Back in January we hosted a birthday party for madame.

This year’s theme was Beatrix Potter. Everyone wore masks of different Potter characters, and we had tea, sandwiches, scones and cakes for the party.

We played with some of her new presents…

and had a rousing game of impromptu ‘balloon ball’ too!

“You shall not ever escape. I will catch you. I’m the best!”
— The Kid, as she chases a fly with a babywipe

Yesterday we all gathered at Gma Vita’s place…

…to celebrate her birthday. (View more pics.)

The kid is a little too young to play horeshoes right now, so she enjoyed the first few rounds as a spectator and cheerleader…

…until deciding she’d be of better use as a scorekeeper. She hurriedly grabbed crayon and paper and retired to her “scorekeeper booth” where she could better observe and record each game.

At irregular intervals throughout the games, the little scorekeeper would flash her score to the participants…

…using drawings of our dearly departed wubie and x’s as her “scores”. I think a wubie drawing represented a ‘hit’ while an x signified a ‘miss’ (or vice versa).

“I’m too excited about the princess party to sleep, Mommy!”
— The Kid

Here are some pics from yesterday’s gathering at Gma Vita’s place.

We’ve been to Filoli three times since it reopened in February. We went on Grandmommy’s birthday with the family, as has become our tradition.

Looking back through our photos I am reminded how happy Grandmommy was there, despite her illness. (The first photo below is Lucy now…the one next to it is Grandmommy in the same space 3 years ago. )

How peaceful and relaxing and ‘away from it all’ it is here.

“You can be my cup holder, Dad. But you can’t drink it because it’s my water.”
— Lucy

Here are a few more pics from last week’s dual birthday parties.

“Hey! Follow my instructions!”
— Lucy

2011.01 Tom’s Birthday from Mike C on Vimeo.

Last week we had dual birthday parties, one for the kid and one for her Gpa Tom. Above is a really cool video Jill made for her dad as part of his birthday present.

Music Used:

String Quintet in C Major, Op. 25, No. 4

First up, the 4 year old portion…princess themed, with castle, knights, and princesses. (She said she and I could be the valiant knights, and Auntie Laura could be the princess.) There were cupcakes for all, and a crown each for Grandpa and Lucy.

After the cupcakes, piles of presents (she says her favorite present was her new scissors), and dancing portion, we went out to dinner for the grown up portion with Gpa’s longtime friends.

We had a great meal, good company, and madame managed to make it through the long meal by getting Grandma to rub her feet.

After dinner we had a coconut cake chez Gma & Gpa, and presents for Grandpa. A wonderful time was had by all!

the map…and some treasure…

essential pirate gear…hat, eye patch, and cardboard sword…

ye olde pirate cupcakes…some were stolen treasure before the party started!

Lucy: “That’s not fair! That’s not my goal!”
Mommy: “Was your goal to have ice cream but no hair-combing?”
Lucy: “Yes.”
— a conversation with a goal-oriented toddler

I got a very pleasant surprise from Lucy recently: a birthday card! It was really cool, much nicer than this one I got via email.

Lucy draws every day. She recently added writing to her skillset, frequently asking her parents to write down letters and words so that she can copy them.

It was a lovely day so we all decided to have a picnic in the park, then come back home for cupcakes. It was so relaxing in the park, I forgot to take any pictures, so we’ll have to start with the cupcakes Lucy and I made…

the gang’s all here…

about to sing the birthday song…

partygoers and birthday celebrants. Happy Birthday Grandpa and Auntie!