This was Heather’s first year celebrating a birthday around a school schedule. So when I got home from work we opened presents.
(We finally got around to using the cookie cutters to make Christmas sugar cookies.)
The USB microscope camera is a hit. Fabrics are pretty interesting to look at. I found some kind of animal bone in the parking lot at work that we still need to look at which should be interesting.
I put together another treasure hunt this year (Heather was very vocal about hoping there would be one). It wasn’t up to the same level of quality as last year’s, however, due to the lack of time between returning from our trip and her Birthday. I’ll have to try to make up for it next year.
The treasure hunt led her to the garage where she found a shiny blue bike! (After months of lamenting that she didn’t have a pedal bike. And she’s outgrown her balance bike.)
We did presents first so she would have some time to ride her new bike before it got dark (and apparently this is the only picture we have of her on the bike that day….).
Having been gone for a month she was quite out of practice balancing. We still need to find some time to get outside so she can practice, but it’s actually been cold (by Livermore standards, highs in the 50s) and/or raining quite a bit lately.
After riding around for a bit, we went to dinner and then came home for cake.
Corinne turned 1 on Thursday. She’s almost walking (she’ll try to take a step and then go into a controlled descent). She’s making some sounds, but not saying anything identifiable in any reproducible manner. But she seems to have a sense of rhythm, so she has that going for her. Regardless, she’s still adorable.
Jess wasn’t feeling well so I took Thursday off to stay home and help her get some rest. Corinne opened presents after Heather got home from preschool and before she had to leave for gymnastics.
After gymnastics it was out to dinner at Cravings (pasta/pizza/calzones) and then back home for cake. A white cake, colored blue, with chocolate ganache filling and vanilla frosting.
Corinne was pretty excited, but didn’t like the frosting on her fingers. I don’t think she ate more than a few crumbs. The rest of us are enjoying it though.
Heather turned four this year. But not without some Heather-style anxiety. In the days leading up to her birthday she would occasionally have little meltdowns about not wanting to get older. She liked being three and didn’t want to get bigger or do different things. We assured her that it was not an instantaneous event–She would still get to go to pre-school, dance class, and gymnastics. That seemed to help her calm down.
She had a party on Saturday with friends from church. They painted pictures, ran around the house like loons, and ate cupcakes. It was a blast.
Over the weekend Heather started asking if we could play “miniature ball” by which she meant miniature golf. So we did that Monday evening. She’s never played before and we’re not sure where she even got the idea from. She was really excited though. When I got home from work she just about tackled me.
She started out enthused and interested:
But by the 18th hole she just wanted to be done:
I had a great game. I averaged 2.66 strokes per hole on 18 holes and my worst hole was only 4 strokes! On the way to the parking lot I asked Heather how it was. I told her, “I had a great game; probably my greatest game!” She responded, “I had a boring game; probably the boringest game.” I think she had fun overall, but she was definitely ready to be be done. She burned through most of her energy being excited all day.
On her birthday I made a treasure hunt for her to find her presents. Mom would do this for us every so often growing up and I thought Heather would really enjoy it. She thought it was amazing.
The first clue in the treasure hunt.Another clue had been eaten by the frog.
I compiled a video of the footage Jess took of the treasure hunt. It’s at the end of the post if you’re interested. I was able to trim it down to 7.5 minutes, which I realize is still quite some time to watch a video, but it’s still pretty great.
We did the treasure hunt and opened presents during lunch so Heather would have the afternoon to play with gifts. Jess convinced me that this was a better plan than waiting until having cake after dinner then opening presents and immediately trying to send Heather to bed.
She is in love with this book about anatomy / physiology.She immediately started pointing out solar flares in this book (not on this page though).A rake to help Daddy rake the leaves!Magnetic building shapes are a hit.
We had dinner at the Ale House (or, as Heather prefers to call it, the Ollie House). It’s Heather’s favorite restaurant. They apparently have the best mini corn dogs, fruit, and milk dinner in town. Then it was back home for cake, colored blue per Heather’s request.
Overall I think she had a great day.
And now the Treasure Hunt video:
And a direct link if you want/need to download it to view it: Heather’s Treasure Hunt 2015 (right-click, save link as…).
