Monday, March 6, 2023

Birthday weekend recap

This past weekend was all about celebrating Paul’s 5th birthday! Some of his birthdays have been very snowy, like his first birthday when we got something like 15” of snow! But luckily we threaded the needle between snow storms. 

The party was on Saturday at 5 so Paul and I made his cookie cake after breakfast so it’d be ready to decorate when my parents arrived at lunchtime. We are solidly team cookie in this house, especially when it come to gluten free baking. In my experience, cookies turn out better and cookie cakes are very fun and festive. 

We finished making the cookie cake in time to do our usual library and gymnastics routine. The library had new toys out and a new search and find activity! 


My parents had arrived by the time we got home from gymnastics. The boys enjoyed having their grandparents around! 

Will is wearing Paul's shoes in this photo. His feet aren't THAT big!

While Will napped and Paul had quiet time, my mom decorated the cake. I am terrible at decorating so am glad she could do it! 


Phil’s mom came over mid-afternoon. Paul impressed his nanas by reading to them!


Around 5, my brother, SIL and nephew arrived and the party began. We ordered pizza and I made a salad. Paul opened presents in between dinner and cake. 


His favorite gift was this rover toy his Nana Joan got him from Lakeshore Learning. When he opened it he said, ‘I’ve been waiting my whole life for this!!’ It is a very cool toy and very very sturdy! 


Then it was cake time! 


Our guests left around 7 and everyone played Uno while I did Will’s bedtime. My parents spent the night since they live about 3 hours away.


Sunday was quieter since we were recovering from the previous full, busy day. My parents left around 9 and I headed out for a 4 mile run (with YakTrax, of course, as many of the sidewalks are still treacherous). 

Since it was mild outside and our sidewalk was in good shape, the boys did some biking/scooting. As you can see, we have SO MUCH SNOW. 



The boys also played with Paul’s new birthday toys! 


It started to snow again around 6pm. It’s supposed to snow today, too, and there’s more snow forecasted Wednesday-Friday. Spring is never coming but at this point we figure we might as well go for a record snowfall for the season. We’ve had over 70”; the record is in the 90s so it’s definitely possible. Spring feels so far off! 

Has spring arrived where you live? I’m thinking we won’t see grass until April! 

16 comments:

  1. looks like a lovely birthday celebration, with family and cake/cookies. My little one will turn 7 and still thinking about what to do... I want low-key, she wants surprise birthday decor. hahaha...

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  2. Happy birthday to him! It looks like a fantastic day. The cookie cake looks great!
    We have so much snow here as well. Not as much as you though, at least, I don't think so. But not seeing grass until April is pretty much standard here. It's always strange to me to see photos of other places that have spring in March, because it's very far from the reality here.

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  3. I am very happy to see that the large cookie has returned! It looks delicious! Is it chocolate chip? And do you just sub your GF mix for the regular flour and make no other changes? I am intrigued. I am not much of a cake person so the idea of having a cookie instead is very fun.

    Oh...snow. In Tahoe we got about 10 feet of snow in about 4 days last week. Some of the ski resorts and the highways were closed, people were stuck and even if you could drive someplace, a normally one hour drive was taking four or five hours. And we are supposed to get another storm this week! I think the average snowfall in Tahoe is about ~450 inches and so far this year already they have gotten about 500! Even my parents who live at a lower elevation (about 2000 vs about 6500) have had so much snow over the last week that some of their neighbors could not even get out of their driveways. You can tell Phil though that I asked them about their sidewalks and they said people just walk in the street and there is no fine for not shoveling them. Needless to say, this summer is going to be a later hiking season!!!

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  4. Happy birthday! That cake looks great - kudos to your mom for the decorating.

    How often does your library rotate toys? It seems like having new toys and a new activity would be super exciting if you're going weekly!

