To complete our birthday festivities we hosted Sarah’s birthday party at home on Sunday, October 15.  We had a panda theme and also had a musical performance by Groove (so it was very similar to the party we threw last year!).

For lunch we served pizza, followed by a delicious yellow cake with chocolate butter cream icing that Daddy had made.  In total this year, Daddy made one cake for Sarah’s birthday, several dozen cupcakes for Blaine’s party, and two more cakes for Sarah’s party.  Surprisingly we didn’t have that much left over, which shows how delicious it was.

Then, of course, there was more present opening.

Happy birthday, Sarah!

The weeklong birthday celebration continued on Saturday, October 14, with Blaine’s birthday party at the Rye Nature Center.  The kids loved the animal presentation featuring a turtle, bearded dragon, corn snake, and guinea pig.  They especially loved when the bearded dragon gobbled up some sort of worm/grub that our naturalist, Mary, offered it.

From there we moved outside for an apple cidering demonstration.

Then back inside for some healthy snacks, not pictured.  And then outside for cupcakes around the campfire.  I was so distracted I forgot to get any pictures, but here’s one that a friend was able to send me.

Then the kids got to play on the playground until their parents came to pick them up.

Everyone survived, and Blaine had such a good time!  Phew.

We started off Sarah’s birthday celebration on October 10 with singing and mini-cupcakes at school.  I also brought in the book, “The Panda Who Went for a Spin” (by Gram) to read to the class.

Late that day the kids were eager to help me ice the cake.

Sarah enjoyed her birthday dinner of hot dogs, followed by birthday cake.

Then it was time for presents!  Thank you to everyone who sent her a gift – she loved them all!

Here she is in a delightfully ridiculous My Little Pony hoodie, courtesy of Uncle Tim.

The kids had off from school on 10/9 for Columbus Day, and Sarah was still jealous of Blaine’s trip to the MoNH the previous day, so we decided to take a drive up to Norwalk to the Stepping Stones Museum for the morning.  The kids loved the water room, of course.

Here’s what happens when I ask the kids to say “cheese”.  Blaine turns around for a quick cheese…

… and then quickly turns back while Sarah finally gets out her own cheese.  Sigh.

Blaine wanted to spend the rest of the day working on his new Lego fire boat set that he got for his birthday.  I figured it would take him several days, at least, but he was so focused he really wanted to keep going the entire afternoon.

The boat was completed by the time Daddy got home.

We officially started the birthday festivities on 10/6, with Blaine’s birthday celebration at school.  We brought in mini-cupcakes and Blaine got to wear a crown all day!

On Saturday, 10/7, Gram and Grand-dad came to visit!  Here’s Gram riding on a boat with Blaine and Sarah.

The next day, 10/8, was Blaine’s actual birthday!  He’d requested chocolate ice cream in lieu of cake, so we broke out the ice cream maker.  Once we got it churning, Blaine got to go on a birthday trip to the Museum of Natural History with Daddy, Gram, and Grand-dad.

Sarah was sad to miss the museum, but she got to lick the ice cream parts so that made up for it, somewhat.

Gram and Grand-dad went back to VA after the museum (thanks for visiting!!), and Daddy and Blaine took the train back out to Larchmont.  Blaine was so excited he was old enough to need his own ticket.  The train conductor even punched it in the shape of a smiley face for him.

After Sarah’s nap we sang to Blaine and he blew out the candle on his ice cream.  I think this may have been the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had, all thanks to Dana Cree and her book, “Hello, My Name is Ice Cream.”  Dana Cree was the pastry chef at a restaurant in Seattle we liked called Poppy.  I used to love to get the “caramel corn” sundae for dessert.  She moved on, and I was always so sad to never get that yummy sundae again.  So I was thrilled when I heard she’d written a book about making ice cream.  Mmmmmmm…

After ice cream it was present time!  Blaine is working on thank you cards, but in the meantime thank you to everyone who sent him gifts!!

Lastly we had Blaine’s favorite dinner, spaghetti and meatballs, before heading to bed.

Happy birthday, Blaine!  I can’t believe that you are already five years old.

On 10/1 we drove to Outhouse Orchards in North Salem to go apple picking.  I believe it was a first for all of us!

We rented this long pole with some metal teeth and a bag at the end of it to reach all the apples at the tops of the trees.  Andrew was a natural!

We also managed to find a few that were low enough to be reached, at Blaine + Daddy height.

Then we bought some homemade apple cider donuts, and some warm apple cider.  Yum!

Unfortunately, the yellow jackets were really attracted by the cider, and one stung Andrew’s hand on the walk back to the car!

One day we were passing by the fire station and were lucky enough to see the hood lifted up to reveal the engine.  I had no idea a real fire truck opened up like this, just like our toy one.  The firefighters were very friendly, as usual, and let the kids climb into the ladder truck and even see how the fire station doors operated.

A few pics from Blaine’s school.

Another day I was very surprised when Sarah managed to zip up her own fleece jacket.  And then later that same day Blaine zipped up his own hoodie!  Such big kids.

Andrew left for a trip to India on 9/23, and Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly drove back to PA early on 9/24, so I decided to take the kids to something called “Jay Day”.  It was a yearly event held at the John Jay Heritage Center in Rye.

They had food trucks, balloon animals, pony rides, music, and even a children’s author doing a presentation and signing books.  Blaine was somewhat frightened by this woman on stilts who came by while we were eating our grilled cheese.

Blaine got a sword (which it seemed like they were making for all the little boys) and the balloon guy made a neat little elephant for Sarah, inspired by the elephant on her shirt.

We were also able to explore John Jay’s house.  The view was beautiful and the kids loved seeing an old dumb waiter.

Then we had some ice cream and went home for a nap.

Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly arrived on 9/21 for a visit.

On Friday, 9/22, we went to the Bronx Zoo!  The kids were particularly excited to show Aunt Molly and Mom-Mom the monorail.

Then they wanted to ride the zoo’s shuttle train!

Then we went to the children’s zoo.

Back home, we enjoyed dinner that night out on the patio.

The next day we hung around Larchmont and ran into the grand opening celebration for the reading area on Palmer.  There was a high school student reading stories to the kids and tasty food from some local restaurants.  And we got to see our mayor wield her giant scissors again!

That night we enjoyed our dinner inside at the dining table to avoid the pesky mosquitoes which were still plaguing our backyard!

Thanks for visiting, Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly!

We checked out the new popup reading area on Palmer in the morning, and then Blaine and I went to Larchmont Day featuring big trucks and the fire department’s anniversary in the afternoon.

He got to see the jaws of life up close, and was only mildly frightened by the open flame on top of this antique firefighter’s helmet.  Apparently they used them for parades in the old days?

He also enjoyed this instrument petting zoo (what a great idea!) put on by the Larchmont Music Academy.