--but explaining the nuances of blowing out rather than sucking in seemed ineffective on poor distressed Abigail, so I called the pediatrician's office and reached the on-call doctor. Of course it has to be a holiday when the doctor's offices are closed, and the doctor said since I couldn't see the object and I couldn't get her to blow it out, I'd need to take her to the ER. Ugh!
This was our first ER visit ever, if you don't include the earliest days of preemie life and Abby's re-admittance to the hospital at around three or four weeks old. Anyway, as much as I dreaded going to the ER (I'm not looking forward to seeing this bill), I am grateful that the "emergency" that took us there was a pea-sized bead up the nose rather than something even slightly more traumatic. We reached an almost empty ER, were ushered in by pleasant administrative staff and nurses, and the doctor had Abigail's nose emptied out within about ten minutes of our arrival. The kids each got a popsicle and stickers to bring home--I'm thinking they may have a pretty rosy association with the ER for a while. Not such a bad thing I guess.
Garrett was on his way home from the airport when I called and told him where we were headed so he met us at the hospital. When he got there he of course questioned Abigail about what she was doing sticking beads up her nose:
Garrett: So Abby, why'd you stick a bead up your nose.
Abigail: Well, I was pretending I was going to the airport, to get on an airplane, to go to Nana's...
Garrett: Oh yeah? So what was the bead for?
Abigail: I was pretending the bead was my ticket.
[Extended silence while Garrett and I try to deduce why Abigail would be sticking her ticket up her nose. We have yet to figure out how that makes sense. Any thoughts out there?]
Garrett: I see.
Abigail: Yeah.
And so that's how it went. And now Abigail and Amelia and Gabriel have been told, by a doctor, not to stick anything in their ears or their noses. Lessons learned every day.
So today is off to a great start. Now it's off to the car show and other great things. Happy Independence Day everyone!
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