The Best Birthday

The original birthday dinner plan was to go out to eat at Souplantation, which happens to be my favorite place and I knew we could find something that everyone would eat there.  However, when we got home, Connor started setting the kids' picnic table with one of his blankets, plates, forks and cups.  He said he wanted to make me birthday dinner.  I thought that sounded great.  So Connor made Eggo waffles, scrambled eggs (with daddy), and got out a can of fruit cocktail.  Then he made some lemonade.  Daddy pulled up some bigger chairs as we didn't exactly fit in the little table and we had a great picnic and watched the sunset.  It seriously couldn't get any better than that.

After dinner Daddy and the kids made cherry chocolate cupcakes.   They were delicious!

Everyone sang happy birthday...except Chloe, she was a bit delayed...or else she wanted to do a solo act.

LA fun!

Thursday and Friday of last week were not technical school days for Connor and I...most of the teachers attended a Montessori conference in Philadelphia.  I chose not to go.  I ended up working Thursday, but then Friday we all had some fun.  Friday Peter had the day off of work and it was also his birthday so we took a little trip to LA to go to some awesome museums.  We took my dad with us and we all had a blast!  Our first stop was La Brea Tar Pits (Page Museum).  This was a short visit, but still pretty cool.  There were a TON of children on field trips there, so it was very crowded!  My favorite parts were seeing the tar just coming up out of the ground and a lake area that was bubbling.  There were several dig sites too, but we didn't go and see them.  It was really hot outside and we had more museums that we wanted to see, so we moved on.

Here's a panorama of the tar in the lake (above)

Entrance to the museum (below)

This is a Columbian Mammoth

These are Dire Wolves....On the opposite wall of this were over 200 skulls of dire wolves found in the tar pits.

Throughout the outside park like area were these yellow cones marking several tar pits.  Larger pits were surrounded by fencing.

From there we went to the California Science Center.  We went to see the Endeavor and then played with all the cool things in the museum.  Connor liked the area where we played with ping pong balls.

 Connor being a goof in front of the replica of the Mars Rover

 Astronaut suit

 above and below...potty for astronauts...this had a video that was very interesting to watch.

 Daddy and Chloe admire the underside of the Endeavor

Here's the Endeavor...pretty cool to see up close.  We watched a short video of what an intricate process it was to tow it to the science center.  It was pretty neat.  I remember watching it on TV a couple years ago.

Here's a panorama view of the Endeavor

 The museum also had a fish tank tunnel and this huge floor to ceiling tank.  The diver on the inside was feeding the sharks.

 They also had a tidepool area where the kids could touch the starfish, sea cucumber and anemones.

 Chloe had fun splashing in the water

 Grandpa and Chloe are checking out one of the tanks

 Chloe made a new friend

 These were hanging from the ceiling above the escalators

 Chloe and Grandpa played with gears

Connor put up giant foam pieces to build the walls of this house

This area was a lot of fun.  We could've spent hours here, but we had one more museum on our list to visit, so moved along...and went next door to the Natural History Museum.  They had two exhibits that Peter really wanted to see: the dinosaurs and the gem and minerals.

 Above Connor is a T Rex that looks like it's going to eat my kiddo...so Connor is afraid-though it looks a lot like his normal goofy pose too.

 Daddy's afraid too

 Here are some more critters

I didn't take pictures of any of the gems-mostly because there was an armed guard standing outside and photography just sounded a bit odd at that point.  We even went into a vault where they kept more gems...that was pretty cool too.

Overall we had a great time in LA and it was very cheap too.  We paid one adult, one child and one senior ticket to the dinosaur museum and tar pits together was $24.  Chloe was free, and CA teachers are free-I just showed a paycheck and my ID and I got in free.  The Science Museum was also free, though to see the Endeavor was $2 per person.  It was a great way to spend a day off of work and a great birthday for Peter.

Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!

On Saturday we celebrated Chloe's birthday with my family.  Chloe got to dig into a big cake....and then Connor moved it away, as he wanted some too.

Mine?!

