Birthday Scoop

The Cards


The Loot

The Day

Well, since Ben was going to be gone for Miles' bday we kicked off the celebration the night before, which was fine because our friend Souly from back home, was over, and technically it was the 18th in all of the other time zones (unfortunately between 9 and 9:30pm is M.'s self-imposed bedtime so we had to squeeze in a lot of celebration in a small window). Besides, I actually had to search through files and eventually through email archives to find out if he was indeed born on the 17th or 18th. So this was a good compromise in case I was wrong.

Our Internet had been down for the few days prior (turned out that the router needed to be reset - Isn't that the worst when you call tech. support and they slowly walk you through the steps of powering down your machine and restarting it and then the problem is resolved? And I'm supposed to have an advanced degree in tech. mgmt? ) so I wasn't going to be able to get on and get the recipe for the cupcakes I wanted to make, specifically the Magnolia Bakery recipe, but luckily I remembered that it was saved on our laptop from A.'s bday so I proceeded to make those, but I really wanted chocolate too so I just melted semisweet chips in a makeshift double boiler and poured it into half of the vanilla batter. I never was very good at the chemistry involved in baking. Or measuring for that matter. They came out more like brownies, but I never met a brownie I didn't like so it worked for me! No frosting needed for those. Which was a good thing because trying to make frosting in Hawaii is a challenge. What I once considered a blessing - butter softens really fast when you don't have air conditioning - is a bane when you want fluffy perfect buttercream, not melted butter and crunchy sugar with a touch of poisonous but occasionally forgivable blue food coloring that won't stay put on your cupcake no matter how hard you try. But in the end who cares, they got eaten. Mostly by Avery and myself, surprise surprise.

Miles was mostly thrilled with his cards and envelopes. I had to move quickly to save the checks that were sent. Thanks to some kind relatives he now has a thriving bank account of his very own. Even though the celebration and singing happened the night before, I couldn't not make his bday a special one so we went to the zoo where he had a great time chasing peacocks and petting goats (maybe he has an affinity for these creatures like his dad). When Ben got home and eventually rose from the dead on Saturday Avery said to him "I'm sorry you couldn't join us for Miles' birthday dad" which I found amusing because she said "join us". So polite.

All in all, Miles' favorite bday gift is getting to ride forward in his car seat. He really thinks he is getting away with something.

But, when your hair starts to look like Jim Halperts, you know it's time for a cut.