::max's partay::

Max loves fish. That's all there is to it really. So naturally, when trying to work up some sort of theme for his birthday party (besides just kid birthday party) I thought of something fishy.
I made a bunch of fish and such to hang from the ceiling for decor, and we also hung blue balloons, hoping they would look like bubbles. So it could feel like we were all hanging out under the sea with the fish.

The green crepe paper is a stand in for seaweed.

The fish cake and Grandma Kathy's fishy quilt fit in quite nicely too.
A quick pre-party photo with the grandparents:

I think it was really fun for Max to get to spend his birthday in UT among all the family. It's so special for him to be there anyway, then to add his birthday into the mix it was just super exciting.
Instead of birthday spankings we thought we'd make sure he got some upside down birthday tickles. Much more exciting.

Max was just so excited to see Kris, he flew in just an hour or so before the party started.

We had lots of fun family at the party.

It was so nice of everybody to be there. And Max got a few fun presents too. Kari got him the stuff so we could get him a fish. A little tank, and all the necessaries.
Grandma and Grandpa got him a remote control car (that proceeded to break pretty quickly) which he loved so much. And he got other fun stuff from the rest of the fam (including us).
We played some fun fish games. Hot and cold with the hidden mama fish. Except the closer the kid got to her the "wetter" they were, the farther away the drier. That was pretty fun, though Derek just couldn't figure out why we were all yelling at him all the time.

We also played pin the fishy in it's home. Pretty plain, but functional. The kids liked it.



The highlight of the evening for Max though I think was blowing out the candles. He felt so cool. And the cake was so adorable. Since we made the cake the day before it was a little like torture for him to have to wait so long, but he did a good job.





He's very proud of himself.
What a fun night. I feel so lucky to have such wonderful family members on both sides that love and support us. Thanks so much for making Max (and us) feel loved and special, and happy birthday to my sweet five year old!!

::birthday (observed)::

You know how on calenders it'll show some sort of holiday--like presidents day for example.  If the holiday falls on a weekend, it'll be "observed" by the government workers on some other week day, so that they still get to have a day off.
Well, we're using that sort of theory today, and observing Max's birthday even though in truth he doesn't turn five until this coming tuesday. Don't leak that to him unless you want to be in trouble with me.
Kris and I are going to be on a trip to California starting tomorrow, trying to experience some of the Northern areas we've never visited. This is to make us better informed when it comes time to move back west in 2010.
Anyway, when we planned the trip Max was going to be coming with us, but since we planned it, his saintly grandparents (all four of them are quite saintly) decided to hang onto him here in UT, which will make our week long road trip much easier.
So I felt awful about missing his birthday.
Good thing it's a mom's prerogative to arbitrarily change dates.
Today is his birthday for all intents and purposes and we're having a blast.
He started out with a candle in his pancakes.

And went on to get a birthday haircut. He's spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the balloons we're blowing up for his party. I think it's been a great day so far. And the best part is that I'm here too!

Yesterday Kris's sister Kari, the master cake maker, came up and helped me make a birthday cake for max (I made the cake part and she did the rest, but now I know much more for next time I try to make one on my own).
She's awesome. Max always wants a "fishy cake" for his birthday, so after some research we decided on a cute one.



It turned out SO cute. Thanks Kari!! Max loves it. He keeps peeking at it.

(sorry Kari, I wish I would've taken a picture of you with the light on you instead of in front of the light. Arrgh)

And now I'm off to pick up Kris from the airport. He's coming in just in time for Max's little birthday party. It's so fun to be here and get to have a party with the families! It's really a blessing.
Happy birthday adorable little Max, we love you!

::worthwhile::

Tell me if you think the following was worth going outside on the freezing cold sidewalk in my socks, having to leap over snow piles.


I think so. Boy the mountains here are gorgeous.

::randle family dinner part 2--rats::

After Max and Jennifer finished eating dinner, they headed off to play. Max's dinner consisted of about 100 pieces of pineapple and one slice of garlic bread. I don't care if he's picky as long as he eats fruit!

Max and Jennifer had a pretty good time together playing downstairs in the toy room. I'm sure they made a mess, but they were happy.

While they were off playing, cousin Cammon brought out his rats. He has two of them. I'm not sure what their names are or anything, but they're cute. I didn't think rats could be so cute, even pet rats!
One of them decided it likes my mom, and used her for a dining room table.



I didn't touch them because I was afraid I'm allergic to them--just like every other animal on the face of the planet! But I wanted to, because they were so cute and fuzzy.
Like this:

Then everybody sat around and told stories while the rats ate their fruit loops. It was pretty fun.





Not everybody's mom would be cool with a rat crawling all over them. But mine is, she's just cool like that.

And cute Sydney just watched and wondered at it all.
Then we got tired and went home. It was a fun night. I love seeing everybody, it's so nice.

