in the year of the porsche

^^^kids playing games, including a little Porsche racing game. many thanks to Kendal and her camp counsellor skills

Over the past year since the Ferrari cake from Emory's 3rd birthday, the boy has become completely in love/ unhealthily obsessed with/ incredibly acknowledgeable about Porsches. Naturally, when we asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday this year, he expressed his main concerns about Porsches being the garnish. And somehow out of that, we made up a few simple games that turned the entire thing into a Porsche-themed party. Needless to say, Emory went around talking about it for weeks prior, and had a huge smile on his face for the entire party. We let him have his first "friend" party this year, (he got to invite 4 friends, since he turned 4) and held a no-presents-allowed policy, knowing we would get together with family on his actual birthday. However, we couldn't resist and let him open his first gift from us the morning of the Porsche party so he could represent his favorite car with his new shirt. 

^^^pin the parts on the Porsche- thank goodness I have an artistic husband

^^^some attendees brought parents and siblings. fun!

^^^ice cream making: messy and cold, but I think the kids liked it mostly for the novelty and the bowls of toppings

^^^I couldn't resist this adorable sequence of Emory faces, leading up to the chocolate goatee

^^^Porsche wheel pinata: a total hit, thanks to my homemade paper mache knowledge and Jon's painting ingenuity, the whole project cost less than $5 

^^^lastly, Emory and his adorable friend, Eve, who brought him a present, and then they hugged. Eve is much more outgoing than Emory- priceless moment.

Hayley came down from Canada for the weekend too- what a treat! We love Hayley and her spontaneous trip-taking ability, and she was such a good sport about playing with kids. 

PS don't get me started on blogger and it's atrocious formatting these days. This post would look way better, but I've spent far too long fighting a losing battle and I quit.

happy birthday, big boy.

Emory Shawn turns 4 tomorrow [today]. Can't wait to celebrate with him all day. Love this guy.

a birthday celebration

The synopsis: we rushed out of bed and into little E's room to sing him happy birthday. We've been talking about his birthday for a few weeks, so he knew it was coming and was so excited. Sleepy, but excited, as shown in the photos. We sort of rushed through getting ready (thankfully I had packed our bags the night before) so we could make it to the Jetty Island Ferry. I called my sisters and woke them to give them instructions on how to save us a place on said ferry. Emory decided to have pancakes for breakfast, of all choices the most lengthy in preparation. Jon made the pancakes while I busied myself loading the car and Emory threw a fit, thinking I would leave him behind, no matter how many promises of "you're coming with me when I leave" came out of my mouth. For the record, it was pretty sad to see big tears flowing unnecessarily from the birthday boy's eyes. Then Jon saved my day and announced he was coming with us. I have gotten so accustomed to doing things without him that I didn't know what to think or even if I could believe he was serious, but he was, and I will forever be grateful that we all got to spend Emory's whole birthday together.

As we drove to Everett, we finalized plans with my sisters, and made our way to my mom's house to pick up Amber and my grandma to take them to meet the others at Jetty Island. When Kendal called and said the tickets sold out, we quickly changed our plans and headed the opposite direction, to Mukilteo Beach, where Emory played in the sand, and played with his aunties and cousins on the playground.

After lunch and a good de-sanding bath, it took an excited little boy a couple hours to fall asleep for his nap. But when he finally did, I frosted a very flawed cake, while my mom and grandma made potato and pasta salad for the upcoming feast, sisters and cousins wrapped presents, and Jon assembled a tricycle.

We woke Emory up and walked him across the street to Harborview Park, where he first saw his balloons tied to his trike, or "zumba," as he called it. Jon's parents, Nanny, Kenny, and Kenny's parents all joined us at that point. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the view, pushing E around the grass on his tricycle, eating, and watching the little man open presents. Highlights included seeing his faces of wonder at his gifts and watching him successfully blow out one of the two candles on his cake.

happy 2nd birthday to emory from Meghan Beutler on Vimeo.