Birthday all year long

Astrid has been talking about & planing her birthday constantly since her last one in April. She talks about where it's going to be, creates her list of invitees, and all the details. At first she didn't understand why everyday couldn't be her birthday. I tried to explain to her it's because a birthday celebrates the one day you were born & everyone has just 1 birthday which is celebrated once each year.

I've never seen any kid so obsessed about having a birthday party. I can understand after the birthday party being excited and wanted to talk about it. Or when your birthday gets close to want to start planning. But she has been planning her next birthday the day after her birthday and it has continued throughout an entire year.

"What are we going to do for my next birthday mom? Who can we invite? What kind of birthday cake should I get?"

It's kind of sweet in that I know we've created a very special day for her that she loves & gets excited talking about all year long. And looks forward to all year long. All her friends can come, they play, have cake, decorations just for her party, and everyone sings happy birthday to her. I even come to the school with cupcakes so her class can sing happy birthday & celebrate with her. And sometimes when her actual birthday falls on weekday, U. & I take her out to a restaurant for dinner.

All of this constant birthday chatter has made me look forward to the day too esp. when the date gets closer, and keeps me on my toes thinking about all the details...place, theme, goodie bags, cake, balloons, games, food, face painting.

For Astrid's 1st birthday we had a traditional Korean 1st birthday at our house & Astrid, myself & my mom were dressed in Korean Hamboks (traditional Korean dresses).

Birthday #2 - We celebrated her birthday at home with the family. Astrid & I baked a bran muffin in birthday cupcake wrappers & she got to blow out her candle and eat her muffin. U. surprised Astrid by blowing up a bunch of balloons to fill up the upstairs room just for her.

Birthday #3 - We had her birthday party at Peekaboo Playland (indoor & outdoor playground) & the theme was the circus. So much fun playing in the bouncy house with slide, dress up & coordinator to setup & cleanup.

Birthday #4 - We had her birthday party at Amy's Playground (indoor playground) & the theme was Hello Kitty. The kids had a blast running around and playing & we had a face painter there who painted a Hello Kitty on Astrid's cheek. This time I dressed Astrid in Hello Kitty socks & tiara.

Birthday #5 - Coming up in April - at the new Peekaboo Playland location on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. www.peekabooplayland.com. Theme will be butterflies.

So now her birthday is coming up in a little over 2 months - and this year I've already made all the arrangements. Astrid wants to have it at Peekaboo Playland, and since they moved to their new location it'll be extra fun for her. Same setup, but new location with more things to do.

I decided that this year I would rather pay a little more and have Peekaboo Playland take care of the goodie bags for the children, print up invitation flyers for me (rather than having to hand write them out for all her classmates in preschool), provide the plates (real plates with lady bug, monkey, elephants on them that they wash afterwards - more green earth friendly), utensils, tablecloths, food, juice & balloons. And again this year we are going to have face painting. New this year will be musical chairs, limbo & parachute games. I paid for an extra hour (3 hours total) since Astrid is a little older now & the kids need more time to play.

The only thing I need to do is buy the cake (and buy drinks for the adults). We went to our local bakery in Eagle Rock (Ruby's bakery) and picked out a cake - One with a rainbow & butterflies. Very whimsical & kid appropriate (without Disney commercial junk). So the theme this year will be "butterflies". I even picked out some really cool, big mylar butterfly balloons from Balloon Emporium.

When I tried to place my cake order at the bakery & put down a deposit - the lady behind the counter looked at me and chuckled and said it was WAY too early.

My kid is rubbing off on me! But at least we're all set & pretty much all the details are taken care of and my kid will have another great birthday this year. The most important thing is that she's surrounded by her friends and family who love & adore her.

A day at the Circus

The circus is in town & we were there! Circus Vargas 2009.
They had a pre-show for kids. Allowed them to come down to the main ring and showed them how to do circus acts - like this balancing act with a Peacock feather. The ringleader told the kids that the trick was to look at the top of the feather while balancing it on their noses.

There were even kids in the show - children of the circus performers. Astrid kept asking me about them. Why they were performing, and why we saw them at the refreshment stand. And where they slept and went to school. Hope she didn't get any ideas about running away and joining the circus.
Under the big top, enjoying her snowcone in a raver cup with blinking lights. Fascinated by that cup. It is pretty cool.

Astrid's first time under the big top. (Only other time she saw a semi-circus was at Circus Circus.)
I mentioned before that Astrid is scared of clowns. So the whole time Astrid kept asking me where the clowns were. Until she saw this clown performing with the show doggies and kitty cats.

"Is he a clown mom?" she asked. "Oh, I'm not scared of clowns anymore mom! I like clowns!" she exclaimed.

She even liked this clown. He was equipped with a whistle and Astrid kept asking me what he was saying. I had to explain to her that he wasn't "saying" anything. That he was using his whistle and body movements to mean different things - like "Good job!" when he gave the thumbs up and a whistle.

