Sunday, April 6

Birthday season

It's birthday season here at Kaiserstrasse. Yesterday was Zoe's birthday and the joint party. Owen's is Friday. We're in the throes of lots of fun activities and, below, you'll see pictures from the party.

Thanks to my dad for shooting the photos (since we still don't have a functioning digital camera since the break-in, which is absurd), Linda for making the cakes, and everyone for coming and making the party and the day special.

Pizza!


Yum!

Bridgette


Taunts the triplets with pita. Jen doesn't approve.

Party people party


Yeah, this is how we roll.

Matt and B


(Another) Matt and Bridgette chat. By the looks on their faces, Matt is learning that B doesn't approve of how the fed is handling the current economic crisis, and he is livid.

Why are these people happy?


Their children are occupied with something else.

Early party


Owen runs, Zoe is in my arms (in the nature fort), and kids play with balls and toys. The party started well.

Children investigate


Owen, Caleb, and Jacob were looking for something. I think it was on the ground.

Enter the Cosgroves


Tom, Barbara, Jordan, and Maya always make an entrance.

Julio!


This is Zoe's old nanny-share buddy. He's looking sharp.

B holds one of the triplets


The nice thing about the triplets is that you can hold babies that's nice, yet they seem so completely overwhelming that there is no temptation to have another one.

Drake and his dad


Drake and his dad came. Drake stayed away from Zoe a lot of the party, which I think was probably wise because she was really dolled up in pink, which makes her particularly lethal.

Drake is the boy Zoe most likes to beat on at school. I guess that means they're friends.

The oddest thing


The oddest thing about this picture is that Matt A and I were talking about HVAC units. And I think we were enjoying it.

One minute you're trying to figure out which wrinkled flannel looks coolest, the next you're discussing HVAC issues at your kids' birthday party.

Also, now I get grumpy if I stay up late.

Owen and Zoe


Isn't it funny that they wanted to hang out with each other and not socialize?

The cool kids table


They tried to ignore that guy at the end.

Another amazing cake


Linda made Owen another Amazing cake. Compare with this cake and this cake (admittedly, not the best shot of the cake. Doubtless there were better shots, but, well, Zoe was born a few days after the party and blogging seemed less important).


By the way, checking out the archives of this blog (as I just did to get these cake pictures) is a nice trip through the life of the kids.

Owen leads off against the Pinata


So far, children 0, Pinata 1.

Who wants a turn?


Can anyone knock the Pinata down? What child is brave enough to take a chance with it?

Jordan takes a shot


Jordan was also unable to break open the Pinata.

Eli takes a turn


Eli is a pretty strong kid, you'd think he'd be able to knock that thing in two.

Sadly, no.

Another shot


Owen took another swing at the Pinata.

Bringing in the heavy hitter


I took a turn with the Pinata. I was not able to break it.

Finally, I knocked it off of the plastic tie that held it to the canvas roof, then Barbara Cosgrove (not pictured in this shot, but in others in the maroon corduroy overshirt) and I each grabbed an end and tore it apart.

Next time, we're ordering a Pinata made of glass so it'll break easier.

Pinata fever!


The pinata was, finally, down. Owen stands with his haul. Eli argues that Owen has more. Zoe bears silent witness.

Zoe, alone among the pinata carnage


"What have we wrought?" thinks the wistful two year old.

No, we weren't helping


Bridgette and I were just "supervising."

Zoe blows out the candles!


Yaay! Birthday girl is two!

Owen blows out the candles!


Eli can't believe Owen's poor form.

It's not every day you get to decapitate a T Rex


And yes, that is my hand.

Green Fire Engine


Takoma Park has a new green fire engine, which borrows heavily from the Flintstones. Here, Owen races off to save the day!

Future Me email

I don't know if you've seen Futureme.org, but it's really cool. Basically, you can write an email to yourself in the future. It holds the email for a set amount of time (more than a year) then sends it to an email address you specify.

Last year I sent a future me email to myself on Zoe's birthday (which, as the audience of this blog knows, was yesterday). I was really touched to get a response. Even though I'm horrible with social niceities like staying in touch, it made me tickeled to do this for myself.

Here, in redacted form, is my futureme email from last year (warning, parts are kind of sad). Also, I can't spell very well.

Dear FutureMe,

So, Zoe turns two today! Happy birthday Zoe! And Owen will soon be four! I hope you and future B are planning something fun for them. Probably Linda and Lisa will come over for a big thing with the Andelmen and their new batch of kids. I guess the triplets should be celebrating their first birthday soon. Man, I hope that's working out well for them.

I also hope you're into the new house. As I'm writing this, I'm getting over a kidney infection (remember that?) and having trouble sleeping. We're moving into the new house in three days, and Bridgette is quitting her job at Wilmer at the end of this week. It's also Zoe and Owen's last week with Aster, which has me strangely very sad. Aster has been so good to them, expecially Owen, and I know they have a really strong bond. We've been lucky to have her. I really hope that you would (will? do?) say the same thing about their childcare as you read this.

. . .

Owen is absolutely wonderful. He's really into books and balls. His vocabulary is exploding like crazy; I love it! Today he asked if I still felt sick and when I said I did he said "I'm sorry to hear that Daddy" as though he was 50. He's such a caring boy, especially for his age.

Zoe is great too. She's doing more cruising on teh sides of chairs and furniture, and, more than anything, her personality is really starting to emerge. I think Owen is more like B in that he doesn't need a lot of external social interaction, but Zoe is definitely like me in that she wants to make sure she's interacting with everyone in the room. She's got the greatest smile too.

Gran's health isn't doing well, and I worry that'll be a challenge for you in the next year.

. . .

I also hope you've finally gotten around to a regular exercise routine. . . . I suppose I have some control over that.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to Zoe.

Take care of yourself Matt. And take care of your family.

Present me