Maggie’s 2nd Birthday

Maggie’s birthday, just a few days after Griffin’s rescheduled party, was a lower key affair, but fun for all of us. It began with some presents in the morning before Andrew went to school. Then a pancake breakfast with Caroline and Griffin. Then, by Maggie’s request, an expedition to Adventure Peak. After Andrew got home, we all headed over to the Highland Grill for dinner. Finally, a cake perfectly sized for a two-year-old.

Cream

At French Meadow this morning Sarah asked for some cream with her coffee. When the cream arrived, Maggie turned around and patted her rear, saying, “Butt!” We were confused. She pointed at the cream, and again patted her tush, “On my butt.”

She thought it was diaper cream!

Griffin’s 5th Birthday

It’s been a rather extended celebration this year. We began on Griffin’s actual birthday, April 8, with cinnamon rolls for breakfast and family presents at dinner. Then he was honored at both of his preschools.

Maggie with pinkeye
Maggie with pinkeye

Then Sarah baked a spectacular cake for his party on Saturday, but the kids both woke up with pink eye and we had to cancel the party! (Noooooo! But we ate the cake, which made it ok.) We rescheduled the party for the following weekend and this time everything worked out, including an even more magnificent cake. (Six layer rainbow cake with all natural ingredients? No problem.) And grandma and grandpa presented a new bike. Woohoo!

Click on the pics for larger versions.

What has Griffin learned? Birthdays last for three weeks and include numerous celebrations, multiple cakes, magic bunnies that hide eggs, lots of chocolate, and special trips to the ice cream shop (those last tidbits were for Easter and my birthday, but the distinctions may not mean much to him). We’re setting ourselves up for success here. 🙂

Heavy Breakfast

Just another Sunday breakfast at the Stocco Roy’s where we discussed slavery, the civil war, armor, and guns.

[Slavery came up because Griffin wanted to know what the song “Jimmy Crack Corn” is all about. (Good question!) This led to the civil war, but interest waned before we could delve into the rise of the KKK and Jim Crow, the Great Migration, civil rights, the war on drugs, white privilege, and the glorious post-racial utopia which we’ve created for him. (Also didn’t get to the dangers of wearing hoodies.) Instead, Griffin examined his medieval-themed placemat and asked if armor was “real.” This prompted a detailed discussion about the history of armor. Cool stuff, which led, eventually, to kevlar. At which point we had to talk about guns and what to do if he ever comes across one. It was quite a breakfast!]

Griffin Attitude

After dinner:

Sarah: “Whoa, whoa, your plate needs to go to the kitchen.”
Griffin: “Aw, man. I HATE bringing my plate.”
Sarah: “Let’s try that again.”
Griffin: “Okay. I GUESS I’ll bring my plate to the kitchen.”
Sarah: “Let’s try that again.”
Griffin: <HUGEST EYE ROLL EVER> “Okay, I LOVE bringing my plate to the kitchen!!”

Flat Raven

Dear Raven,

Original letter from Raven
Original letter from Raven

A couple of weeks ago I got a letter from you. Inside the letter was Flat Raven! We took pictures of Flat Raven. It was so fun. We can’t wait to share them with you.

The first place we went with you was Hidden Falls Park on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It’s so fun because the roots of the trees are pulled up and we can climb in them and slide down them sometimes. We even hide in them while playing hide-and-seek. Did you know that the Mississippi River starts in Minnesota? It starts at a place called Lake Itasca, but it goes by not far from our house. We ride our bikes to the river sometimes.

Next we went to play with Richard, a friend of mine. We played at his preschool which is very close to my preschool, the Dodge Nature Center. Both schools have animals and lots of nature. We play outside a lot. We played a game called Grumpy Old Troll which is the same as Tag.

After we got home, we decided to walk to a Thai restaurant for dinner. This Thai restaurant is on a street called Grand Avenue not far from our house, just like the Thai restaurant we used to eat at with you in Oakland on Grand Avenue! On our way to the restaurant we found a cool purple chair beside someone’s house. My favorite Thai food is Pad Si Yew. It has big brown wide noodles. It’s so yummy!

On Thursday night we had a really big snow storm. Some places got more than a foot of snow, but we only got about six inches. Whenever it snows, we like to sled to my preschool. We took you along for a ride in Maggie’s sled. We know that it doesn’t snow very much where you live, so we thought you would enjoy this fun part of winter.

Love,

Griffin