During the 15 minute circus intermission Astrid went on a pony ride.

Trained Arabian horses and ponies.

Motorcycles zooming around inside a globe. This act always scares me. First one motorcycle zooming around inside, then two motorcycles, then two motorcycles and a woman standing in the middle. I have a hard time watching and I'm so relieved when it's over and everyone is okay.

Astrid was so proud of herself having overcome her fear of clowns. Although at the end when all of the performers were standing at the exit to greet and take pictures with the visitors - she flat out told me she liked the clown but did NOT want to take a picture with him. Oh well, at least it's a step in the right direction.

Astrid and I had a great time. The best part for her I think was the pre-show kid activities. I loved the Arabian horses & ponies. So well trained and the trainer was very kind and sweet with the horses. At the end of the show the one horse even bent his knee and bowed. Wow. I felt like a kid again sitting under the big top with my kid. Definitely worth the drive out to Simi Valley, and a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Strawberry Festival in Oxnard, CA

Astrid and I went to the 26th Annual Strawberry Festival in Oxnard today.

It takes place one weekend only every year in May when the strawberries are harvested. Last year they had 60,000 visitors and this year they're expecting even more.

Click here for more info.

Here we built our own strawberry shortcake.Astrid and I sitting on a bale of hay with our strawberry shortcake.Choo choo train time.
A perk about the festival is that kids 4 years and under are free.And they have a number of activities for kids. Including a magic show, clown show, music, and face painting.

(Although Astrid is still afraid of clowns. No matter how much she says to the contrary that she's not afraid of clowns anymore - the moment she sees one she runs in the opposite direction. I don't know what it is that's so scary. Maybe just a face that's painted. I was thinking about taking her to the circus tomorrow. Circus Vargas is in town, but I told her if she's afraid of clowns we can't go because there will be lots of clowns there. Astrid assured me she'll be fine and she's not afraid. We'll see.)My little strawberry. Astrid thought it was hilarious that the strawberry on her shirt was wearing socks and shoes.

Taking a ride on the merry go round.Expect long lines, but once it's your turn you tend to forget how long you had to wait.All of the rides inside the festival are free.

U. is in Austin, TX for a conference so he wasn't able to join us. Next year though if we can all go as a family I'd like to try the strawberry champagne and strawberry beer. One of us can stand in line while the other goes with Astrid on a ride. =)

Birthday Party for Astrid #3

Astrid turned 3 on Saturday, and we celebrated 3 days in a row (Friday at preschool, Saturday just with our nuclear family, and then today's big birthday bash with lots of Astrid's friends). This year we made arrangements months ahead of time to have Astrid's birthday party at Peekaboo Playland, Astrid's favorite indoor playground in Eagle Rock. Peekaboo Playland is only open to the public during the week, and on the weekends it's reserved for private parties. It's the perfect spot to have a kid's birthday and they have staff on hand to help you set up, decorate, and clean up. When we arrived we saw that they had put out a sign on the front lawn with "Happy Birthday Astrid" written on a chalkboard, and colored balloons attached. A really nice touch. And since it's located in a craftsman-style house, and tucked behind a Chiropractic office that rents out the front of the house, the sign made it easy for everyone to find. Having fun on the slide attached to the indoor bouncy house.
Wheeeee!...the girls having fun going down the slide backwards.

Here comes the birthday girl!
Peekaboo Playland only allows up to 15 kids, and I thought that wouldn't be a problem, but as we got closer to the date and more and more kids were RSVP'ing - I found myself in a bit of a predicament - as I found out that Astrid has way more than 15 friends that wanted to come - from gymnastics class, dance class, preschool, and family friends. What I ended up doing was not inviting all her friends at school - but only her small class. The day of the party I was still getting last minute RSVP's so I ended up running out to the store that morning and buying more goodie bags - and we ended up having more than 15 kids there, but it turned out just fine. I'm happy to report that the party police didn't come and shut us down. =)
Kids can run amok around Peekaboo Playland and since there's padding all around it's safe. There's nothing dangerous there that your kids can get into. And it's one big room, so you can keep an eye on your kid from wherever you're sitting or standing. The owner has a small child a little younger than Astrid (and a newborn) so it has a toddler mom's touch.

Having fun in the ball pit.

The girls got into the costume chest and were playing dress up. These 3 girls are from Astrid's preschool (Olivia, Alicia, and Lilly - Olivia and Lilly are sisters).

Olivia was a godsend when Astrid first started preschool. Being the older sister , she was used to caring for her younger sister - and being a year older than Astrid, she acted as a mother hen to Astrid when I would drop her off at school. She would take Astrid by the hand and show her around and really made her feel welcome at school. She was Astrid's first school friend.

Normally Astrid isn't into dress up and she's definitely not into Princesses, but because she saw the other girls doing it - she had to wear a Princess dress as well.Twirling around telling everyone she was a Princess. She is our princess.The pink frilly dress didn't stop her from playing just as hard.

