Happy 4th Birthday, Avery!

Well, the weekend that we have been preparing for finally came a few days ago. It's funny because, every year, Avery's birthday party weekend is the drop dead date to have everything (or at least 90%) done around the house that we have been meaning to get to for months. The timing of her parties also coincides with the start of spring, so it is only natural that we start to do all of the spring cleaning activities around that time anyway, but with her parties (aka, having what seems like 1000 people in my house who may have never seen it before and who are wondering where Avery lives) on the horizon, the speed of actually getting this spring cleaning done picks up just a bit. And, by just a bit, I mean, that we have not actually stopped going on the weekends since about mid-March. Anyway....all in all, our efforts paid off and the parties were all a huge success.


Opa and Grandma once again came in for the festitivities on Friday night. The kids just about bounced off the walls when they walked in the door. They were so excited to see both of them. And, Alex has learned how to say "Opa" quite well, so needless to say, that is pretty much all we heard all weekend.


On Saturday, we had approximately 20 kids and their parents over to the house for Avery's "kid party." First of all, let me tell you that all of our "spring cleaning" nearly was a bust, as the forecast called for rain (and even thunderstorms) ALL day on Saturday. However, we woke up to a gorgeous, sunny, mid 60 degree day and it stayed that way ALL weekend. It was amazing. We wanted to make sure the kids would have plenty to do, so we rented a bouncy house for the weekend, which turned out to be a huge hit. Even Al got in there with the big kids and managed to only get elbowed in the face once. Not bad for a 2 year old bouncing with 15 other 4 year olds.

We had a pinata as well, which was fun, but well...sturdy. Every kid had 2 shots at it and then finally, one of them just hit it about 10 times until it finally opened a bit and Opa dumped all of the candy on the ground.






Other than that, the kids had fun playing in the new swingset (installed just in the knick (how does one spell "knick" when saying "knick of time," anyway?) of time - the weekend before the party) and running around.





And, given how many beers we went through, I would say that the parents had a great time as well.

And, yes - I said 90% of the spring cleaning was done. One of the 10% that wasn't? Grass growing in on time - hence, the hay. Oh - and, the lack of landscaping around the deck. But, whatever. All in good time.


AND, the hit of the party was Avery's bday present from Lindsey - butterfly cupcakes! Lindsey made these all by hand - 72 of them to be exact! They were incredible. I think that people are still talking about them.

Sunday was her family party with Josh's whole family and my parents. It has become a tradition to celebrate her birthday on Mother's Day, which works well for everyone, I think.

This year, given the fact that BOTH parties were at our house, I attempted to do things as easy as possible. So, we stuck with a one-color, no starred (or minimal stars) cake and went with a princess. I think that it actually turned out quite well and the 3-D thing makes it look like it was even more complicated than the others that I've done!


Tuesday was her actual birthday, so I took the day off and Opa, Grandma, Avery, Alex and I all went to the Children's museum to play. Of course, we had to go to a restaurant first for lunch (Avery's birthday would not be complete without a trip to a restaurant). As one can expect, the children's museum on a weekday has about 90% fewer kids than it does on the weekends. It was a nice surprise, as the kids were able to really spend a lot of time at the various activities and were able to do nearly everything there.

So, here we are, at the end of the birthday festivities and Mama is pooped. I'll be honest - I'm looking forward to a few weekends off from spring cleaning and from hosting. But, overall, I'm glad that Avery had a great birthday and was able to celebrate it with all of her friends and family.