The First of July

The beginning of July means it's Josh's birthday and summertime fun is officially underway. At this point we are typically fully into project mode and good times are easily found.  This year Josh's birthday fell during the week of "Music School" (scroll down to a previous post for more details). We were having a great time with Daddy. Mason had discovered he could dress like daddy in his "rad" shorts. On this particular day they were on their way singing, "We're going to Music School" one of the many renditions of "The Farmer in the Dell" that were sung that week.  

On Wednesday of that week it was Daddy's birthday and Mason and I had been planning some fun.  Mason loves to sing "Happy Birthday" and get people to blow out their candles whether they are real or imaginary.  He makes pretend cakes and loves to tell us "secrets" about the fun parties that we are going to have.  He and I had talked about how it was going to be Daddy's birthday.  He picked out some birthday candles that Daddy would get to blow out.  We decided to share another picnic lunch with him to celebrate his special day.  Grammie joined us at the workshop that day, too and shared in the fun.  We ended up staying on campus to gather lunch, so our candles and cake would have to wait until later. After lunch and a retelling of Mason's favorite story, The Three Bears, Daddy went to the afternoon session and Grammie and Mason gathered sticks for our "campfire" and roasting marshmallows (leaves). We found that a pretend campfire is a great way to pass some time on a blistering hot day.

 

Ellie looked on with admiring eyes.  She loves her big brother, or as he told me the other night, "Mommy, she likes me!"

All the excitement wore her out, so she decided to power nap under the shady trees, and Mommy was hoping Mason would follow her lead, but no such luck.  

He decided to power through as we journeyed over to our good friend, MaryEllen's, new place that afternoon. She had come by to meet Ellie and bond a bit Monday night and invited us to visit her as we were so close to her new home.

We are so grateful that she has a high tolerance for our chaos as she welcomed us with open arms. While visiting we successfully left our mark.  Mason emptied all her coin jars onto her carpet, chipping one of them.  Ellie power-pooped all over one of her towels. Josh was going to make up for these antics by helping her move a monstrous, unwanted desk down her stairs and successfully put scraps and holes in her wall before snapping off the light switches at the bottom of the staircase. Fortunately, we had stopped at the nearby bakery to pick up some birthday cake to help distract from the damages.  Mason found a clock that was waiting to find its hanging spot in her new home and was suddenly carrying it around.  I asked him what time it was and he replied thoughtfully, "40, time to eat cake." Well, who can argue with that?

He ventured into the kitchen with MaryEllen to find some candles and get the cake. They came in singing and grinning. Being the creative thinker he is, Mason wanted to put the candles into these fancy candle holders he found (her dogs' Kong toys). Luckily, MaryEllen was there to redirect that idea.

"Make a wish, blow out your candles Daddy!"


Happy Birthday, Daddy! Thank you for being the wonderful husband and father that you are. We love you with all our hearts and more.  We look forward to many more years of creativity, imagination, laughter and all around good times.