When I was deciding what to dress Astrid in - Astrid wanted to wear her pretty blue dress - but I opted for a more practical outfit (pants and shirt) so she could crawl and climb and it wouldn't get in her way of playing. But here she is wearing a dress over her clothes - and she's still doing all the things that she was when she had just the pants on.I love this photo of Astrid zooming down the slide - looking so happy.All the adults standing around chatting, drinking mimosas while watching the kids and cracking up at their antics.It's even more fun going down the slide with a ball, and a classmate who's going down head first. That's her classmate Atash.

Recently Astrid's preschool was closed for 1 week for Spring break, and we went to a sister preschool that was available for daycare during that week. By that time Astrid was used to going to school - but in an unfamiliar environment she reverted back to crying and latching onto me. Thank goodness she saw a familiar face - Atash who was also there for the week. As soon as she saw him all was okay and she sat down and started playing with the Duplo legos on a rug with him.More dress up fun. These 2 girls are from Astrid's dance class. Too cute. Cinderella trying on her pink slipper while downing an organic kid's milk.
Some of her friends had younger siblings like this one - here playing with balls.

You can see the cubby holes in the background to hold everyone's shoes - it's a shoe-free environment - and they keep the playground very clean. There's also a puppet theater. This little girl is from Astrid's dance class.
You can see the big banner hanging on the wall that says "Happy Birthday Astrid!"Peekaboo Playland also has an outdoor play area, with swings and play houses, slides, and a maze. In the summer they have pools and water fun. Now that I'm working, this is the first time we've been back, since they have private parties on the weekends - so it's not open to the public. Another working mom at the party lives in Eagle Rock and she was delighted to be here to check it out for the first time. For those same reasons, it was also U.'s first time here.In the kid swing it looks like Astrid is wearing a pink tutu.She loves the swings and will shout, "Higher!...Higher!"Papa and the birthday girl.Trying to ride the big bike.More swinging fun.
Our happy birthday girl.
Kids kids everywhere!
Moms having a chat. This is the first time I've seen some of the moms that I used to see on a weekly basis when I was a stay at home mom with Astrid.
As I was taking the cake out of the box it slipped and fell - first onto my leg and then on the ground. Just as U. was asking me a question - I said, "I dropped the cake" - he saw it lying upside down splat on the kitchen floor - and immediately said, "I'll go to the store and get another one!" Luckily the bakery we used is just down the street so he got another cake - had them write "Happy Birthday Astrid" on it - and I rinsed off the circus cake topping from the original cake - and we were good to go. Astrid wearing her special birthday hat.It was so cute to see all the kids wearing party hats. I even wore one for a bit. One kid asked me why Astrid got to wear a special hat and I told him because she's the birthday girl. He thought about it and said, "I never get to wear a special hat on my birthday." Sorry dude.
Mama and birthday girl.
I can't believe my daughter is already 3 years old! That old saying is really true - when you have a kid you have the longest days and the shortest years. They turned out the lights and we all sang happy birthday to Astrid. She's fascinated by the big 3 candle lit on top of her birthday cake.
Papa saved the day by getting this replacement cake. It was delicious by the way with really light whipped cream frosting and strawberries. Other than the flower, you couldn't tell it wasn't the original cake.
Astrid licking the frosting off a strawberry.
All the kids wanted to touch the cake and so shortly afterwards the staff whisked the cake away to cut it in the kitchen, and then brought out individually sliced pieces of cake on plates for us.
The girls looking at the boys going "Bad boys. You're not supposed to touch the birthday cake." Astrid looks aghast here that the boys were ruining her cake. I just thought it was funny - kids being kids. One kid pulled out one of the balloon cake toppers - but here you can see the circus themed cake with the multi-colored choo choo train (that one of the boys pushed deeper into the frosting as he tried to make it move across the cake), balloons, and a clown.

Since this was only the 2nd time we've allowed Astrid to have any cake I thought she'd be all over it, but interestingly enough she just ate the strawberries and just a couple small bites of cake and she was done. She was more interested in playing with the animal puppet and pretending that it was biting mommy's arm.

Us adults having some fun in the bouncy house. That's Jill (Astrid's Godmother - who took all these beautiful photos) and I. Jill's husband Bill took this photo. Aside from being fun it's always great exercise.
The perfect ratio of 3 adults and 3 kids inside the bouncy house.
Jill tickling Astrid.

After our 2 hours were up the staff let everyone know it was time to go home - and Astrid handed out goodie bags to all her friends as I tried to coach her to say thank you to everyone. Astrid had such a great time (and U. even admitted that he could have stayed for another 2 hours) that she started crying at the end because she didn't want her birthday party to end.

Thank you to everyone who came and made Astrid's 3rd birthday so memorable. And a great big hug and thank you to Jill who took all these beautiful photos.