Birthday Girl Preview

HEY! You there... in front of the computer. Yeah, you. Guess what?! Amelia turned two today! It's true! To prove it, let me tell you how cranky she's been all day from the exceptionally ginormous amount of sugar I've been allowing... in the form of cookies, candies, juices, you name it. I even bought peanut butter with SUGAR - the girls have never had that before, but since Greg's out of town, we decided to live it up a little.

Anyway, officially, today's the day, but Greg is in Yakutat until late Tuesday, so we are not celebrating until Wednesday. Check back for all the excitement. And more sugar.

And, apparently, WAY too many commas. I just noticed how many there are. Do I always do that? Level with me, Dear Reader. Be blunt.

APRIL FOOLS

Here's the weather that greeted us on April 1:

Surely this is some kind of a prank, right? I mean look at that poor boat! We are chomping at the bit to get out on the water and there is a snow berm about four feet high in front of the trailer. We'll be lucky if we can fish by June!

Oh, yes, it's beautiful. I'd even give you "stunning", but it's also APRIL! We are SO ready for spring or summer, or anything other than snow and shoveling... it has been a l o n g winter.

The girls and I went for a springtime stroll today to keep our cabin fever at bay. It was 40 degrees in the shade, but windy once we got out in the open. If we stayed still and in the sun, it seemed almost warm. Here they are sunbathing Alaska-style:

Gwen is FIVE!

Here are the promised party pictures! Here's almost the whole gang... I didn't realize until I started posting these how few really good pictures we got. Thus, I'll just explain what transpired in words rather than in photos as I normally like to....

We had several kids over, with siblings and some parents, too. I think the total was only seven kids and five parents, including our family, but in this tiny house, it seemed like much more. We had make-it-yourself personal pizzas (remnants of which you can clearly see all over Gwen's birthday face in all the pictures!), the previously mentioned homemade Diego and Dora carrot cake, and Neapolitan ice cream. The kids decorated their goody bags while the pizzas baked, then we ate and ate and ate.

Then came the presents....

We had specified in the invitations: 'no gifts, please', but our generous relatives sent LOTS of presents so we were just happy to have the kids over to play and sing and celebrate. A few of them stayed a little late to help Gwen open all her gifts. It was a really fun day.

BUT WAIT! There's more!!

At school that morning, Gwen's classmates also helped her celebrate her special day! In fact, the pink birthday crown was given to her by her teachers, and Gwen wore it all day. And the next day too, while we were grocery shopping, so she got birthday wishes and greetings everywhere we went. Anyway, here's how the kids at school do up a birthday:

Cupcakes, snack, candles, singing...a fun, active activity with the rainbow parachute... note the little sister close by at all times.Building forts....In conclusion, I give you this.....

She had a SUPER day!

Anatomy of a Cake

OK, so Gwen turned 5 on March 16th. I know - I can't believe it either! What a big kid! Seems like only a few moments ago we were going through the trauma of her birth and all those issues, and well, it turned out to be only a blink and now she's 5 years old. Do you hear me, people?! My baby is 5 years old!!

Deep breaths. In. Out. Sigh.

Alrighty, here's the cake. Gwen requested a "Dora and Diego carrot cake made from scratch, not bought at a store". Go, Mommy, Go!!

Let's go in for a close-up. Have you ever had these chocolate candy rocks? Oh YUM! You should find some at a tourist outlet near you. They are super good.

And NO, the brown trail is NOT bacon, as Gwen told her friends, but in fact it is cake crumbs. It was a really tasty cake...no sugar, no artificial sweetener, just concentrated apple juice and mashed pears. And lots of carrots. The uber-sugary canned frosting was more than adequate in the sweet department, thank you.

Stay tuned for party pics!