1. Josh and Amy are moving to San Diego, so we got together at Tim and Meghana's house for a goodbye brunch at the beginning of February. Seems like so long ago!
2. Valentine's morning!
3. Playing games at a pack meeting and hosting the Tiger Den at our house, both in February.
4. First swim on March 1, after Rory's party. Nopsi turned the hot tub on because the big pool was still quite chilly. But that didn't stop Rory from finding out for himself!
5. Pretty azaleas and new growth on one of Nola and Nopsi's trees under a beautiful blue sky.
6. Cousins after school and a group dinner at Bridget and Brian's since Adam and Erin were in town.
7. Rory reading special birthday cards from AD#1 and QP.
8. Family walk to the levee. It was so nice out that I went back out for a longer solo walk an hour later.
9. Social distancing means that we have had to get creative with how we "see" people now. Thank goodness for Facetime, Zoom, and, our latest discovery, Houseparty: we've sung "Happy Birthday" to Claire and to Nicholas, Riley has stolen my phone often so he can "see" his friends, and I've even chatted and played games with my friends on a few occasions. Gotta do whatever we can to stay connected; everyone misses each other so very much.
10. Sleepy Beans and Sprouts!
Heidi and I decided to have a joint birthday party for Brennan and Rory this year. Brennan turned 7 on February 14 and Rory on March 14, so we held the party smack in the middle, on Sunday, March 1.
This was also two days after we returned from our Great Wolf Lodge vacation.
However, we chose to have the party at Surge, so there really wasn't a ton of preparation. Heidi got Chick-Fil-A nuggets and pizza, I picked up chips and mini muffins for snacks, Surge provided drinks and paper products, and we each had a cake. Not too bad. Rory requested another Nola cookie cake, and Kenny and Grandma decorated it, based on a sketch that Rory drew, showing them what he wanted.
The party was in the afternoon, and we arrived at Surge about a half hour before it started. Heidi and I got everything set up (also noticing that we had chosen to wear the same shirt!), and guests started showing up right on time.
After a week off of school for Mardi Gras break, the kids were all very excited to see each other. We had about 15 kids attend, and they all had a blast. They jumped hard for almost 90 minutes, took a break for food, sang "Happy Birthday," and then were back at it until the party was over. So much fun.
A couple of weeks later, on Rory's actual birthday, Kenny, Riley, and I, along with Grandma and Grandpa, took the birthday boy on a surprise trip. We didn't tell him where we were going, which made him very upset, but Kenny was determined to surprise him. However, we went to eat lunch first, and when he broke down crying because he didn't know what the surprise was, I told him. I couldn't stand to see him that miserable on his birthday!
We drove to Baton Rouge, had lunch at the original Chimes near LSU (on their new rooftop patio!), and then went to see Mike the Tiger. We had been promising Rory that we would take him to see the big tiger since last summer, and it never worked out. So we made it happen on his birthday. He was so excited. Mike was in an area where we could see him really well when we got to his enclosure. He was grooming himself for a bit and then promptly fell asleep.
We also gave the boys a mini tour of campus, and they actually rode their bikes for part of the way. We showed them buildings where Kenny and I took classes (Lockett, Allen, CEBA, Williams, etc.), made a pit stop in Middleton Library, walked down the hill by the stadium, visited the Parade Grounds and the Union, and of course went into the bookstore, where they each picked out something: a stuffed Mike the Tiger for Rory and Fawkes the Harry Potter phoenix for Riley.
We decided to pass back by Mike's enclosure before we headed home, to see if he was awake. But the big ol' lug was still sleeping! He sure does give new meaning to the phrase "cat nap."
Rory really wanted to see him playing in the water, but he wasn't in the mood, I suppose. We'll just have to go back one day.
Happiest of birthdays to my Sweetness. We hope you ultimately enjoyed your special day!
