Victoria's Birthday Party

A few days before Vic's 6th birthday, we had her party at the Duluth Heights Community Center. She asked for butterflies and caterpillars, and we delivered.

Thank you, dollar store, for all the fairy wings ($1 each!), hats, gift bags, tablecloths ... everything.

The kids got bored while the adults were setting up, so thankfully they found some cool ride-on toys!

And cousin Madi helped.

When Grandpa arrived, he helped in his own way ... providing free kid entertainment.

All the guests arrived, and the crafting was on! First they got to decorate butterfly masks and their gift bags.

You may also be wondering why Alex's legs are naked in this photo. Let's just say that in the midst of potty training, mom and dad got lax in packing a diaper bag LOL ...

On the right side of this table below are Jaedyn and Kylie, two long-standing friends from daycare.

Victoria was probably the most dedicated of all. That girl could've spent hours decorating all her butterfly stuff!

Check out this smile!

Here is Ava, one of Vic's new friends at school.

As more kids arrived, the kids needed more hands-on time from adults. Ummm ... I overestimated my ability to answer to all the kids' demands. Thankfully help stepped in. Here is Lyss, Ava's mom.

Kate, my coworker, brought paint and her own craftiness to lead the kids in making caterpillar projects! (Kate, I love you.)

And my mom, ever the amazing helper, stepped in too. 

While the craftiness was going on, Auntie Karen found a pair of Madi's old pants to cover Alex's legs. He was a new man.

Cousin Mason charmed the family members who hung out at the "adult tables."

Front: Mackenzie, Alex, Saul, Amara, Thea, Paisley.
Back: Annabel, Victoria, Hannah, Alex, Jaedyn

The paint was crazy messy. Maybe chalk that up to "let's not do that again?"

The kids had a snack of goldfish while the adults cleaned up the paint mess and assessed the pinata possibilities.

Pinatas are hard to break! I'll spare you the photos of every.single.kid trying to hit it, but let's just say it took awhile, and may have taken some adult help as well.

We sang to the birthday girl.

"Hi Grandma!"

As we started opening gifts, the adults gathered around.

Haha, somehow the gift opening became stressful when the kids absolutely couldn't stay in a circle and kept inching closer and closer. We ended up putting lines on the floor with painter's tape!

Uncle Adam had the best seat in the house.

The party over, we loaded up and came home. And on her real birthday, which was on a weekday, she asked for us to celebrate by going to Bridgeman's. We even got Mason for the extra special dinner out!

I was too busy at the restaurant to get pictures, but we were joined by Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Roger.

Our girl was blessed by having so many family and friends celebrate her. Happy Birthday Vic!

Farm Visit

It's been a long time since I have visited the Popps. So long, in fact, that they've never met my kids! Yet they remain among the dearest people I've ever met.

We happened to be in their area (Royalton) in November for a wedding. It was totally spur of the moment to call them up and ask if they were home. Jane, in her uber-enthusastic way, screamed excitedly into the phone: "Yesssss!! Come on over! OH MY GOD we get to see you!"

If you clicked on the links above, you'll know that they live on a century farm on the Mississippi River. And, theirs is the real deal. This is not the faux farms we enjoy taking the kids to for hay rides and pumpkin picking. The Popps -- Doug and Jane, Emily and Nicholas -- do chores morning and evening. The whole family is responsible for and indebted to their dairy cows. So in addition to my excitement over seeing dear friends, I couldn't wait for my kids to see a working farm.

Victoria's biggest excitement appeared immediately on arrival: the CATS!

The smile didn't leave her face the entire time we were there.

At one point she had five or six of them on her. It was love at first sight ;). She followed them, or they followed her -- one way or another, they were inseparable.

We have some videos of the cat cuteness too:

Alex wasn't as obsessed as Victoria, but of course he was there too, hamming it up:

The kids scrambled up on a rock next to their driveway for a picture.

After which Alex fell and scratched his hand on a cactus (?) planted below it. Only the Popps would find a way to have planted cacti in Minnesota, haha.

We toured around the barns and enclosures, saying hi to their pony, chickens, cows, sheep, and goats!

The kids loved the swings on the clothesline poles:

Doug put the kids to work, feeding the cows.

To make the visit even more fantastic, Doug had this idea of lighting some huge brush piles on fire, and cooking hot dogs over the bonfire for a picnic. (Did I mention this was all OUTSIDE? In NOVEMBER? Fantastic weather and amazing sunshine!)

The bonfire put off more heat than just about any fire I've ever seen. It was so hot that even with really long sticks we had to turn our faces away. I couldn't wait until those hot dogs were finished! LOL

While we cooked hot dogs, Alex entertained himself walking up and dog the fence. Adorable, this kind of childhood contentment.

Finally we were ready to eat.

After food, it was time to look at the tractors.

Finally, it was time for an all-too-early goodbye. We had only spent a few hours together, but the Moses family had a long drive home on a school night.

Until next time ... these people always have a special place in my heart.