I thought I'd share some pictures and stories from my weekend....
This weekend was my son's birthday. He turned 5 going on 20. Most people mistake him for a year or two older than he actually is as he tends to be a good 4 or 5 inches taller than the kids of the same age. In his heart though, he's a true five year old. He's very inquisitive and wants to know about everything around him. He invited everyone he saw to his birthday. He loves colors and numbers, so when asked what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday it was no surprise he asked for a Candy Land cake.
My wife took to that with joy and came up with the below cake. She spent over two hours decorating it yesterday morning. Good thing Tony and Faith were with Grandma and Grandpa for the night.
It was certainly decadent to say the least, but you should have seen Tony's face. It was priceless. Not only that, but my wife was ecstatic that it came out so well. She definitely out did herself. Her friend kept saying how "over the top" the cake was. You know what, it was and she enjoyed every moment of making it for Tony. The time she put into teh layout, dreaming it up. Picturing it in her mind. She drew a picture on plain white paper before cooking it. She used a Candy Land game board for inspiration. Then found a picture of one in a cake book that her aunt had and that solidified her image. The rest was in the "doing." I'll be translating this whole Be-Do-Have experience over teh ensuing months and years, not only for her, but for myself as well.
The kids (and parents) all had a great time. We swam in the pool, it was C-O-L-D. But look at the picture of Tony and I. Back in July, we were at a party for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. We were in my cousin's pool and Tony loves being thrown. My cousin is much bigger than I am and started throwing Tony over his head, half the length of the pool. Tony just kept coming back for more. So he started diving in head first, doing flips and the like, all unintentional at the time. However, I've told Tony if he wants to do flips all he has to do is tuck his head down when daddy throws him and he'll flip over. Well...
I think he did this one on purpose. For the half dozen or so throws, he kept tucking his head in. He kept diving in, instead of flipping. I think its because of the jacket. The kid is a fish and has no fear with that jacket on. I've taught him to do cannonballs off the diving board and dropping in head first isn't a fear. I'm starting to teach him how to swim in the deeper water now, so it's only a matter of time before he actually flips over on his own.
This is a great picture too....
With all the goodies on the cake, no one could resist picking at it. I think the parents were the "worst." They were the ones saying "Can I have (that)..." Everyone was asking for a specific corner of the cake, the chocolate corner, the peppermint corner. "Those Twizlers look good." I think the best was when one of the girls picked up an ice cream cone thinking it was actually ice cream. She started licking it like it was. It was straight frosting with a cherry on the top. Hey, it's fruit, so its good for you. There wasn't a clean plate or a hard stomach by the time we were done.
And as far as clean plates go, I think this is the best picture of the night...
Around 9PM Suzy came running out of the bedroom saying "The bear is back and is eating the garbage, I have to get the camera." By the time I got to the window, she was gone. So we kept watching and after about ten minutes I figured she was gone for good, so I grabbed a flashlight and headed out to clean up the yard. As I got close to the garbage, I heard a loud:
HHHmmmppphhhhhhhhhhhh
I figured I'd better head back into the house.
No sooner had I gotten inside, she came out of her hiding spot (in the woods behind my yard's fence). She picked up the garbage can with her jaw and flipped it into the air, emptying the contents. She then pulled out each bag and sniffed though them one at a time until she found the bag with the cake remains inside. This picture is one of about twenty that Suzy took from our bedroom window. The bear is about 20 feet from us at this point. I bet she's a good six feet long laying down, likely 300-400 lbs. It was amazing to watch this animal in "REAL LIFE" and not some zoo. I had a flashlight on her while she ate and she kept looking back at us as if to say "hey, I didn't bother you while you were eating...."
This whole experience reminded me of the deer again. The whole circle of life idea. I hit a deer in January, taking it's life and here I am now feeding a bear for it to have another day. I COULD be OVER THINKING the idea though.....?!
I'll see everyone tonight.
