Logan carries them around the house like they're her special flock. Larkin feels somewhat territorial about them since they're from her party. So we've had quite a few sister spats since Saturday about balloons. Thank goodness we have extras we haven't inflated yet.
We lounged around the house all morning recovering from yesterday's festivities. We played in a "tent," (a blanket stretched over our heads), watched TV and ate cereal with Pinky Pie (a My Little Pony doll Larkin got yesterday), and played with the train set, including Cranky the Crane that Larkin also received for her birthday.
We had quite the party this morning for little Miss Larkin at a nearby farm called Crowe's Nest. It was a bit blustery and cold until right after the party ended, of course; but the kids didn't seem to mind too much. We got to pet some snakes, get a milking demonstration, go on a hayride to see some ostriches and bison, eat cupcakes, and walk (or run if you are 4 and on a sugar high) all over the farm seeing alpacas, goats, llamas, javelinas, tortoises, pigs, hawks, owls, another ostrich and some eggs (just laying on the ground around her pen), and even a bobcat. We are all exhausted but in the best kind of way!
Oh, and the purple butterfly wings are courtesy of M.A. Larkin put them on at the beginning of the party and then only answered to "Butterfly" for most of the party.
Larkin, her mom, and Aunt Taylor all took the day off from school to celebrate Larkin's birthday. We went ice skating this afternoon, which was harder than Jessica remembered from skating at the Mall of Memphis as a child. But we laughed a lot and didn't break anything, so it was a success! Larkin opened a few presents this evening and is thrilled with her new Captain Hook and Buccee Lego set from Grandaddy and Nana, her new book from Team Mitchell, her new light - up tennis shoes from her sister, and with Cranky the Crane and Toby from her parents. Tomorrow we will be celebrating at Crowe's Nest Farm in Manor and then hope to set up her new seesaw from M.A. and Jimmy in our backyard. Much fun ahead!
Originally, we had planned to walk the Trail of Lights in Zilker Park tonight until we realized it hasn't actually opened for the season yet. So Plan B was to drive up to The Domain in North Austin to see some light show they have at the top of every hour from 6 to 10 PM or something like that. As it turns out, said light show was in Domain II, while we were in Domain I. True, these Domains are right next to each other, but each is big enough that getting from one section to the other near the kids' bedtime was just too much for us to take on. In attempts to appease the fairly disappointed Larkin, we tried to make a big deal of this large stork statue and of the 40 - foot Christmas tree outside of Macy's. She was only mildly interested in each. Meanwhile, tonight's two fails added with Tuesday evening's missed - tower lighting make me 0 for 3 so far this Christmas season. I blame being too exhausted and scattered to actually read the fine print about anything. Next Christmas season excursion--Saturday evening at the Capitol. I will prevail in forcing my children into experiencing local holiday festivities! 😉 🎄
Don't let the photo fool you. We weren't actually there when the tower lights were turned on, only for the Drumline preamble, which we had to leave immediately after in order to feed the grouchy Larkin. But we DID get to see the lit tower on our way back home after dinner. So between getting this picture taken, hearing the Reagan High School Drumline, and eating kebabs for dinner, the night was a win, despite missing the main event.
Taylor is enrolled in virtual school now, which means she can do her school work virtually anywhere (you see what I did there?) there's Internet access. This week she will be staying with us, and Larkin and Logan couldn't be happier.
Though neither Logan nor Cody have actually ever seen anyone using a real flip phone (except maybe Grandaddy?), they both somehow knew how to use this toy one and enjoyed talking about it today at Grandma and Grandpa's.
