Dean is a whole handful!

What a time to celebrate 5!  Oma and Papa flew in for the occasion, and they even took Dean and Fiona to the coast overnight before the big day.

 

We celebrated with a small party at the park for a Jedi Scavenger Hunt.  Here’s the mission – and my beloved, a Jedi Master, explains the rules of the quest to the Younglings. 

And they’re off!  Matt gets big-time points for this.  I think he enjoys wielding the lightsaber though.  It glows.

Hunting for nature items.

The reward?  A Chinese yo-yo lightsaber of course.  Best. Party favor.  Ever.

   

Now the cake.  Darth Vader in a cupcake mosaic.  Chocolate with buttercream frosting sprinkled in chocolate wafers and black sugar with white icing and silver crystal highlights.  Phew.  All because I refused to buy the Wilton Darth Vader pan on eBay.  I highly recommend this cupcake method though.  No forks.  Barely needed plates.

Check out the lightsaber-ish candles.

Playground time.

 

And the celebrating didn’t stop there!  The next day was Dean’s actual birthday, where we celebrated with yet another chocolate cake – rolled with ice cream this time.  And a viewing of “Cars 2” at the Kennedy School.  Plus presents.  I’m exhausted!

What is that big red present?  Drum roll, please…

   

Seriously!  We’re nuts.  I blame Matthew.

Fiona was feeling a bit left out, so we thought this would be a good time to give her the upgraded Buzz Lightyear costume we got her for Halloween since she’s worn the other one thin (and she still insists on going as Buzz Lightyear).

  

And now we begin looking forward to the next birthday…

lightning master

Today I visited Dean during school just before his naptime.  He was quietly playing with some magnet toys, and he kept referring to "lightning master". 

Finally, I asked him, "What is 'lightning master'?"  He said, "Lightning Master is a movie I made up.  It's like 'Peter Pan'.  There's a guy NAMED 'Lightning Master' IN it." (emphasis his). 
Brilliant.

Autumn is here

It is autumn in Portland, and we are feeling a bit playful. 

And, why not?  There are birthdays to celebrate – starting with Matthew’s.  I have attempted, at his request, a cheesecake.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to follow my Grandmother’s delicious fool-proof recipe, since hers calls for cherries and Matt insists on chocolate and caramel.  So I winged it again this year, modifying a bit from last year, since I thought the caramel was too understated.  This year, we tried an Oreo cookie base – actually, Newman-O’s -  (I say “we”, because Fiona helped me smash the cookies into tiny bits).  That layer was followed by a layer of homemade caramel, which Dean watched me make, witnessing what happens to sugar when it melts.  Yummiest layer ever.  This was followed by a layer of cheesecake filling, which included Godiva bittersweet chocolate, but otherwise, was pretty much my Grandmother’s cheesecake recipe, and that layer was followed by the final layer according to Grandmother’s cheesecake recipe (which is classified).  It was yum – though the caramel was too understated again.  Or maybe I just want to eat a spoonful of that instead? 

Here is my beloved, celebrating 35 years of life with our three sweetie pies.  We placed 3 orange candles and 5 yellow candles before realizing that within a month we’d be celebrating Dean’s 5th and Fiona’s 3rd birthdays.

Leo had his eye on the cheesecake – I think Matt gave him a bit off the top when I wasn’t looking.  Well, what are birthdays for?

Leo loves to eat!  He’s crawling everywhere these days and likes to spend his time pulling himself up on the couch, on a stool, on my legs… His gross motor skills are accelerated!  We are constantly surprised by how active this little guy is.

No telling where he will go next!

 

September Album: These aren’t the droids you’re looking for

We celebrated Labor Day weekend with my sister and her family, which, by “we”, I mean, my 3 kids and I.  We spent a lot of the weekend watching a Star Wars marathon.  My children are officially hooked.  And I guess I am too.

Other highlights included: preserving Fredericksburg peach jam, hiking around Garden of the Gods, late-night viewing of the Food Network’s  “Chopped” with my sis, and attending the Air Force game on college football opening day. 

The only thing about the game that fascinated Dean was the other team’s drums.  South Dakota’s band let him have a closer look as they were lining up.  Such friendly folks!

Playing at the Garden of the Gods.

   

Can’t catch Fi!

Me and Leo.

My nephews and niece.

Our visit was an entire week – I’m sure that was long enough for all parties, but my sister and I could probably have visited some more.  Sans kiddos.  Time for another Girl’s Weekend? 

'burb wars

Did a LOT of shopping for birthday party supplies in the suburbs last weekend (to avoid shipping costs) and remembered why I shop online.  So much driving - a whole day spent and no Darth Vader pinata to be found.

So we are doing a Jedi Scavenger hunt instead.  I will still be responsible for a Darth Vader cake.  May the force be with me.

August Album: There’s treasure everywhere

In addition to a tremendous growth spurt by Leo, our August was awesome!  The highlight included spending our eleventh wedding anniversary on Whidbey Island with my brother JP, Meghan and "cousin Carlos".  We met several members of Meg’s extended family, basked in the sun, and boarded along the beach in a quaint cabin affectionately called “the Peanut”.  It was relaxing and joyful!

During hikes along the beach, Dean scouted for treasures.  Our finds: uniquely colored rocks (he seemed to gravitate toward the reddish ones - must be his Oklahoma roots?), shells, and small abandoned beach toys.  It was such a lovely time - great weather, great company, the best of food and music.  There’s treasure everywhere.

My brother has me convinced that crabbing is the best way to catch your meal:  leave a trap in the water, forget about it all day while basking in the sun and looking for treasures, and then return to find your meal waiting for you.  The intimidating part is reaching in the trap to fetch your crabs (throwing out the females and small males per licensing requirement) without being pinched.  And the crabs are feisty!  They draw blood with their claws and they don’t let go.  I watched him do it successfully several times (the day before he had had one unlucky pinch), and finally I took a deep swallow and fetched one out myself!  It was frightening but oh-so-rewarding.  Crabs make such a delicious meal.

Between crabbing and hiking, our agenda was filled with serious beach-time.

    

The last day on the island, we headed into town for a delicious meal and said good bye.

On the ferry ride over and back, Dean and Fiona were fascinated with the fact that our van could be on top of a boat!  There was giggling and clapping.  Such wonder!

We also were fortunate to spend some time in Seattle before our trip with dear friends, Aunt Terri and Uncle Lou and Erin, Ellis and Camille.  Our summer has been filled with exciting adventures, and we are so grateful for the friends and family that fill our lives with joy and give it meaning. 

Some of August was also spent in quiet (well, never really quiet) moments at home and typical days at the park. 

Monkey in fancy shoes!

Brothers enjoying their treasures.

the farmer debriefs the flight

So... just a debrief:  it IS possible to fly on an airplane solo with three children - two on either side plus one infant on your lap.  It's pretty tight, and I don't recommend longer than three hours.  But it can be done.  Both flights to and from Denver were uneventful - my two-year-old and four-year-old told me they wanted to get off about an hour and a half into the air both times.  Um, not an option.  But they tolerated the rest of the way each time, mainly eating their way through it.  The key was providing snacks they could play with:  multi-colored goldfish and animal crackers.  And lots of tiny stickers to count and stick on their notebooks.  Also a calm mom with a flight attendant call button.  No problem.  None at all.

Our visit was awesome, too - I'll post some pics soon.