No, there aren't any pictures with cake all over the face...that didn't happen.  We cut her a piece and she picked it up in two pieces and threw it on the floor.  She was decently clean when she was done with her cake.

She was thrilled with the popcorn popper that she got from grandma and grandpa.  She also got a couple of 18 month outfits.

Saturday afternoon we picked up this awesome set of Geotrax from Craig's List...it was a great deal!

We swiped a set from my parents' house and then Mary gave me some, but when I saw the ad on Craig's List, we couldn't pass it up.  We had the cousins over for dinner on Sunday and it was a major hit.  I think it was also the first time that there were no major battles/fights between children.  In fact, the kids were having so much fun, the adults ate dinner first and let the kids play.  I think we'll leave the track all over the floor for awhile...it really is fun to play with at any age.

So Sunday, we had cousins over for another birthday dinner.  Chloe got some cute outfits and Aunt Amy is going to take 1 year old pictures for us next week.

Then today, we celebrated Chloe's actual birthday.  She got a fun dinosaur toy that sings several songs, a toy phone(Connor picked out and has said numerous times that he's going to share it with her, even though it's for her birthday.), some cute soft indoor shoes, pajamas and snack cups.

 Everyone thought the dinosaur was pretty cool.

 Feeding the dinosaur a carrot.

 Look at me, I'm ONE!

Connor is 2

Yesterday Connor turned 2. He had a great birthday and enjoyed opening gifts.  

I got clothes and sandals (not pictured)

And this really cool bike.  I enjoyed "helping" daddy assemble it.

In the beginning Connor had more fun assembling the bike than anything else.  It was like the kid that would rather play with the box than what is in it.  Except he wanted to assemble more.  But once he realized he could ride this thing...he was off and rolling.  He hasn't got the concept of using the pedals just yet, but that will come soon.

Look at me, I'm Two!

Here's my birthday cake.  I helped with the sprinkles.

Everyone is singing to me.

After everyone sang I blew out my candle.

Then while the camera was not recording my candle was lit again and I blew it out again.

This evening when we got home, there was a large package on the doorstep.  It was a turtle sandbox!

Just before dinner Connor decided to help himself to some leftover cake.

I think he thoroughly enjoyed his birthday!

Happy Happy Birthday Peter Dear

Happy happy birthday Peter dear,
Happy days will come to you all year.
If I had a wish then it would be
a happy happy birthday to you from me.

Peter is one year older and wiser too!

Connor bought his daddy the funniest card we thought we'd share:

"Dad, I'd just like to say you're a great farter! Oops...I meant 'father.' You're a real gassy fellow! Oops...I meant 'classy.' No man alive has a bigger fart! Oops...I meant 'heart.' I'd continue, but it's only gonna get worse. Happy Birthday." The last part has a picture of a cat wearing a gas mask. Connor signed the card, "Happy Birthday Dadda pffttt, Dadda pffttt! Love, Connor."

The funny thing is that Connor often blows raspberries after saying Dadda. Peter loved the card!

I made him a train cake, but missed the optimal time frame for taking the cake out of the pan so it would stay together. I was able to successfully pull out 4 out of 9 train parts, but when I frosted them they totally fell apart. It was a bit of a disaster, but it still tasted good.

Connor's First Birthday!

Guess who turned 1 today!

Connor had a birthday party with Peter's family yesterday and got this cool pirate ship from his aunt and uncle and cousins.

I wish we took our camera with us then, so we could show you the mess he made with a chocolate cupcake. I took pictures with my phone, but have no idea how to get them onto the computer.

Then this evening he had another birthday party with my parents. His uncle gave him the elephant pillow/super soft blanket.
And his grandma and grandpa gave him shoes that match his daddy's. He also got a soft soled pair that have flames on the fronts. He was given those a little early and showed up in them.

He was eager for cake time

Connor also got some magnetic cars from Grandma and Grandpa O, a popping car, some balls, bath squirt toys and a balloon from Mommy and Daddy. All in all I think he enjoyed two days of celebrations.