Yoga and Yunicorns: W's Birthday

When Willa and I talked about her party this year, her first word was "Unicorn!"  I had already had sort of planned to do a yoga party at a nearby studio.  W loves yoga since she took it in preschool.  When I mentioned yoga, she said "Yeah, yoga AND unicorns!".  So that is what we went with.

While planning and looking for supplies I could not find a single unicorn in all of Michaels!  The kind-of-punk check-out woman said "I'm not surprised." with a smirk.  I'm not sure what that meant.   Then I had to go on a bit of a safari (maybe not such an appropriate term to use here) to find a unicorn balloon.  I was kind of shocked by all this lack of unicorn love.  I thought they were quite popular, though perhaps they are "so last year" or something.

Finding the cake- or cupcakes in this case- to make was actually easy!  I thought I would just put a printed cupcake topper on them, but then I found this.  These were really easy.  I frosted them and Willa put the faces on.  I should admit I had made the snouts in advance, so all she had to do was stick them on.  They are pretty "snouty" looking, as one of you said, but they were a hit.

"Aren't I cute and delicious?"

 

The party was really fun.  There were nine kids, which was a good sized group for yoga and it seemed they all enjoyed themselves.  They did yoga first and snacks and gifts after.

Willa looks like she's having fun.

Cousin Fiona performs one-legged pigeon pose.

I believe they are "growing plants" in the "yoga garden".

Cousin Evie pretending to be a fish.

Downward facing dog. Well, most of them, anyway.

Now they are a huge sunflower in the garden.

 

Camryn using her snout in new ways.

It was really fun and relaxing.  How many kids' parties does everyone get to lay down and close their eyes for several minutes?  That was W's favorite part, "the nap" as she called it.   We had a great time, but of course, we wish you could have been there. 

G visits and W turns 6!

Willa had a big day last week.  On Thursday she had both her 100th day of school celebration and her 6th birthday.  She'd been asking to bring cupcakes to school on her birthday, then we learned that she needed to bring 100 somethings to school that day.   I had to put my foot down and say, "I am not making 100 cupcakes!".   Well, she didn't really ask, but I think both our minds went there right away.

As I was looking around and brainstorming, the second thing I thought of was wine corks (I have a quite few hoarded).  Probably not a great idea.... but at least it wasn't tampons like my friend sadistically wanted to send.

Anyway, I decided it would be cool to cut 100 different samples from my paper stash, and perhaps make a collage I could give to the class or... something.  I thought this despite the fact that the note said "bring to share" and Willa's warning that she thought it was supposed to be food, or at least something to give to everyone to enjoy.  So, I happily cut 100 one inch pieces from scraps of paper.  It took an afternoon.  Not too bad, and I was having fun as I was playing with my stash and getting to hang out with my good friend, Greta, who was visiting.  I decided not to put it together into a collage just yet, because of the "sharing" suggestion.  

We had a great weekend with G!  It was like she'd never left.  We didn't do much but hang around the house.  W had a fever Friday night and it was kind of cold and snowy.  G and the kids made a snowman on Sunday.

Post snow-play cocoa.  That's Uni in bottom right enjoying her cup.

On Monday Willa brought home another note from teacher stating that, indeed, she would prefer the 100 things to be edible, or at least shareable.  Sigh.  It took me a minute to let go of my idea.  Tuesday was an inservice day and W did not have school, so off we went to the grocery store.  We got stuff for birthday cupcakes and W got to pick out what she wanted for her 100 things.  She chose licorice chunks.  Then I (always having to make things more complicated), decided they would be kind of sticky, so I bought mini paper baking cups to put them in.

It was fun, counting out the cups (except for Cal's continual quest to mess them up) and putting the chunks in, less fun stapling the cups shut.

 On Thursday, Willa was sent to school loaded with 15 cupcakes and 100 pieces of licorice.  I took some time that day to make this (dammit, I will not be thwarted):

100 pieces for 100 days. I gave it W for 100 days and her birthday.  Now we just need to find a place to put it.


Willa had a good day at school and we went to Friendly's (her fave) for supper.  She got a few presents (Thank you notes will be done soon!).  Her big party, though, was held on Sunday.  I'll tell you about that next time, as now I have to go get the boy from preschool.

We miss you!

Pictorial catch up

 More snow days this week!  Two, due to the "Colossal Storm".  We did get lots of snow (as you'll see at end of blog) and it's getting ridiculous out there.   But there weren't "Frigid Temperatures" unless you think 20° is frigid.  I guess I'm the wrong person to assess that.  I'm sure we didn't get the worst of it (Chicago), though many a shoveling joke has been going around Facebook among those who live in New England referencing the ice planet, Hoth and regrets over resolutions to get in shape. 

I've decided to do a quick photo catch up as I'm way behind and all you guys care about are the photos anyway.  So here goes:

Painting weekend with Heather.  The kids loved it!  They stressed me out! Yes, Cal is in his underwear again.

Heather, the master painter, at work. We painted the dining room and the entryway/staircase.

Valentine construction.

Here are some of Willa's.  We covered matchboxes with paper, a la Inchmark.  Ours aren't as perfect.

I made W's birthday party invitations the same day.  Obviously these are for a yoga unicorn party.

Cal's valentines.  We put erasers in Willa's and tatoos in Cal's.

The finished product. We attached a sticker with ribbon.

Our ice banner celebrating the coldest day of the year (so far).

It doesn't look like this anymore!  I think it has one green ice cube hanging on for dear life!

