Birthday Week

I realize I'm skipping a few things -- like pics from the rest of our trip to CA -- but I promise I'll get to those, and there are some good ones. In the meantime, we must acknowledge Birthday Week. For those of you who don't know, Casey, Andrew, and I all have birthdays within 5 days of each other, so every year we get to celebrate one big Birthday Week.

Birthday Week always kicks off with Casey's big day (I won't say which number it was, but it's more than 30 and less than 40), and it always starts with birthday pancakes.



Followed by birthday presents. Andrew's official position for the opening of presents is right on Casey's lap.



That has been Andrew's position since 2005, which was his first full Birthday Week.



And in 2006.



And 2007.



And in 2008.



But I digress. While presents are fun, cake is far more exciting.



And if you can believe it, Willa got this whole piece in her mouth at once, after meticulously picking off every bit of frosting.



Then it was on to Andrew's birthday -- 5 this year!! We had a small celebration on the day, of course, but this year he had a "friend party." I'll devote a whole post to the party later; it's not something I want to short change here in the middle of Birthday Week.




I got out of making the 2nd birthday cake in 2 days by taking Andrew to dinner at Friendly's. We've done this in the past, but I'll spare you yet another trip down memory lane to see all the times Andrew ate ice cream on his birthday.




And then there was my birthday (again, no numbers, please). By this point we're usually pretty birthday-ed out, so we don't celebrate a lot, there are fewer pictures, and I never have my own cake. But this year Abbie & family were with us, which was a lot of fun, and Casey took care of dinner for everyone, which was AWESOME.

(After I posted this last night, Casey read it and thought I sounded like I was complaining about my birthday. I just want to set the record straight that I am NOT complaining. My birthday was great this year, and Casey was really good about making it enjoyable in the midst of an extremely busy week at work. And we don't have cake on my birthday because by then no one -- least of all me -- wants to eat more cake, not because I'm being overlooked.)

And now at least once a day Willa talks about her birthday in June.

The Airport Game

In February we got to go back to CA to visit family, and since it's been almost a month since we left I thought now I might as well get around to posting some pics. So what is The Airport Game, you ask? Well, in the words of my almost-five-year-old, "It's when you get to go from airplane to airplane and see if you can get on and fly to California." We started off in DC, flew to Seattle where we spent the night -- after our bags with all of our clothes and toiletries arrived safely in LA, I might add -- then tried unsuccessfully to get on a flight from Seattle to LA all day, ended up flying to Portland and staying at our sister-in-law's house (she wasn't there, incidentally), and then flying from Portland to LA. There's all kinds of things you can discover about yourself and your family while you're playing The Airport Game, however. Here's the top 10 things I learned while playing The Airport Game.

1. Rolling backpacks are endless fun. And endlessly slow when you're going from terminal C to terminal N and back again.


2. The best place to take a nap in Sea-Tac Airport is next to gate C9. Even for little girls who DON'T NAP EVER.


3. It's also the best place for a good pick.


4. Given the chance, children will claim ANYTHING their sibling particularly loves, just because they can.


In this case, Cinderella fell victim to the big brother. Or maybe changing a princess's gown has a broader appeal than we thought?


5. Airport Revenue News announced Sea-Tac Airport as the Best Overall Concessions Program in the large airport division as part of the prestigious Best Airport & Concessionaire Awards. And I must say, they were right.

6. While not being able to change your clothes or put on make-up for two days has its drawbacks, there are benefits to The Airport Game. Like being able to ride on an airplane that your uncle is flying.


Andrew thought it was the coolest thing ever that Uncle Jeremy was flying the plane.


7. There's really nothing like family. After 2 long days spent in airports my sister-in-law opened her home for us to crash in, although she wasn't even home and wasn't expecting guests. Honestly, how many of us would ever let guests into our houses before we threw all the clutter in a closet and meticulously scrubbed the place down? I wouldn't. But then again, when I leave for a trip my house does not look nearly as good as Abbie's did. Don't worry Abbie, I won't post any pictures of your house.

8. When you're playing The Airport Game you make a lot of friends, which is pretty easy when you are two and four and have no fear of strangers. Willa told everyone who would stop long enough to listen that "we're going to Seattle," and Andrew spilled his life story to the world so often that I think he memorized his speech. But it tends to prompt nice ladies to give you pieces of gum, or other kids to share their Leapsters and DVD players with you, and nice flight attendants bend over backwards to make life fun with extra cookies, enough juice to drown in, and entertainment.


9. All of you who travel with young children, take note because this is important: never leave home without your DVD player.


10. Oh, and maybe it goes without saying, but if someone tells you to fly standby on President's Day weekend, run away screaming and never talk to them again. I'm still giving myself the silent treatment.