Happy Birthday, Hazelnut!

This was a pretty exciting week.  Hazel's birthday was Wednesday and Mommy's birthday was Thursday. Then we had Hazel's big birthday party Saturday evening. To help us celebrate, Bubbe came to visit from Atlanta. It was quite a week!

Wednesday morning, we woke up singing "Happy Birthday" to Hazel.  I gave her my gift, a shaving set for the bathtub, and we took a ride on our new patio swing. She really liked it. She liked it even better when she headed to school with about three dozen chocolate cupcakes Mom made the night before to share with her friends and teachers at school.

When I came home from school, we went straight to the airport to pick up Bubbe.  She brought lots of presents.  She gave Daddy some Krystal's.  She brought Mom some special food from Trader Joe's.  She gave me a new "X is for Xenops" shirt.  And she gave Hazel a crazy fun birthday hat with candles on top!  

For Hazel's birthday dinner, we went to EZ's.  Hazel wanted to go there because they have yummy milk-shakes.We finished the meal with more cupcakes before heading home to open lots of birthday presents.

Thursday we woke Mom up by singing "Happy Birthday" to her.  She was very proud of us.  Bubbe played with us while Mom got a facial and Dad went to work.  Bubbe did lots of crafts with us - we made animal masks out of foam and cardboard, played with play dough, and played outside.  Bubbe showed us new ways to blow bubbles.  She also walked me to and from school.  In the afternoon, Mom and Bubbe took us kids to Banarchy for delicious chocolate covered frozen bananas.  Yum!  Since it was Mom's birthday, we all went to Waterloo for dinner and we played outside.  Mom brought chocolate cake for dessert!  Mom also got lots of fun presents.

On Friday, Bubbe played with us inside for most of the day because it was kind of dreary and cloudy outside.  She took us shopping at Kohl's.  We went for Thai food for dinner.  I wasn't quite brave enough to try much, but Hazel enjoyed the noodles, and Turner really liked looking at the beautiful decorative water fountains they had there.  He was really mesmerized by it.  I kept trying to figure out how it worked.  I also picked some honeysuckles. They smell really nice.

Saturday was a big day.  We had a birthday party for Hazel.  We wanted to give Mom time to get ready for  the party, so Bubbe and Dad took us kids out all day.  

First we went to the park where I have my soccer class.  We got there very early so we could play for a while before class.   We swung on the swings and looked for roly-polys. I've been learning all about insects the past two weeks in school, so I am really interested in them.  The we had a nice picnic lunch.  We played on the playground where I met a girl about my age and we shared an interesting conversation about insects.

Finally, it was time for my soccer class, but I got a surprise - we now do tee-ball instead!  Dad brought a glove for me, and I got to practice catching, throwing, batting, and running the bases.  It was all a new experience, so I'm sure I'll get better at it next week.

After class, we still had more time before the party, so we drove back to Bananarchy for more frozen bananas.  Turner, Hazel and I fell asleep in the car on the way down and had a great nap.  We grabbed a quick frozen banana and headed back to our house, where Mom had set up a fantastic birthday party for Hazel.

When Mom asked Hazel what kind of cake she should make for her birthday, Hazel told her she wanted a blue dinosaur cake from Costco. So that is what Mom gave her. Mom also set up the bounce house in the backyard, as well as lots of bubble machines and other toys.

Lots of kids came over, including a bunch of our neighbors and friends.  It was a cool, breezy day, perfect for a party outside.

When the time came, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Hazel, she blew her candles out, and we all had cake and home-made ice cream, which we had a lot of fun making. 

It was a fun party, and we thought Hazel would take a while to open all of her presents.  To our surprise, she ripped through them in no time, screaming "Wow! Whoa!" each time she opened one.  It was very fun.

Sunday, the weather was very nice again.  Mom went to get a massage, and Bubbe took us with Dad while he gave blood.   We like going with Dad when he does that because they have yummy snacks.  We came home for a quick lunch, and then Dad and Bubbe took us back out to the park while Mom caught a quick snooze.  Then we went to Rudy's for dinner for Bubbe's last night.  It was great having Bubbe here.  Hazel and I told her how much we'll miss her.

Turner has picked up some new tricks this week.  He learned how to use a sippy cup.  He's so happy that he can now quench his thirst himself.  He's also been babbling a lot more.  We like listening to him express himself.

 To see photos from the past few weeks, click here.

For a cute video of Turner and Hazel on the swings at the park, click here.