Celebrating Backyardigans Style

On Sunday we hosted a birthday party for Anastasia. Not surprisingly for anyone who's met her, Anastasia's party was Backyardigans themed. We had the show on a permanant loop on the television, the characters serving as centerpieces and decor throughout the house, and a specially made cake.

Preparations for this party began a while ago, with the purchase of several decorations online, including the Pablo pinata and pablo cake pan that came with instructions for creating the cake. Orlando agreed to make the cake The process wasn't great for him, and he swears that if he ever sees the special food coloring again, he's going to throw it out the window. In the end, it turned out great.



The Pablo pinata was in the living room, and the kids thought it was great.



Grandpa Pietr came for the party, too. He was very excited to get to see how Anastasia has grown. As expected, Anastasia was a bit shy around Pietr, but she said his name, and started to warm up to him before he left on Monday morning.



To keep the kids busy during the party, we'd set up a coloring station on the bookshelves in the front window.



There were plenty of markers and crayons for the kids to use to draw a pretty picture for Anastasia's birthday. Of course, Anastasia spent a lot of time there herself. It was also a hit with some of the grown-ups. In the end, the picture was a wonderfully colorful tribute to Anastasia's birthday.



When it came time to blow out the candles, Anastasia was very excited by her Pablo cake. She really hadn't seen it before this. She loved having Happy Birthday sung for her, and it was so fun to watch her learn how to blow out her candle.



In all the excitement about the cake, I completely forgot to put out the ice cream, but the kids were blissfully unaware. Anastasia's cake fell on the floor almost immediately, but was rescued by Daddy, and soon, accompanied by an orange popsicle. Even our very serious little girl had to enjoy this.



Unfortunately, the party couldn't last forever. We had decided before the party began that we would open presents after the guests had gone, but we had a bag full of treats for Annie's friends to remember her by.



After almost all of our friends had said goodbye, we brought out Anastasia's presents and started the long process of opening them. She was very excited by all of the presents which included new books, new clothes, play food and cooking utensils, and the big one:



Anastasia loved her tricycle. Orlando helped navigate the slight slope of our back driveway and after a few turns, she had the knack of it. It wasn't easy getting her off of it that night, or the following morning, when she rode it around the living room.



After Anastasia went to bed (not difficult, considering how busy her day had been), we spent the evening hanging out on the back patio enjoying the lovely cool evening (not a typo, it was only in the 80s all day!) Pietr had promised to cook us dinner, but since we were all still full from the party, we decided to just have bread and cheese instead. All in all, it was a really great day.

And we were swingin'

As promised, I've gotten the pictures from Nana's party, and they really tell the story of this wonderful evening. After several hours of setting up, the backyard looked really lovely.



The tables were set with candle centerpieces and lavender and purple ribbons tied around the chair backs. We'd moved the patio furniture into some small conversation circles on the other side of the pool, with the bar and buffet. The swingset had recently been reinforced, making it ready for the bigger kids to play on. Anastasia in particular loved the swingset.



Nana and her family began arriving at 6:00. There were to be a lot of family photos before the rest of the guests arrived. Nana looked great, and was her usual spunky self. She held court in the living room for a little while (it was awfully hot outside before the sun set). It was great for all the guests arriving that she was the first person they saw as they entered the house.



Family photos were taken at the back of the yard, beginning with Nana's whole family. This is the version that I took. Theresa, the professional photographer, took better ones, but I don't have the website at home.



Theresa also took some great photos of Sandi, Rob and their kids:



Grandma and Paw-Paw and the 4 grandkids, and Annie and me (which I have seen, but don't have the link to.)

It was a great evening. Anastasia was up very late, which wasn't great, but in the end, she fell asleep and let Mommy hang out with Alex (no photos of her either ... I was really off my game with the camera.) Alex and I figured that we've been friends for nearly 28 years.

We talked a lot about family, friends, her future career as a teacher, and the rest of the topics that we hit on every time we're together. I'm really sorry that she and I don't live in the same city. We have such a great friendship that I would love to be able to spend more time with her.

Our trip to Texas was a resounding success, and Anastasia had a really great time hanging out with her cousins. By the end of the weekend, she was pretty well wiped out, and was seen laying down watching Backyardigans with Andrew. Funny how it all comes back to the Backyardigans.

McDonald's Playland is Evil

Our second day in Texas began very early. Ashley, Andrew and Quinn all slept in, but Anastasia was up and about at 6:15. We went into the living room and enjoyed a few cartoons on demand and some fruit for breakfast. Soon enough, Andrew and Ashley were awake, too, though Andrew really wasn't feeling all that well, so he was in and out of bed most of the day.

Before their day got started, Ashley and Anastasia enjoyed a little jump on the sofa. Paw Paw kept saying that this was a big no-no, and they shouldn't be jumping on the sofa, but I thought it was very funny. See for yourself in another silent movie.



There was a lot to accomplish throughout the day, with the party scheduled to begin at 7:00, so Anastasia and Ashley's 3 hour nap was a godsend. Right after the girls went down, the tables arrived for the party, and almost immediately after that, the gang arrived to start setting up the party. Tables on the right side of the pool, patio furniture, food and the bar on the left. There were ribbons to be tied around chairs, center pieces to be made and patio furniture to be moved. Pictures of the yard after it was set up will come as soon as I have them.