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  5. @NGS we haven't quite figured out the cadence of when they change out the toys but I think they them out about every 3-4 months? The search and find seems to be changed out about every other month? That is Paul's (and my) favorite thing to do at the library! They put hide pictures all around the kids/teens area and there is a theme. Last time it was "animals in love" - this time it was different kinds of butterflies.

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  6. Love that cake!! And new library toys are SUCH a delight. "I've been waiting for this my whole life" is so darling. Glad Paul had such a fun bday weekend! (also! I went out sans boot chains today and almost fell a million times-- our sidewalks are covered in barely frozen slush, and it's terrible. No spring here for awhile)

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  7. Your mom did a great job decorating that cookie cake! It sounds like a really fun birthday for Paul. I love his reaction to his favorite present.
    Yep, you guys have snow! Now I'm excited and hoping you break the record. Although it might not be quite as exciting for you if you have massive shoveling and school cancellations. Well... spring will come eventually!

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  8. This looks like such a wonderful birthday celebration and Paul looks so happy!!! I love his comment about waiting for that toy his whole life. Kids say the sweetest (and funniest) things.

    We've had most of our winter weather in the last few weeks. Lots of snow (more snow days for the kids) and just crummy weather. Oh well. Today I went to the ski hill for a few hours - and that can't be done without snow/low temperatures. So, there are some plus sides to winter weather. That said - I AM SO READY FOR SPRING. Mostly because I'm just tired of manging all the winter weather gear. It takes at least 5 minutes longer to get out the door in the morning and I'm so excited to just put on sneakers and some finger gloves and walk out the door.

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  9. It looks terrific. So nice your parents could come and stay, Lisa. Your mom did a great job on that cake! Paul looks like he's having the time of his life. They're so much fun at that age, so excited about everything!

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  10. "I've waited my whole life for this" -- omg, I love kids. They are amazing. Happy birthday to Paul! He looks so grown up! FIVE!!!

    I am also very impressed by not only the amount of snow you have, but by how well your sidewalks are cleaned! No one cleans sidewalks in my neighborhood. Even if I get a wild hare and go do the sidewalks in front of our house, it makes no difference because the houses on either side are covered with snow.

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  11. What a great party! LOVE the ordering of pizza... I would totally do that too. Makes everything so much easier, and who doesn't like pizza?! The cookie is adorable too. Way to go Grandma. ;) Paul seemed over the moon with his party and gifts. That's the best!! They really get into birthdays around that age, I remember. Glad you guys had a nice time!

    Most of our snow melted now! But apparently more is coming- hopefully only a little. I'm READY to be done with snow now. I don't dislike winter weather in November-February, but once March arrives it feels like it should be a "spring" month, and I just get really antsy for it to be nicer out. I don't need it to be 80, but I just want to be able to go out and enjoy the sunshine without freezing to death.

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  12. Happy belated birthday, Paul! Last night we got another 6 or so inches, so I'm not holding my breath for real spring until April.

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  13. I'm so glad Paul had such a wonderful birthday weekend with all of his favorite people! Is he reading for real now, or is it "reading"? That would be amazing if he's already reading before kindergarten!

    This quote (‘I’ve been waiting my whole life for this!!’) is so cute! It really shows Paul's personality. :)

    I can't believe how much snow you have! It's now "welp, probably too hot to wear long pants" weather already in Florida, ugh.

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  14. We barely had snow until the end of February. Now I feel like it NEVER ENDS. We had one big storm right before Christmas but it melted away pretty quick. And I suppose the good news about March snow has been that some 40 plus days in between storms has melted a lot. I AM SO READY FOR REAL SPRING. This is also the first year that I''ve busted out spring toys mid winter because for the love we need some entertainment and energy out!!!

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  15. Awww, what a wonderful birthday. I had to chuckle about Paul's response to the gift "I have been waiting all my life for this" haha. So sweet.

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  16. That snow is insane!!!! I can’t imagine!!!! I’m so glad Paul had such a good birthday celebration!!! That cookie decorating is super impressive!!! I don’t have that skill and I always appreciate those who do!!!
    Lori

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