Happy Birthday, Little Lady

Rosie's 3!

Oh, yes... it was a day to celebrate. Take a look... and have a bite of the green cake. It was delightful.

Check out my sister's fun day!

Dave, Gayle, and the kids (and Sierra's sweet beau) came for the weekend. Rosie was lucky to have everyone together to celebrate the morning of her birthday. She received a whole family of new Groovy Girl dolls and accessories plus new swimming fins.

Oh, the joys of owning a beach cottage. When company comes... the Little Ladies sleep on mommy and daddy's floor (which I actually don't mind. It's pretty cozy).

Then, we went for a birthday swim

Holy Cow! My sister is 3!

Papa Bordeaux writes the best cards.

The Irvine Spectrum was a perfect place to celebrate....

with a ride on the carousel

a look at the puppies

and a chance to be together.

Then we were off to Red Robin for a Birthday Feast

Danny, the balloon man made Rosie a VERY interesting mermaid.

She was voluptuous, to say the least.

Even Sadie thought so.

Next, "Red" the Robin came around to greet the guests. He freaked Rosie right out. She spent a good part of the next half hour watching for him to be sure he wasn't on his way back to our table. She settled down when Ron promised that Red went home to his house (that he shares with Mickey Mouse, by the way, an equally frightening figure for Rosie).

Happy Birthday to ME!!

The green cake was at Rosie's request. She liked being sung to and blowing out the candles so much that we did it twice.

While the rest of us ate cake, Sadie preferred the wooden doughnut topping from Rosie's new Melissa and Doug doughnut set.

For the grand finale of the night, the new pink bike was revealed. We let Rosie try it out (at night) and she went straight into a bush. It took her a while to warm up to the idea again the next day, but now we're off and running.. I mean riding.

And Now You Are 3

Dearest Rosie,

You are 3! You are my joy. Each year we learn more and more about who you are. You're my active, coordinated, loyal, intelligent, creative, hilarious, clever, scheming, kind little cookie. It's my pleasure in life to be your mommy and watch you experience new things. What a gift you are, Rosie. I love you so very much. Happy Birthday, Rosie Caroline Eckert

Sea Life Expert

On Saturday, Ron and I took Rosie and Sadie to the Sea Life Aquarium at Lego Land. We had intended on taking the girls to the San Diego Zoo, but I came down with a little cold, and in an effort to keep everyone healthy we opted for something a bit more mellow. We had such a fun time together. Such fun. I highly recommend it. The aquarium offers a 10 question- answer-as-you-go- quiz. The attendant at the door assured us of a exiting "prize" for a perfect score. Of course, Ron and my competitive spirits came out and we were checking and double checking our answers along the way. The prize ended up being a sticker that said, "Sea Life Expert" that Rosie proudly wore to our pizza dinner at BJ's. It's a WONDERFUL Life!!

In one of the exhibits, you could stick your head up to get a true view of the fish. Rosie was NOT excited about this... but Ron and I certainly took advantage :)

Sadie prefers the mammal type, thank you very much.

Fun on the Run

On Friday before swim lessons, we were playing with Rosie's friend Zachary, at the park. Suddenly out of nowhere a San Clemente Parks and Recreations van pulls up and starts unloading tons of fun stuff onto the lawn. Rosie stood there in complete awe as the 2 leaders pulled out bin after bin of sports equipment and art supplies and invited Rosie to play. I compare it to the same feeling I would get if suddenly a free mani/pedi truck pulled up outside our house and invited me in.

Pure Joy.

Rosie's friend Zachary took a moment to collect his thoughts at the art table....

but, as you can imagine, Little Miss Muffet dove right in.

I'm so proud of my little town for setting something like this into motion. Each day this truck drives to a different location in San Clemente. Each team has both a Spanish and English speaking leader and their sole purpose in the park is to play with the kids... it's awesome! In a culture where simple play is often neglected and adult interaction and supervision is scarce... San Clemente is making it happen. Yeah, San Clemente. I'm proud of you. We'll be stalking your "Fun on the Run" truck from here on out.