Annika's 9th Birthday

On Saturday, our little girl began her last year in the single digits. Nine years ago, she decided enough was enough ... and surprised us 3 weeks early. Nine years ago, she made us parents. Nine years ago, we realized only idiots make plans and believe they will pan out as expected. Nine years ago, we learned how instant and fierce the love of a parent can be. Nine years ago, we were blessed with a little girl who is brimming with creativity, spunk, intelligence, empathy, energy and love.

Nine years down ... first steps toward 10 (eep!)

Yes, I really do make our kids hold a birthday sign every year. :)

Annika woke up to balloons falling on her head as soon as she opened her bedroom door and the day continued up from there. To be accurate, she also walked into a wall of balloons in the middle of the night when she got up to go to the bathroom and her amazing engineer of a father rigged a new balloon drop system when he woke up in the morning. (Thanks, hon!!)

For the most part, the day was very low-key, which was ideal in many ways considering our recent and non-stop go-go-go pace. It was lovely to simply stop (or at least, pause) to take in the fact that our baby girl is quickly growing up and readying herself for life's next adventures. It was also nice to catch up on a few to-do items while the kids had a MARVELOUS time playing with the plethora of balloons almost all day long. They even created a balloon pit using a bunch of blankets, pillows, and ... yes, the balloons. They created games and stories that were detailed, funny, and downright silly. What more could a parent ask for?

Eric and Conor hanging the family's "Happy Birthday" banner

The balloon pit

Annika decided that she wanted chili for her birthday dinner (yum!) and red velvet cake for dessert. The kids donned their proverbial chef hats and jumped in to help make the cake ... and they did a great job! (I did the frosting solo, but had plenty of offers to lick the bowl and utensils when I was done ... they are such team players!)

All day long, Annika awaited the blessed moment when we told her she could open her presents. I'm pretty sure she thought making her wait until after dinner was our form of child abuse, but she survived the wait and gleefully opened the items from us and a few out-of-the-area family members.

Reading her card from Conor
(who lovingly decorated the envelope with all sorts of curly/fancy letters to spell out her name)

What 9-year-old girl doesn't need a unicorn shirt, I ask you???

Modeling her new mermaid swimming fin

Admiring the microscope from Uncle John & Aunt Wendy

Happy scientist

Pretty sure she would live in this mermaid tail from
Aunt Kajsa and Uncle Jeff full time if we let her

Reading up on her new Jenga from Auntie Suzanne and Uncle Randy... let the games begin

She was a weeee bit excited to see we gave her the wireless headphones she's been longing for

After presents and cleaning up from dinner, the four of us piled on the couch for cake and to watch "The Little Prince" on Netflix. It was a marvelously cozy way to wrap up the day... lots of snuggles and chocolate to go around. :)

Eric lighting NINE candles

Make a wish, birthday girl

Annika's Birthday Nails

This year (partially to save my sanity, partially to scale back and reduce the expectation that every year will include a big birthday bash), we (mostly I) decided that Annika could invite two friends to go out for mani/pedis and lunch.

Oh ... my ... goodness, did the girls have a great (and loud!) time. I picked up the kids on our way to the nail salon and it was quite evident they've missed seeing each other as often as they do during the school year.

We started off by hitting the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. The girls were full of giggles and chatter as they soaked their feet and enjoyed a little pampering. They did their best to act like grownups.... very silly, goofy grownups! The gals doing their nails were incredibly fast and even painted flowers on the girls' big toes ... really impressive, especially considering how small their canvas was!!

After their nails were painted and beautiful, I realized the nail artists were REALLY speedy and finished with the girls much faster than expected. Normally, that would have been great, but the restaurant we were going to have lunch at wasn't open for another 1/2 hour! So, we popped across the street to kill a little time at Starbucks... that and I definitely needed to refuel to have any chance of keeping up with the girls! The girls had cake pops .. I had a venti coffee... win/win!

After much more silliness and laughter, it was time to journey back across the street and have a bit to eat. I'm pretty sure that the highlight for the girls was each one ordered a drink that came with fruit on a tiny plastic sword. They came up with fantastical stories and creative uses for their swords. (I did put a stop to them trying to eat refried beans with the swords ... if I hadn't, we'd probably still be there trying to finish lunch!) The staff at the restaurant overheard that we were celebrating Annika's birthday, and surprised her with a sundae and rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday' in Spanish. She was all smiles and relished in the birthday attention.