Cal at his preschool's music show.  He was supposed to be singing with them, but melted down and sat on my lap the whole time.

Here is a blurry image of the other kids.  Cal seemed to enjoy their performance though.

At the Model Railroad Show.  Three large fairgrounds building full!  Whew!

The kids' area at the show.  There was a lot of Thomas stuff.

This was my favorite model.  It was in the kids' area and full of crazy things.

Dad and kids ride the "train".

Snow day! The kids play with their "computers".

Our deck on 2/3/11. 

Nick spent 6 hours shoveling one day and 4 the next. Ugh!

There it is. You are all up to date.  As you know, we miss you.

Snow and Beantown

Mother Nature or Jack Frost or whoever saved all our snow for January.  I've been unable to blog because we've had so many snow days!  Last week, Monday was a holiday (MLK). Tuesday was a snow day (perhaps we should have called it an ice day). Wednesday, school started 2 hours late.  Thursday, there was school, but Friday was another snow day (this one for just a bit of snow?).  So Willa only had school 2 days, and one was not a full day.  It's fun having her around, but it throws off my routine.

The week before we had a snow day and a late start as well, but that was for a "real" blizzard.  We got about 16 inches of snow in 24 hours.

Our empty lot.  It's fun to see who leaves their tracks in the snow.

The day after, on our deck.  You can see my Adirondack chair arm next to Willa.

 SO, that is my excuse for not blogging; it was nice to have Willa home, but it's nice to get back to the norm too (although Johan, the boy from next door, is sure there is going to be a snow day this week too.  I think that may just be wishful thinking on his part).

I want to jump back in time to tell you about our mini-vacation. This was Nick's brainchild. He had to give a paper at a conference on the first weekend in January in Boston.  He'd heard of short term rental apartments in the North End and devised a plan to have the whole family come for the weekend. 

For those of you who don't know, the North End is THE Italian neighborhood in Boston and one of the oldest in the city as well.  This was my first time visiting that part of town and I don't think it's ever going to look as wonderful as it did the night we arrived.  The streets are very narrow and crooked (think Diagon Alley).  It was snowing and dark, but lit by antique street lamps and lights from the profusion of Italian restaurants lining the streets.  The smells were amazing too.  In the few blocks we walked from the T stop to the apartment we were staying in, I was charmed. 


 The North End is a great location because it has a lot of attractions nearby, including the New England Aquarium.  Last year I bought a membership to the Aquarium, mostly because I didn't want to stand in line outside with the kids in the rain, but also because it is a good deal if you visit more than once a year.  So on Saturday, we headed to the Aquarium (but not before Mom got an amazing latte at an Italian coffee shop.)

Walking to the Aquarium

The Harbor seals were relaxing in the cold. Their exhibit is outside. (Brrr.)

We saw lots of penguins...

...and fish.

Touch tanks are Willa's favorite.

Cal is more cautious.

This guy is one of several in the cylindrical giant ocean tank (3 stories) that you spiral around as you walk through the exhibits.

Cal in the kids activity area. He was naming each thing he turned over. He even tried to say "anemone".

Willa in kids area identifying fish in giant ocean tank. Then the turtle came up and sat next to her.

Here's a close up.

Anaconda feeding time.

 We had an awesome time.  One of my favorite moments was watching the anacondas get fed.  According to the aquarium's website these snakes can be 30 feet long and 550 pounds.  They give the snakes dead rats using a long grabber.  They wiggle the rat until the snake snatches it and pulls it under the water where it coils up around it and swallows it.  It was fascinating and disgusting.

After the aquarium, we were hungry.  It's always hard to find food that we all will like and I was kind of wondering where we should go to eat.  Then I realized we were right by Quincy Market, which is like a big food court for the Faneuil Hall Marketplace.  Faneuil Hall was built in 1742 as a marketplace and Quincy Market was added in 1826 as part of an expansion.  Now the area is a thriving, fun upscale shopping area and major destination for visitors to Boston.  I was thrilled to get us all food we wanted (Willa got a bagel with cream cheese, Cal got pizza, and I got chowder).  The place was quite busy and so we went up to the balcony to f ind seating, but there was no seating there due to renovations.  Everyone was sitting on the floor eating picnic style.  So we joined them.

On our way home.

The kids loved it.  It gave us the energy for the walk home where we waited for Dad, then back out to eat more at one of the many Italian restaurants in the area.  Yum!


Sunday we were happy to have Nick with us.  We had to have pastries (which the area is known for) so Nick took us to Modern Pastry.  It isn't as famous as Mike's Pastry, but more kid friendly and with more breakfast options (as opposed to dessert, although I've got to try some of Mike's stuff next time).

 

Sunday morning sugary breakfast.  Look at that amazing cup of coffee.  Happy sigh.

Cal touches Paul Revere's house. 

After a quick side trip past Paul Revere's house, we were off to the Museum of Science, Boston.  I've been there several times, but you never get to see everything and they had some new exhibits since the last time I'd been there.  This was the kids first time. Here are some highlights:

Super cute hedgehog from animal show.

Screech owl from same show.

In the Butterfly Garden.  It was 90 degrees in there and full of fluttering friends.

This one really liked Nick.  It wouldn't get off his finger.

That's the frozen Charles River outside the window.

This is Cliff.  He's from North Dakota too.

We could have spend several more hours in the museum, but it was closing.  

We had a really fun weekend.  I want to do it again, in the spring. We missed you, though.