My family came up for a late birthday visit in the middle of March. No one has been vaccinated yet, but they all should still have antibodies from being sick at the end of 2020. It was another low key weekend, where we hung out at the house. They brought Penny for the first time, so the dogs had a blast playing in the backyard (and all over the house). Fortunately the weather was nice all weekend, so we got a lot of outside time for eating and playing. The swing that Lauren got for Christmas continues to be a hit with all the kids, which has been great.
We just hit the one year mark of the pandemic, which means Sophie is one year older! The very last “regular” get together we had with people was for her 10th birthday sleepover. What a year it’s been.
This year she celebrated on Saturday with two friends, Ruby and Sarah, who came over for a few hours for some crafts, pretzel making, pizza, cake and a movie. Fortunately it wasn’t a freezing day, so the kids could take their masks off and eat outside.
When the girls first arrived they made some bath bombs that were able to set by the time they left.
The girls making bath bombs
Dave then gave some pretzel making lessons and they made some Philly style pretzels to take home to their families.
pretzel folding lessons from Dave
pretzels pre-bake
the final product!
Birthday cake with her friends
On her actual birthday, which was a Tuesday, she did a scavenger hunt for her birthday presents (a new tradition started with Lauren’s last birthday). And that night the Sharp’s came over for dinner – homemade pizzas and chocolate mousse cups.
Sophie and Lauren in very disturbing anonymous masks that she had asked for.
On the morning of her birthday she did a scavenger hunt to find all 11 (!) of her birthday presents. The final present was monkey bars that Dave had made to attach to the swing set that we have in the backyard. She also got a hoverboard, which she rode on for most of the day (thank goodness we had good weather).
And for dinner we had (of course) pizza from Tony Roni’s. The Sharps came over for pizza and cake and a movie.
The big 8 year old!
on her new hoverboard
new monkey bars!
She picked out the cake and I made it – a three layered chocolate malted cake with toasted marshmallow “icing.”
This amazing, hilarious, active girls has brought so much joy to our lives over the last 8 years!
At the beginning of October we celebrated Kathy’s birthday with a small celebration at our house. Gotta love the low key COVID birthdays. The weather was beautiful so we ate outside and I made chocolate peanut butter brownies. I was a lovely family evening.
The first day of school was also Dave’s 41st birthday. As a result, it was a pretty low key celebration. We had a family dinner and the girls and I made him a Peppermint Pattie cake (his request). I have to say, it turned out pretty well – very decadent.
The Peppermint Pattie cake – we melted and baked patties into it, and then the girls decorated the top with more patties. It was pretty amazing.
My birthday was very low key this year – partially because of the coronavirus and partially because I turned 41. Who cares about 41 really? We spent the day at the house and my big present was a bench for the backyard, which I love.
Here are a few shots from the lovely evening in the backyard. We enjoyed some champagne, takeout from the Guardhouse in Gladwyne, and some good snuggles on my new bench 🙂
The girls made him some homemade treats, which he gobbled up. He’s slow these days, but still likes to go out for a walk most days, even if he can only make it a few houses before we need to turn back. He had his annual check up recently and the vet said that his heart still sounds good. His front legs give him some trouble, and lately he’s been losing his balance a bit, but overall, he’s a happy old man who has lived a good, long life 🙂
The girls made him homemade dog treats in the shape of hearts.
On March 2nd Sophie turned a decade old! She decided to celebrate with a sleepover. She was limited to just two friends, for all of our sanity, and she picked Dior and Ella. My parents, Becky, and Ari also came up for the weekend. It was nice to have Ari there to play with Lauren.
The girls started the night with a favorite activity, making slime! After that I made cupcakes and they decorated them. We were going to make it a decorating contest, but decided to just let the girls do whatever they wanted – which was mostly adding as many toppings as possible.
Making slime in the playroom
The girls decorating cupcakes
Later in the evening the girls watched a movie in the basement, played with the Ouija board, and did Lord knows what else. I tried to get them to sleep around midnight, and at 2am had one of the friends come in and want to go home, but fortunately I was able to get her settled enough to go to sleep. I can confirm it was a night of little sleep for all.
The next day we had a family party with Dave’s parents too. She opened presents and we did cake.
Celebrating the entire set of Judy Blume books
One of her favorite gifts, a hoverboard (also a new jean jacket)!
Overall it was a pretty good birthday weekend! Sunday night everyone slept very well 😉
Since Lauren’s birthday falls during the holiday break, her first grade class had a celebration for her the last day of school for the year, which also happened to be pajama day – bonus!
Dave and I came in and read a story to the class and she gave out pencils to everyone.
Lauren and her friend Janney
With her teacher, Ms. Gorodesky
Her actual birthday was the Saturday after Christmas and this year we did an American Ninja Warrior party at a gym in West Chester that has trained actual competitors who have been on the show. Obviously they adjusted the course for 7 year olds. She invited her entire class, of which about half came, and everyone had a great time!
With her friend Norah from Bala House
The birthday gang
striking a ninja pose
Rainbow unicorn cake, of course
That night we had a second family party at the house. The cake was huge so we threw another candle on it and sang happy birthday again. It was actually the same cake that Sophie had on her 7th birthday. Lauren saw a picture of it recently and insisted she get one too. Good choice, it’s delicious!
At 7, Lauren is always the first to offer help if someone needs it, whether it’s carrying something from the car or cleaning up a mess, even if it’s not hers. She loves her Mr. Benson and always has snuggles for him, even though he’s the smelliest dog in the world. She love to tell jokes and make others laugh. She’s also such a monkey, running and climbing on everything. Which is why the trampoline you see in the background was the perfect birthday present 😉 Happy Birthday to this amazing, kind, funny kid!
Last weekend we celebrated Dave’s 40th birthday by spending a weekend in Rock Hall with a few friends. John, Crystal, and Bella came up from DC along with Joe, and Rebecca, John, Ava, and Emma came from Philly, along with Walt. We had a mini raft-up with our boat and Walt’s boat. There was no wind, so we motored right to our favorite spot in Swan Creek and spent the afternoon swimming and grilling. The weather was perfect!