Once again, I found us ahead of schedule (quite a shocker, considering I'm usually running late), so I opted to let the girls run off some energy at Carkeek Park. They ran to and fro, climbed trees, and came up with fantastical stories about mermaids, magical super powers, gems (or was it candy?) that gave people the power of mental telepathy, and more. I loved being a fly on the proverbial wall as they created a new world and roles for themselves.

Cooking with Annika: Guacamole

Annika decided she wants her own cooking show and that her first episode should be all about guacamole. Yum!!

So, sit back, grab some avocados, and enjoy!

2016 Ft. Flagler Camping Trip: Part 2

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, when we were on the Olympic Peninsula for our Ft. Flagler camping trip, we decided to visit the Olympic Game Farm. 

We really didn't know much about it, but knew because most of the animals were viewed as people drove their cars around the set route, we would be sheltered from the expected rain (that didn't come!) While there, we learned that the site was originally used as a Disney filming location for a variety of movies and the Grizzly Adams TV show.

Upon arriving, we purchased our tickets and a loaf of bread (so we could feed the animals as we drove). At first, I thought buying a loaf of bread would be sort of pointless, but am so glad we did. Because we had food, the animals were much more likely to come up to our car and stay, rather than approach and then seek out food from another car filled with bread.

We saw SO many animals: peacocks galore, yaks, bison, prairie dogs, zebra, fallow deer, bears, emus, wolves, fox, elk, llamas, Siberian tigers, and more as we meandered around the location. The predators were kept at a safe distance, but still quite visible.

Annika feeding a yak

Happy girl

Our car door was a nice chin rest for this one

"Got food???"

Bread snack

Showing off that it can touch its tongue to its nose

Itchy baby

Conor feeding a yak

Shortly after, a farm worker drove by and reminded us to keep
our kids inside the car ... such a stickler!!

I really hope one of them is named "Dolly"

Conor named this one "Spot" ... shocking!

This bear was even doing a little yoga to show off its flexibility. The funny thing is it held the pose for a really long time!!!

Yoga bear
(no, not Yogi Bear!)

Smile!

This was decided we needed to see its spotted tongue

Nap tune

 Of course, the various deer babies captured our hearts and caused many an "ahhhh" moment for our family.

If the zebra was "Spot", should this one be named "Stripe"?

Wee baby deer watching the scenery

Conor's turn to feed

Eric giving a few pets and pats along the way

Oh deer!
(hahahah!!!)

"Hello, and welcome to the farm I'm Warren. Got bread?"

I spy with my little eye...

Growing out of his spots and into his antlers

Deer

Eric having a hear-to-heart chat with a friendly bison
who popped its head in to say "howdy"

We were highly intrigued by the shape of the fallow deer's antlers

Ever feel like you're being watched??
(By a bison??)

We were informed to "keep moving through the bison area to avoid damage to your vehicle." Umm.... no problem until this guy got in our way! He happily stood in our way and then proceeded to snort at us as Eric carefully eeked the car around him. 

After we finished the driving tour of the animals, we popped out of the car to stretch our legs and take a peek at the other animals: goats, fish, small reptiles, ponies, and camels. We also noticed how covered my van was .... with bison and yak slobber!! We visited the goat area, the aquarium, and then the reptile room. In the reptile room, we saw a wide variety of snakes and decent number of small lizards. I'm a gecko fan, so was probably most taken with them. That said, the iguana and some of the snakes were pretty darned cool!! (And, no, that isn't a cold-blooded joke!)

Best goat beard ever!!

Annika and Conor in the goat house

Conor had to give each goat a pat before
agreeing to leave the goat enclosure

Trains are fun

Of course, my engineer of a husband was off inspecting the old farm equipment and
figuring out how it worked while the kids were clamoring around on the train

Did I mention the whole "we rode a camel" bit yet???? Life bucket list item marked off. All four of us wanted to participate in this optional activity and I'm so glad we did. How many people in our neck of the woods can say they rode a camel this summer ... and didn't even leave the state to do it?!?! I think the camel we rode was named Clarence, but I'm not 100% sure of that. Before we took our ride, Annika and Conor got to feed carrots two two other camels... one of whom had to have been channeling Stevie Wonder, because that camel had some serious head swaying going on!!

Mama and Conor on Clarence
(or the camel henceforth called Clarence if that isn't really his name)

So regal

Annika and Daddy taking their turn

Whee!!

 All-in-all, it was a really fun outing for all of us. We got to see and try new things as we admired the animals and what makes them unique. I think the only disappointment of the farm was its aquarium... it wasn't much to write home about -- basically a huge salmon tank. That said, the rest of the farm totally made up for it! :D