Birthday: Part 3

I realized too late that this should have been the first post about Abria's birthday. On her actual birthday (about 10 days ago now) she got to open her gifts from my parents and from Alette. Gift shopping with a four year old proved quite the challenge. I deliberately stayed away from ToysRUs and went instead to Lakeshore Learning (a teacher supply store near us). Alette happily chose two wind-up animals but as we were leaving, fell in love with a fishing game (18 magnetic fish that float and can be caught with a magnetic rod). Since I did promise to buy one more toy for Abria, and since it was a toy that could be clearly shared, I caved and bought it. Alette promised, promised, promised that she would remember it was Abria's toy (lol). Truthfully, the two girls have been great at sharing and playing together with it. In the end I am so thankful we got the fishing game as Abria seems rather frightened by the wind-up animals (they kind of do this weird jumping thing). Maybe I'll tuck them away to put in stockings later :)
Thank you to everyone for helping to make Abria's birthday celebration so wonderful!

Birthday: Part 2

The happy birthday girl gives a big smile.


Abria quickly got into the spirit of opening gifts-Alette would pass her a gift, Abria would open it, then look at Alette and say 'Alette, more!'. Like most toddlers, she was as fascinated by the paper and the process of unwrapping as she was by the gift inside.


I tried to make lion cupcakes-with mixed success. It took forever and they just looked mediocre. Alette decorated a couple of cupcakes in a more freeform style. It took her about half as long, and they tasted just as yummy. If I find a picture of them, I'll post it. Abria however, lacked discretion and happily tore into her lion cupcake...and has been equally happy eating the leftover cupcakes decorated by Alette.


Does this tutu make my butt look big? Abria has to be about the cutest ballerina ever.


Extreme heat forced us to move the party to grandma's house. Our daughters seem to bring on the extremes: on Alette's birthday we had a record snowfall which cancelled church and pretty much stopped everything, on Abria's birthday it hit over 100degrees...with humidity.
Abria had a blast-surrounded by family and friends, what's not to love?! She got some fantastic gifts-and both Alette and Ganiyah were gracious about letting her open her own toys. After a special dinner of...what else? noodles, yogurt and bread. Abria happily tore into her birthday cupcake.

Birthday Celebration: Part 1

Abria's birthday was taken up by church and a caregroup swim party. I had intended on doing the whole 'cupcake and candle' thing with her in the evening but she was so pooped out from missing a nap and swimming all afternoon that she went straight to bed at 6pm and skipped dinner entirely. However, Alette was adament that Abria needed a special cupcake to celebrate (interpretated as 'Alette wanted to eat cupcakes'). So we made and decorated cupcakes for Monday night instead. As you can see, both girls loved the treat.

Trying to beat the heat

It was way too hot to cook last week (actually it is too hot to cook everyday) so we took the girls out to The Pop Shoppe in Collingswood. It is a fantastic, kid-friendly restaurant that actually has great food, including numerous vegetarian and vegan options. For the girls, all that matters is that they get their pancakes and dessert. It is a little ridiculous the amount of sugar they ingested. It could explain why when we came home, both girls were giddy and running around like crazy while brushing their teeth.



Pools are the best way to beat the heat. We've been inviting ourselves over to anyone within a reasonable driving distance to take advantage of free swimming. Abria is so typically 2 years old. She both loves/hates the water. One minute she is desperately screaming to get out, the next she is screeching in delight as she bobs and splashes around.
btw-birthday post is coming soon.

Swim Adventures

Okay, the picture does not look like it belongs to the caption. However, this is the wonderful result of a busy week filled with lots of swimming. We came home from swimming today and I made Alette lie on her bed while I sat in her room to eat lunch. She grumbled, whined and complained she wasn't 'even a bit tired'...and then fell asleep. Good thing too as she had been up since 4am (Andy found her playing in her room when he went to use the washroom). When I got up a little later she had the light on again.
Alette's last 'in bed' nap (she still falls asleep in the car occasionally) was on her 4th birthday. Today I am relishing the peace and quiet that only comes with 2 sleeping kids.

Beach Day

The only way I can get the girls quickly packed up and back to the van is with the bribe of ice-cream. Our van and the carseats need a serious cleaning. Alette zonked out on the ride home. Abria hit a sugar high and talked/sang/laughed the entire time.

It looks cool and cloudy in the pictures. I wish! Even at the beach it was nearly 100degrees. Needless to say, the water felt terrific!


Going to the beach is so much fun now that Abria has basically stopped eating sand and started playing in the water. In fact both girls absolutely love the waves and it is hard to drag them away at the end of the day. Alette is extremely timid in the pool and struggles to overcome her fear of getting her face wet. Oddly enough, in the ocean she jumps right in, splashing, running about and getting soaked. I think if I didn't put strict parameters on her, she quickly go in over her head. It is actually a little nerve-wracking. Abria loves to 'jump' the waves-which entails my lifting her up at each oncoming wave. It is the perfect game for the first five minutes....and then the reality of continually picking up a 30lb toddler sinks in. It is no wonder I am so sore on the day after our beach adventures.