Once the girls woke up, it was important to get them out of the house so that the rest of the setup could continue without the 2 year olds getting in the way. So, Mom and I took them to McDonald's for lunch and a little play.

Now, I remember the excitment of going to McDonald's to play on the playground and how much fun it was to ride the various play equipment they used to have. But when I was a kid, the play equipment seemed designed as much with parents in mind as kids. There were the Fry Guys mounted on springs that you rode like a horse, there was the Mayor McCheesy merry-go-round and the giant hamburger tower. All of these made it very easy for parents to come and collect their children from the playground when it was time to leave.



Today, they may have come a long way in terms of safety, but they have made one difficult task for parents. Our two little girls were not interested in coming down from the top of the tunnels structure, and Mom and I couldn't realy get into the aparatus to capture them. These things might as well be Fort Knox, they're that hard to get into.

Fortunately, there were two older boys who were willing to help us get the two climbers out of the play equipment. By the time we finally got both of them on the ground and holding Mom's hand, I realized we hadn't taken any pictures of them at the playland. So, we got this one:



You can tell that Mom was ready to get them strapped back into their carseats and as far away from McDonald's as we could get.

Ash-EEEE: Texas day 1

Anastasia and I visited the whole clan in San Antonio this weekend. It was a great trip, highlighted by Nana's 100th birthday party, but more about that in another post (when I have the pictures to go with the story). After an early start, the flight down was really good. Anastasia got her own seat on the way down, and we played and talked and colored ... oh, and ate the whole way down.

Grandma met us at the airport with Ashley and Quinn, which made Anastasia very, very happy. I wasn't sure she remembered Ashley, but every time we talked about the trip at home, it became clear that she remembered her cousin very well.

After a quick nap, the girls were excited to get into the swimming pool. Ashley was in first, but it didn't take Anastasia long to follow.



Since they're both too short to touch the bottom, their swim was almost entirely on the steps, but I took Anastasia out for a little cruise around the pool.



Then they took turns on the little slide. Here's a little old school silent movie of them taking turns. I'm not sure how to make Mom's camera capture sound as well as the video, but I kind of like it silent.



After getting dressed again, the two girls decided to check out Andrew's bed on the top bunk. It wasn't allowed, but they definitely didn't care. There was fun to be had.



It was almost time to go out for dinner, but there was plenty of time for Grandma to read a book.



Baby Quinn liked the book, too. It's kind of amazing how big he's gotten considering that just a few months ago, he was in the hospital fighting to gain weight.



Dinner for Nana was at a really good Mexican restaurant. Sandi, Rob and their kids had to leave early because Andrew wasn't feeling well after his big day at the water park. That left just Grandma, Anastasia and me.



Over all, it was a very long day; one that didn't end for Anastasia and Ashley until almost 11:00 pm. They eventually fell asleep, following close behind.

Texas here we come!

On Friday morning, Anastasia and I will take a trip on a plane to visit. Anastasia has just started to notice airplanes, so it should be a fun ride. fortunately, we're taking a direct, non-stop flight, which makes the trip as short as possible. Still 3 1/2 hours in a plane (plus at least an hour at the airport before) is going to be challenging enough.

We've got a lot of people to see in San Antonio, and we're really looking forward to it. Last time we were there, Anastasia and Ashley were such great friend that I can't wait to see how they do now that they're both a little older. We're also going to get to see Andrew and baby Quinn, plus Auntie Sandi, Uncle Rob, Grandma and Paw Paw. And, we're going to be there for Nana's 100th birthday party.

Between the visits with cousins, friends and grandparents, and swimming, I think Anastasia will have a great time. Lots of pictures to come.

Busy Weekend

We had two very busy days this weekend. Saturday began with breakfast at IHOP, followed by a trip to the party store for supplies for Anastasia's birthday party. We picked up some cake plates, napkins and favors for the party. It's going to be a Backyardigans themed party, so of course all the stuff we picked up had pictures of her favorite characters on them. She's going to love this party.

Pablo is her favorite character, so we're using him as the main focus of the party. Orlando bought a Pablo cake pan (which might be a bit of a challenge to decorate, but I think we can manage) and a Pablo pinata (which we're going to use as a centerpiece.)



Sunday, we went to IKEA and picked up a new bookshelf for our living room. Anastasia's books have become a bit overwhelming. Since they're her favorite toy, she has a lot of them, and the basket that we've been keeping them in had gotten a bit tight. At IKEA we found a shelf that is perfect for our needs.



It fits perfectly with her toy box in the front window and with the addition of a cushion, it will make a wonderful window seat.

Learning to Talk to the Dogs

For obvious reasons, Anastasia has been comfortable around dogs since day one. She's been mostly tolerant of Basil's minor obsession with her, and she's gotten used to Chase jumping up on her bed uninvited. For their part, the dogs mostly love Anastasia. Basil is quite obsessed with her, Toute seems to be confident that she's not going to step on her (most of the time) and Chase is coming to accept that Anastasia has usurped her position (in some ways).

The other day, I caught Anastasia telling Basil not to eat her breakfast and ran to get the camera. by the time I got back, the command had changed to "Sit down Basil". I started filming and was shocked by how well all three of the dogs listened to her.



Of course it helped that she had a plate full of stuff that she was tempting the dogs with. They'll do just about anything for the promise of a treat.