We celebrated Carl's fourth birthday in Illinois with Scott's family. In fact, Carl thought that his birthday was the whole reason for the trip! I'm glad that he felt special, even though we didn't plan it that way at all.
Here are some of the things we did to celebrate:
1. Very first, he opened some presents. When my parents came to visit in July, they left presents for Carl's birthday, which have been hanging out in our living room ever since. Because of their constant presence, Carl has been very excited to open them. We packed them up in the car to take with us and he finally got to open them first thing in the morning on his big day. There were 3 sets of finger puppets and books to go along with them! He promptly went to play with them in Nan and Poppy's den.
2. When Nan woke up, we went to Krape Park. There we met up with Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ash, and Maddy. Scott pushed Carl on the swings for a long time.
3. At Krape Park, they have a 50-cent carousel! As a birthday present, Aunt Rachel bought 3 tickets for everyone. Carl rode first with Uncle Ash, then with me, and then with his dad. He loved it. I got really dizzy. I guess that means that I am growing up, too!
4. After lunch, Nan gave Carl her present: the complete collection of Captain Underpants comics. We read some before naptime. Carl's favorite parts were the flip-o-rama pages. There are two pages (both on the right side of the book) that look very similar and when you flip the page between them back and forth really fast, it looks like the picture is moving!
5. Later in the afternoon, Nan set up the slip-n-slide. Maddy came back over to play and she showed Carl how much she enjoyed playing the water. He was skeptical at first but really got into it by the end.
6. When we were getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat cake, we realized that there were no birthday candles in the house. Scott said that he saw a video on youtube of some Russian guy lighting a crayon on fire (it's made of wax and covered with paper) and everyone agreed that it sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately, American crayons are papered with less flammable paper than Russian crayons, I guess. The crayon would not light as it was. So Scott doused it with alcohol. He struck a match, lit the (now very flammable) crayon and instructed everyone to sing very quickly. It worked well enough and was certainly more memorable than some crummy old store-bought candles.
7. The birthday cake was of special note. Scott's dad has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease and can not longer eat gluten. That means no wheat flour (among other things). With so very many birthdays on this trip, that could have been quite a trial for him. But Rachel rose to the challenge and made four gluten-free cakes while we were visiting. The one for Carl's birthday was chocolate with strawberries, as he requested, and was delicious. The surprise ingredient? Pureed quinoa!
8. Before he went to sleep, I told Carl the birthday story. I told him about how he came to our family on a hot day in August and how we took him to the park to let him lay in the sunshine the very next day. When he was 1, he learned to talk in complete sentences before he could walk. When he was 2, we moved to the Riviera and he befriended everyone in the apartment complex. When he was 3, he learned to help out around the house, ride his balance bike, draw, paint, write his name, dress himself, and walk for miles. I told him how proud I was of him and how excited I was to watch him grow this year.
9. The next day, Uncle Ash wrote an awesome song to celebrate Carl. It speaks for itself:
10. When we got home from our trip, Carl was so excited to tell everyone that he was finally four! He went to all the neighbors houses to tell them the good news.
Here are some of the things we did to celebrate:
2. When Nan woke up, we went to Krape Park. There we met up with Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ash, and Maddy. Scott pushed Carl on the swings for a long time.
3. At Krape Park, they have a 50-cent carousel! As a birthday present, Aunt Rachel bought 3 tickets for everyone. Carl rode first with Uncle Ash, then with me, and then with his dad. He loved it. I got really dizzy. I guess that means that I am growing up, too!
4. After lunch, Nan gave Carl her present: the complete collection of Captain Underpants comics. We read some before naptime. Carl's favorite parts were the flip-o-rama pages. There are two pages (both on the right side of the book) that look very similar and when you flip the page between them back and forth really fast, it looks like the picture is moving!
5. Later in the afternoon, Nan set up the slip-n-slide. Maddy came back over to play and she showed Carl how much she enjoyed playing the water. He was skeptical at first but really got into it by the end.
6. When we were getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat cake, we realized that there were no birthday candles in the house. Scott said that he saw a video on youtube of some Russian guy lighting a crayon on fire (it's made of wax and covered with paper) and everyone agreed that it sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately, American crayons are papered with less flammable paper than Russian crayons, I guess. The crayon would not light as it was. So Scott doused it with alcohol. He struck a match, lit the (now very flammable) crayon and instructed everyone to sing very quickly. It worked well enough and was certainly more memorable than some crummy old store-bought candles.
7. The birthday cake was of special note. Scott's dad has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease and can not longer eat gluten. That means no wheat flour (among other things). With so very many birthdays on this trip, that could have been quite a trial for him. But Rachel rose to the challenge and made four gluten-free cakes while we were visiting. The one for Carl's birthday was chocolate with strawberries, as he requested, and was delicious. The surprise ingredient? Pureed quinoa!
8. Before he went to sleep, I told Carl the birthday story. I told him about how he came to our family on a hot day in August and how we took him to the park to let him lay in the sunshine the very next day. When he was 1, he learned to talk in complete sentences before he could walk. When he was 2, we moved to the Riviera and he befriended everyone in the apartment complex. When he was 3, he learned to help out around the house, ride his balance bike, draw, paint, write his name, dress himself, and walk for miles. I told him how proud I was of him and how excited I was to watch him grow this year.
9. The next day, Uncle Ash wrote an awesome song to celebrate Carl. It speaks for itself:
10. When we got home from our trip, Carl was so excited to tell everyone that he was finally four! He went to all the neighbors houses to tell them the good news.
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