::nifties::

So I don't know if everybody feels this way but to me, growing up, my grandparents houses were pretty magical places. Like my grandparents in LA had a pool, which was awesome. And that gumball machine I mentioned earlier. And a cookie jar that was always full. And special cereal just for us to eat in the morning. And an orange grove in the yard! It was all pretty special and exciting.

I didn't get a chance to spend too much time at my mom's parents house, but I remember cool things there too, like my grandad's woodshop, and their cool decorations. Their fuzzy wallpaper in the entry hall was so interesting, and I remember them having a closet full of kid's books, although my mom claims that never existed. I also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory there for the first time. Good associations.

Grandparent's houses are cool places no matter what. They're just fun. But my mom has gone to a lot of trouble to find a bunch of cool exciting things to make her house a super magical grandmother house. Such as this awesome chinese checkers set with big gorgeous marbles.

My mom and max played with this a whole bunch. Max loved it.
And I have to show you a color picture of this set, it's too cool!

Another thing, one that Max is completely in love with now, is this cup.

There's a puppy in it. He's hidden if you're drinking milk, and slowly shows his face as the milk is slurped up. Or he just sticks his head out of the water the whole time you're drinking it. "Dog water!" Max says in delight.

He's been drinking and drinking out of it which is so cute.

The last thing I'll show you now (though there are lots more fun toys and such) is this cool marble tower thing. You put marbles up at the top and give the first one a push.

Then as the first marble goes down the little track it gets dumped into buckets which dump it down to the next level. Kind of hard to explain. But the 2nd marble waits somehow until the 1st is far enough down. It's really cool. The little marbles are very civilized and take turns!

Max calls it a marble party. It's really a neat thing.

I think Max is going to have very special memories of his grandparents' houses out here in Utah. He already has particular things he loves and remembers about each house. It's really fun for me to see.  He's a lucky boy.

::randle family dinner part 1::

My dad's side of the family has been getting together for sunday dinner once a month for a while now. Since I knew I'd be in town over a sunday I asked if they could move the Feb dinner to this last weekend so I could come. And they did!

It was at my Aunt Gigi's house. Her family has lived in UT for quite a while, and I hadn't yet had the chance to see their new house. Visits are always so busy. So it was fun to get to go and see the house, and my aunt uncle and cousins.

Gigi.

Cute cousins Alexis and Sydney.

Maggie the dog.

Gigi & Jim's house is fun because there's all sorts of stuff in there that reminds me of my dad's parents. Like their gumball machine. There was a gumball machine at Grandma's house in LA for as long as I can remember. They had a swimming pool, and my dad would bribe us with gumballs if we could do jumps and swimming. The ultimate prize was an ice cream cone covered in gumballs. That was only if we dove off the diving board. I don't think I ever got one.

Gigi's gumball machine is brass, grandmas was red. Different, but as max would say, still very "similar." And very nostalgic to me. So much so that I had to chew a few gumballs. They made my mouth fuzzy.

Dinner was yummy. But the company was the best part.

(my mom and dad--mom doesn't like this photo because she's eating. But I like it!)

(my brother, his wife and baby)

(my cute sister)

(aunt les and cousin clay)
Aunt Leslie made delicious and killer rich cake balls. Not only were they delicious, but they were very aesthetically pleasing too.

It was fun for me just to go around and take pictures of everybody. I can't help it, it's just what I do. And here's my favorite of the evening. It's just so Clay.

A little more of this fun stuff later.

::where we are::

So Max and I are "out of town." As some of you might guess we're in Utah visiting family!
Being here is so nice. Two regrets though. Number one and biggest is that Kris is still at home working. Boo. We miss him! But he's coming to meet us soon, so we're just trying to hold out until he gets here.
Number two is that I know I won't be able to see everybody I want to out here. So sorry in advance friends if I don't make it to you. There's just never enough time. It stinks!

So we've been doing some of this:

(this is Max's best friend Robbie the robot. He lives at the Hendricks and vacuums the floors when Max isn't around)

we've been enjoying similar tastes:

(Max's guitar shirt, Grandpa Ken's guitar shirt. They think they're pretty cool.)

Hanging out with some of these:





(Charlotte always seems to put herself and her chin/nose/face in compromising positions with little boys in her lap. Here she is getting bonked in the chin by mr. Scooter. I have some pictures of her getting accidentally punched in the nose by Max last summer when he was in her lap. I wonder if she'll ever learn?)

We've spent some time with some fuzzy things such as this:

and this:


We're eating yummy food and having a super time. More details to come hopefully so we can keep Kris posted until he can make it out here to join us.
After he comes he and I will be taking a road trip to Northern CA and down the coast to scout out possible moving places for when we get done in RI. We've gotta be educated on all our options. Max is staying here with all the grandparents. It should be fun.

(can you see Skye singing in the background of this photo?)