Our kids were pampered this year as they enjoyed four separate birthday celebrations. Each event was very unique, fun and memorable. They had a birthday party in California, one with Heather and me at home, one with Heather's family, and we spent this weekend with my family.
I'll Fix Your Wagon
Mom thoughtfully asked us ahead of time what we thought the kids would appreciate for their birthdays. Due to it's versatility and our tendency to be very active with our kids, we recommended a wagon, thinking that would be a pretty easy request to fill. Little did we know the model we requested was so wildly popular that for a time no store could keep them stocked on the shelves longer than a few hours. Grandma tirelessly scoured the state by car, internet, and phone for several weeks until she struck the jackpot and found a store 10 miles from our house that had a handful left and managed to reserve one.
Rolling Through the Zoo
We kept the wagon hidden until Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sara made it up for the weekend celebration. Norah and Justin weren't sure what the wagon was at first, but they knew it was for them and it was big, so they were very excited when it was rolled out. We decided to try out their newest toy by going to the zoo for the day. We were at the zoo as it opened the gates, and it didn't take long to figure out why the wagon had been so hard to find. Evidently every child under 12 years of age has this exact model of wagon. At times we could look around us and see 3 - 5 other identical wagons hauling happy kids through the zoo! I guess we know a good idea when we see it.
We managed to see just about every exhibit at the zoo and Norah and Justin both enjoyed it immensely. Naturally Norah was more excited by the ducks and turtles in the creek than any of the display animals, although she liked naming the one's she recognized. Justin just bounced along happily as usual. The kids' highlight of the day was probably the Water Tower that had a chain which triggered a spray feature. Norah and Justin both went in and out of the water for 20 minutes and had to be dragged away tearfully against their will so we could continue our tour. We endured many tears leaving the water tower and the Carousel as our kids seem to have an unquenchable love of both.
We managed to see just about every exhibit at the zoo and Norah and Justin both enjoyed it immensely. Naturally Norah was more excited by the ducks and turtles in the creek than any of the display animals, although she liked naming the one's she recognized. Justin just bounced along happily as usual. The kids' highlight of the day was probably the Water Tower that had a chain which triggered a spray feature. Norah and Justin both went in and out of the water for 20 minutes and had to be dragged away tearfully against their will so we could continue our tour. We endured many tears leaving the water tower and the Carousel as our kids seem to have an unquenchable love of both.Home Again
Previously Norah has been shy around my Dad, but they have gradually gotten better acquainted. This time around she has decided that he's a pretty nice guy after all, and he has proven to be very useful when it comes to extracting toys from pesky packaging (an added bonus). Much to our dismay and our kids' delight, that talent was put to good use as several more toy sets were opened for exploration. The rest of the weekend was spent conversing and playing around the house, enjoying each other's company.
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