Two!

 We had a wonderful few days of celebrating.  His actual birthday on Friday, my Mom and I took he and Grace to our new Science Centre - Spark.  An amazing kid zone had them playing in a indoor playcentre, splashing at water tables, playing with magnets, and checking out natural music with rain that fell on drums.

 Saturday was our family party.  Aidan spent the first of the two hours showing everyone his cake "See! See!".  He even said NO to opening presents, rushing back in to check out Snoopy.  Aidan's party was themed 'Snoopy and the Red Baron'.  The boy loves puppies and planes :)  Big thanks go out to my girlfriend Krista who made the Snoopy who topped my cake.  He was a hit! 

 When Aidan finally left Snoopy to check out gifts, in his true style, he was happiest having others do the work for him.   He watched the gift opening from the top of our couch :)

 Finally cake time!  Not wanting to get too close to the flame, blowing out the candle became a group effort :)

Look at these girls in their matching handknits!  For those of you who knit, this pattern is amazing.  Grace has been wearing her "party dress' since she was three.  The design is meant to be worn as a dress that transitions to a top.  Charlotte is sporting the smallest option.  She's had hers since she was 2 months old, and she is now 8 months.  I hope it will fit her til she's two! 

With all this partying behind us (for a week anyways, Nate's and my Moms are on the 16th!) it's had me reflecting on how our family celebrates and how we will celebrate going forward.  Birthdays are really important to me, and I like to make a big show of them.  I am totally ok with birthdays spanning into a three day celebration.  What has become harder though is hosting two events.  One for family, and one for friends.  Here is what we/I discovered with Aidan's.

It's winter.  The holidays have just finished, and it's cold & flu season.  Out of the four families we invited to his friends party on Thursday, only one was able to attend.  Having one party would mean that no matter what, we'd have enough people show up to still make it festive.  Aidan of course had no idea, but Grace was upset.  We called in recruitment friends and made it a playdate with cupcakes.  It all worked out in the end.  Then we had the family party, which also included friends of the family.  We had family come who spent the entire time on their Iphones.  No really.  A couple of them we are not even sure they spoke to Aidan.  So we are re-thinking how birthdays will be celebrated going forward.  We are open to suggestions.

 How does your family celebrate?