What question do you hate being asked?
"Are they twins?" Uh... YEAH!!!
So, a couple of months ago I asked Brianna what kind of party she would like to have this year. She knew she wanted an outdoor thing, so we brainstormed some themes. Beach party at the lake was a contender, but then we thought of clowns and a carnival theme. Y'know, cotton candy, popcorn, clowns, balloons, piñatas, bouncy castle, games for prizes.... the whole shebang!
When we came down from La-La-Land -- and checked the budget -- we decided to go with the carnival theme at home, but slightly... uh... smaller. It wasn't just the cost of all the activities, but her guest list usually rivals that of an A-List Hollywood party (we were expecting about 35 kids) so I knew I'd already be spending a lot on food and goodie bags!
Much to her dismay, we said no to the bouncy castle, but we did book an excellent clown to face-paint, sing songs, do magic tricks and make balloon animals for 2 hours (not cheap, let me tell you)! I didn't rent cotton candy or popcorn machines, but I did fill up 3 (yes... THREE) piñatas so that there would be less pushing and shoving, and everyone would get a good amount of candy.
We also found some great games at Wal-Mart -- horseshoes, obstacle courses, basketball, soccer.... all for under $10 each (the horseshoe sets were less than $4 each!!). I also bought fantastic cakes from a wholesaler here in town -- one chocolate upon chocolate with chocolate on top and then drizzled with chocolate... and one yummy berry burst with raspberries and blueberries on top. Expensive, but a nicer alternative to a Safeway slab cake, and I didn't have to spend a bunch of time baking one myself.
I thought I had everything under control until the weekend approached and I realized that it was going to RAIN!!!
#%$^&*@ !!!!
I had pushed her birthday party to July 5th because her actual birthday is always cloudy or rainy (it was beautiful this year) and since it fell on Father's Day this year I thought few people could make it. That day, I joked that Mother Nature would feel my wrath if it rained during the party, so my sister suggested that I increase my carbon footprint by buying Hummers for everyone in my family, throwing out all my recycling, etc. Mother Nature must have known I was not happy because she held the rain back just long enough for the kids to play outside for a couple of hours! All in all, I'd say it was a successful party! Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do next year!!
Once the playhouse was finished, Mike was feeling very inspired to finish the slide/swing set. We got it for free from a friend that had no use for it, but it needed a lot of work to get it into shape. Mike added a bar for swings, a rock climbing wall, and a pirate wheel, and replaced the wooden monkey bars with metal ones and the canvas roof. We also had 10 yards of pea-gravel dumped onto our driveway to use as a safe ground cover for under the structure.
When the plans for Brianna's party started coming together, Mike had a deadline to meet. I am proud to say he did a great job. The swings didn't make it on in time, but the kids didn't seem to care!
On June 15th, Brianna turned 5 years old! Forgive the late blog entry... you will soon be inundated with entries as I get caught up over the last 2 months!
She was hoping for a Barbie Mariposa doll, or some My Little Ponies, but we decided on something much more fun! We looked at a few ride-on jeeps, and chose this one on account of the lower price tag. Rather than decorate it with the included flame decals, we bought some cool skater stickers to make it more appealing to a mature 5-year-old girl!
The twins gave her some I-Spy books since she likes them so much!
Mike would like the manufacturer to know that their estimated 15 minute assembly time is off by about AN HOUR!
Just like last year, Brianna was given the choice of where to have her birthday dinner. And, just like last year, she chose Choo Choo's Restaurant. She likes the toy trains they give the kids to play with at the table, and everyone loves the train that circles the restaurant on a track near the ceiling! There was about 15 of us there -- friends and family -- and we all had a great meal and yummy desserts.
My major regret of the night: we forgot to sing Happy Birthday to Brianna when she got her ice cream! To make up for it, Mike and I sang to her as we tucked her into bed for the night.
Despite the fact that it was not at all what she expected, she sure does love to bomb around in her new wheels! There's even enough room for a friend to hop in!
My extended family has a couple of plots at the city's cemetery -- which happens to be 2 blocks from our house -- and my uncle, grandparents and father have been laid to rest there.
The unfortunate thing is that my remaining uncles and dad could not be bothered to have a stone mark my grandma's grave when she passed in '92. My dad's older brother was responsible for my grandad's finances when he was admitted to an extended care facility a few years later.... but still no marker. Ten long years went by before my grandad finally passed -- after many years of suffering from Parkinson's, dementia, and (most of all) a broken heart. Maybe grandad thought it would be too costly to have a marker for grandma, only to have it changed or replaced to include his details later. I don't know. But why did it take SIX YEARS to have a marker created for them once grandad passed?
I will spare you the details of an outrageous feud between brothers and in-laws over wills and inheiretance... only to explode after my father's death, resulting in the remaining two brothers not speaking, and awkwardness between all the cousins.
Anyway, my grandparents now have a marker that can be looked upon when loved ones come by to pay their respects. Rant done. The reason for this blog was not to winge and moan about all that.
My thoughts were on a positive note. Not about the triviality of my Baby-Boomer relatives, but of the sentimentality of Generation Z (??). Even after 3 1/2 years, my step-mom still pays her respects to my dad nearly every week (along with her mother at another cemetery) to trim the grass around the edge of the markers and care for the potted plants she always leaves. Sometimes, she stops at our place first and invites Brianna to walk to the cemetery with her -- and Brianna is always willing to go. Brianna was only 20 months old when my dad passed away (the age of the twins now), so I know that the chance of her having a memory of him is quite slim. Even so, she says she misses him and talks to him freely when she visits the cemetery. She even calls out "Hi" to him when we drive by!
It just goes to show that no matter what goes on in some adult's fickle lives, children hold on to their sentiments... un-restrained love that is never shy or embarrased, whether it be for a passed loved one, or a Barbie doll. I think we fickle adults should take reminders like that seriously. We should feel free to speak out loud to passed loved ones when we visit their markers, and we should show our excitement and gratitude over even the smallest gift.
In case you hadn't noticed, Brianna was named after my dad... Brian.
