Amazing 5!

My sweet Little Chief is 5 years old! 

This goofy kid has been looking forward to this day for a long time! About 3 months ago I got a call from his panicked school teacher asking if his birthday was the next day, as he insisted it was. Ever since then it has been hard time waiting for the big day.

Top of his birthday wish list was a dog. A real dog, a big black dog that he could name Shadow. He was pretty insistent until he found out about being responsible for scooping all the poop in the backyard. He was overjoyed to get a stuffed dog from Grandma and Grandpa instead!

All of the kids (except for the green monster Jaws) love present time. When else can you bash a box on your sibling's head with your parents' blessing?!

The family favorite was this Octopod from Tadpole's favorite show, The Octonauts. At the risk of shame, Superkid admitted his depth of Octonaut knowledge and plunged into play with the other enthusiasts.

 Abizella had the perfect idea for a birthday treat! 

Puppy cupcakes!

She and Little Chief were the chefs!

 Tadpole, Jaws and I were the lazy bums who kicked back and waited for the birthday treat.

Superkid is always the pyromaniac...

 Everyone got in on the puppy-cupcake goodness!

 We are so blessed to have this one!

 Let me count 5 ways!
1. Little Chief is the best kisser. He puckers up those fabulous lips and lays one on me every chance he gets!
2. For Little Chief, life is a musical. He can grab any handful of objects and escape in his imagination, narrating the whole episode in boisterous song.
3. Anytime a spoon clanks against a bowl you will find  Little Chief right by your side ready to cook. He loves it. He likes to come up with his own recipes too. He will dictate a list of ingredients, explain it is a new cookie recipe and ask if we can go make it. He is a great chef.
4. He loves school and he loves making new friends. He recently went to Kindergarten meet-and-greet. He was pretty nervous going into it. He walked up to each kid and teacher, introduced himself and told each person he was shy. One of the moms knew him from preschool. She laughed and said, "Tadpole, I know you and you are not shy!"
5. Little Chief loves books! He has a stack of favorite books, but he loves them all and he likes to help by "reading" the parts he knows best.

We all simply adore you Little Chief. We LOVE you! 

Happy Birthday!

Little Chief's Party

Little Chief's long awaited day FINALLY came. 

Nothing but lots of celebrations would do for Little Chief's 5th birthday.

We invited a couple of Tadpole's favorite friends for dinner and cake the day before his birthday.

 Luckily for Jaws, the kids came with younger siblings!

 

Little Chief requested a Cold Stone Chocolate Peanut butter cake. 

We all thought he chose wisely.

 We also decided to give the Cold Stone cupcakes a try!

A great kick off for a VERY important event.

Birding in Bare Cove

The train platform I stand on every morning overlooks an estuary. I love watching the birds as they return after winter. About a month ago sunrise and my train-time coincided and the estuary was teeming with early morning bird life. Abizella had been talking about doing some bird watching and I knew this was prime-time! I grabbed my greatest bird enthusiast, and we made a morning of it. Abizella takes after her mother in her love of birds. Not only does she love to watch them, but she loves to sketch them. 

 If you look closely, you can see the cormorants standing on the poles...

We had a fruitful morning....

Cormorants, yellow buntings, snowy egrets, chickadees (the state bird, Abz pointed out!), seagulls, turkeys, terns, and ducks!

Hosta Relocation Program

The Toads are braving the mosquitos to be garden gargoyles among my transplanted Hostas. These are hearty little plants! I can just pluck them up and plop them down anywhere and they just keep on growing. We're going to get along just fine.

Super kid's Brainchild

Reece's Cake! In his words, "Either you'll die for it or die from it-depending on if you have a peanut allergy."

Check-Up

Bringing our A game to Dr. Beebe. Pops pulled out all the stops and even bathed the 2 year old ("No Bath!). Little Chief enjoyed the hospital Johnny, which is clearly not a dress.

Little Chief dazzled Dr. Beebe with his excellent articulation and conversation. Dr. Beebe dazzled Little Chief by not administering any shots! 

5 year old check up was a success, celebrated with the obligatory Dunkin Donut!

Trampoline and Banana Morning

And 50% pants! What a great day!