This past week has been a bit of a birthday extravaganza. It started Saturday with the boys' Elmo party. Ever since we went to see Elmo live, all the boys can talk about is Elmo, so I figured out how to get an Elmo suit and decided this would be the birthday theme. When the day of the party started out a little cloudy, I got a few waves of panic as I imagined screams, tantrums, hsyteria and tears when the special guest arrived, but the sky cleared, the guests showed up, the guest of honor made his appearance and we had a fantastic day. When Bean pulled up a chair beside the humongous red monster and Goober said "Elmo come" after the Elmo left, I knew it was worth it. They've been talking about it ever since.
Here's a dark pic of the goody bag and cake table:
Wish I could take credit for these but they are made by my talented little sis. She has a cookie company in Canada called
The Steveston Cookie Company:
Goober and his friend L:
Hanging out with L and C:
A and A thanks for coming all that way!
Surprise!
A little unsure, but Bean looks content. I on the other hand look a little too overjoyed.
Grandma joining in the fun:
Sephie and her crew. I had to post two pics because M was enthralled with Elmo:
Bean pulling over his chair:
Yes, those are homemade, from scratch birthday cakes. I didn't burn them and they actually were edible. The desserts I served the guests though were from Trophy Cupcakes and Costco. I took no chances on my ability:
Me and my sis. Thanks for helping big time!
Baby Daddy and his big bro Uncle Niv. Thanks for helping out with the BBQ! So glad you could come:)
Auntie Candy and our littlest guest:
Hanging out in the kitchen. Auntie Jo and L and S all the way from Canada!
And a plaid crew of posers:
This picture below was taken around when Elmo had to leave. Say "bye" Elmo we told the kids and they ran up and gave him high fives and yelled goodbye. Very cool. Thanks for coming Elmo. And thanks Uncle Roo. You know why.
To add to this epic post, I thought I'd add what we did on the real birthday. Baby Daddy took the day off and we drove the toddlers to Remlinger Farm in Carnation because they have been requesting "on choo choo" for the last little while now and I've been promising them they get to do this on their birthday. Little did I know we'd also be picking berries, riding ponies, driving buses and climbing on fire engines. Toddler Heaven! So here we have a few snapshots of the day:
Goober or "Beebum" as he now calls himself driving the fire engine:
Both boys waiting for the train to start:
One of the only times these cutout pictures has kind of worked out:
Putting the toddlers to work. I think this is from the blueberry field where we picked a handful of green berries before deciding to head to the raspberry patch where we were way more successful.
Bean trying to 'hold tight' on his first pony ride.
And finally-all my boys in one stagecoach. We ended the day with icecream cake and raspberries that we picked today. And presents from Mom and Dad of course, but more on that later....
We've been home a week and its been a little hectic unpacking and getting ready for September. I think I've been dragging my feet because this year we're going 'back to school' with these toddlers and it's making me feel old. Time flies and sometimes I miss my little babies. We're all growing up-Bean even got his first bee sting and I survived. When I get a moment or two I close my eyes and we're still sitting here on the beach with the waves lapping at our feet. Thank goodness my mom sent me some pics so I can post them as I've been way too lazy to even get mine uploaded. So in no particular order, here are some of the highlights from our trip to the Big Island. We went with my parents and it was so helpful to have extra hands on the flight(and in the van, the hotel, the airport...)and we had so much fun exploring the island together.
Baby Daddy and I at the boys' first luau. Just having the word 'luau' as part of the boys' vocabulary makes coming here worth it enough. 
Baby Daddy and Bean body surfing with the boogie board with a window we bought at Target for less than it cost to rent it for a week. 
Blast Off!
The beach by our hotel on our first night in Kona. 
Grandpa building his arm muscles at a farmers' market.
And Goober with his water wings. Watching the boys in the water on this trip in particular has been amazing. They are truly water babies and I don't know how these splashes and flops turn into swimming but one day it will.
As always I will promise to post more soon and hopefully upload pics before October. There are a few rainy days ahead, so there is hope. Thanks mom for sending me some of yours to get me started:)
This looks almost like an impromptu circle of Ring around the Rosie:
Thanks for bringing a bag of balls Jane. The field was awesome!
But this is my winning picture. As you can see it is taken from the bottom of the park apparatus. This means that I am at least 3 feet away from the children and they are in the air and out of my reach. I'm dealing with my issues one step at a time with very small and neurotic borderline crazy steps, but we all have to start somewhere right?
A and A thanks for coming all that way!
Surprise!
Grandma joining in the fun:
Me and my sis. Thanks for helping big time!
Hanging out in the kitchen. Auntie Jo and L and S all the way from Canada!
Both boys waiting for the train to start:
One of the only times these cutout pictures has kind of worked out:
Putting the toddlers to work. I think this is from the blueberry field where we picked a handful of green berries before deciding to head to the raspberry patch where we were way more successful.
Bean trying to 'hold tight' on his first pony ride.
Actually I've been thinking about the big day coming up for a while now and it's evident that I no longer have two babies. The clothes are bigger, the shoes are bigger, the words they learn each day baffle me. We have even been trading in some of the baby toys like the baby basketball hoop above for the larger big boy models. It's got me reminiscing and realizing that in a mere two weeks I will have real two year olds. Two year olds that are teenager wannabes-wanting independence, questioning everything and running in the opposite direction of where I want them to go. Am I ready? Who knows. But in the meantime, here are some of our recent antics:
Watching our first outdoor concert at the zoo:
Gulping lattes(whole milk, steamed, low foam, lukewarm, tall) to get through early mornings
and hanging out on the beach. These next few shots are from a recent trip to Vancouver island:
Petting Goats at the farm:
More beach:
