It's February/Birthday Month here at Casa de Hines. Two down and one to go (really two to go if you count Kyla, the dog. Which I really don't count. Anymore. Poor Kyla. She'll be 8 next week, by the way. I did get her a big box of yummy dog treats at Costco yesterday. Does that count?!) Ella's birthday fell on Friday the 13th - SPOOKY!! It was also the start of President's Day weekend and a 4 day weekend for Encinitas Union School District. We decided a few months ago that we'd take some sort of weekend vacation for that weekend. We contemplated Big Bear Lake or some ski/snow area. We looked into camping out in the desert. In the end we decided to rent a place by the beach up in Santa Monica (where our friend Heather lives). It's about 2 hours north of us. Found a great 4 bedroom apartment RIGHT on the sand. It was great! The apartment/condo itself was a little dated, but it was perfect for our needs. Each of the 4 bedrooms had a full size bed. So each of the 3 older kids got their own bedroom and Ella slept in the pak-n-play in Myke and my room. We had a great time, the house was walking distance to the Santa Monica pier which has food, a carousel, an amusement park, arcade, etc all on it. The kids LOVED that. We did that Friday when we got there and then came back to the apartment where we had a few friends over for pizza and cake to celebrate Ella's birthday. Heather was there and another friend, Angie, with her two kiddos, Theo & Naomi. Was fun to have an outdoor party at picnic table on the patio just feet from the beautiful sand. Saturday we rented bikes (one with a baby seat, one with a trailer attached (that fit 2 kids) and one with a mini-tandem bike attached (for Chloë). Good thing we had Heather there to ride bikes with us!
Banner from Grandpa Schneider
(we traveled with it and displayed it at the rental apt)
Heather found this cute cake for Ella
shirtless pizza party!
My girls!
Chomping down cake- focused group here!
Myke works his magic with a fussy baby Naomi...
who was no longer fussy as soon as he did this hold
birthday carousel ride with daddy
These timid guys only will ride THIS thing on carousels!
And I HAVE to sit with them or they'll freak out
Sisters :)
Capt America AND Spider-Man live in Santa Monica!!!!
Can you believe it?!
Rides on the Santa Monica Pier
Bike time (all 6 of us in this photo taken by Heather..boys are in the trailer)
Myke's birthday was yesterday (Friday 2/20). He had to work in the day but after work the kids and I threw a fun, yet low-key, birthday party for him. It was really more for the kids probably...we wrapped presents, made gluten-free cupcakes, put out a table cloth, banner, plates, party hats, etc. When Myke got off work we opened gifts (each of the 3 older ones had handmade him birthday cards with pictures of themselves with daddy, tracings of their hands, etc...very cute), and then sang happy birthday, ate cupcakes. It was RIGHT up Myke's alley. He's not a big party person, especially if he's the person the party is all about. He'd rather have something small and low-key so he can actually enjoy the moment and our family being together, not feel like he has to entertain, clean-up, manage the kids behavior when guests are here, etc. I GET that. I really do. A typical day in our house is 90% of the time FAR from relaxing....add throwing/hosting a party to that and you can really get overwhelmed. Still though, I really do love hosting....just not as much as I used to. That said, I have to really control myself not to extend the invite out to neighbors and friends ("come on over for cake for Myke's birthday", etc)...because I KNOW he'd rather have it be small and intimate. It's not usually MY preference...but I told him it's the ONE day of the year that he can have it his way :)
We always butt heads about this when it comes to birthday parties for the kids. He thinks 1-2 kids is enough and I can just never draw the line...it's hard to know WHERE to draw the line...and you never want to hurt feelings/leave anyone out! However, I do agree that when it comes down to it, smaller groups are much less stressful when it comes to preparing for the party/entertaining/etc. Also, like I mentioned, having 4 small kids of our own is already a "party: in itself. You invite one other family over with 2 or 3 more kids and you have quite the crowd right there!
The set-up for Myke's family party yesterday.
Simple, yet fun :)
Let me just add that one of Chloë's beloved stuffed animals ALSO had a birthday this month.
It's a stuffed penguin (beanie baby brand) named "Ice-Cube". The brand where the heart tag attached to it's ear says it's name AND it's birthday. February 11th. Could it have been another month? ANY other month? Geez!! Chloë picked this animal out back in September at a car wash after a tough day in kindergarten (I felt bad and let her pick a toy while we waited for the car to be finished). She was so excited about it's birthday. She's been talking about Ice-Cube's birthday for months. The LAST thing I needed was ANOTHER birthday in February..and two days before Ella's. I hoped she'd forget about it but she's been mentioning it every couple weeks since September. As February got closer she spoke of her plans to make a cake for ice-cube, set up a party, buy present...aghhh!!!
When the day arrived however, a muffin with a candle in it and a quick "happy birthday" song was all she needed. Phew!
In other happenins:
Chloë is a Daisy (Girl Scouts for kinder and 1st graders)
and LOVES it. It's cookie season right now...
Delivering the cookies around the neighborhood with Myke.
These things are like CRACK to people..it's insane.
I don't get it. I don't like Girl Scout cookies. Never have..and still don't.
I ran my 3rd 10K. This is the same race I ran a year ago...which was my first 10K.
Hoping to make it an annual thing. It's a beautiful route along Highway 101 right along the ocean.
Stunning views. The weather was beautiful...I had been pretty sick the days leading up to the race and wasn't even sure I'd be able to do it...but on the day of I felt up for it...Myke & the kids even surprised me by waiting at the finish line with handmade signs to cheer me on :)
Myke & Eli making breakfast.
Eli loves to help in the kitchen lately
My Uncle Ken & Aunt Christine were in Southern CA for a bull riding competition so we
met up with them for lunch near Disneyland.
LEGO store in Downtown Disney area
Ella & her Great-Uncle Ken
The kids were all very excited to meet a "real cowboy"!
:)
Love this shot of them walking together.
Stay tuned for next week's birthday party. AKA Chloë turns SIX!!
**By the way I just re-read my previous post, which I typical do before I start typing a new one as I rarely remember what I wrote last, what I already blogged about, etc. ..AND I think someone must have HACKED into my account! It looks like I said I could "possibly have a 5th child" if their temperament was similar to Ella's?! What was I thinking?? I must have been drinking wine when I typed that. Haha...but really, that must have been a semi-relaxing day or something for me to even GO there!
