6.6.18 - Mom's actual birthday

I worked in the afternoon but left early to pick up supplies for gluten free chocolate cupcakes. God bless Schnuck's and their entire Gluten Free section making my life so much easier. I went by the Jacksons to get Jack and the girls and stuff for nachos. Clara knows when we put on her shoes that we're going somewhere. She said "Go see Zoey and Malcolm?" I didn't know if the Wolks were coming over because Z & M had been feeling sick the day before, so I told Clara "We're going to see Jama, Ellen, Everett, Abigail, and Myrna!" but she just responded "Go see Zoey and Malcolm?" So I texted Julie to ask and yes, they were going to come over! Yay.

So we headed back to Mom's. She was off work early (5pm) and she happily played with the girls in the living room while Ellen helped me make nachos (one gluten free pan, one regular) and then I also made gluten free chocolate cupcakes (thanks largely to Merlene keeping gluten free dishes for us to use).

We enjoyed the food and Mom sat at the front door showing Clara and Jane the birds outside. Mom has a great setup of bird feeder and bird bath and some kind of distraction (corn on the cob?) for squirrels. Her front yard is lively, and the kids liked it. Although once Clara remembered the basement was there she kept wanting to go down there. I went with her once and she remembered Mom's touch lamp and a few other things from Christmas, and I can't remember if all that is in videos she's seen since or if she's getting old enough to have a longer memory, but I suspect the latter and it's pretty cool. Hopefully it means she'll remember more at Christmas. And in general I like the idea of her getting old enough to remember grandparents' houses between visits and start really anticiapting and enjoying visiting.

Clara was way in the back of the basement following one of the cats around when Julie and her kids arrived. I told Clara Zoey and Malcolm were here and I could see her little head bobbing quickly up and down as she ran past the back white wall to hurry and go see her cousins. I love it.

All the kids played in the living room for a while and then we moved the party outside. It was late enough it wasn't too warm anymore. Julie, Ellen, and I mostly sat around the porch table sipping drinks while Mom got out some soccor balls and things and played with the kids in the yard. I showed Zoey how to use my video camera and she practiced a couple times. Mom got Jane used to walking in the grass--a feat in itself--and Clara and Malcolm practiced throwing the balls as far as they possibly could. At one point Clara threw a ball over the fence, so Zoey ran round to the neighbor's yard to throw it back.

Eventually I went back inside to get the cupcakes, and Zoey helped me with the candles. I was going to just do one candle in a cupcake but Zoey said we needed six because Jama is 60. So then I was going to do one candle each in six cupcakes but Zoey objected. We put six candles in one cupcake, and Zoey made a point of making the swirly candle the tallest because "it's the fanciest." Once Everett and Jack came out we all sang "Happy Birthday," (which Clara seems to be getting used to and not intimidated by) and then enjoyed cupcakes. Mom got some great pics of the four grandkids with chocolate all over their faces.

We cleand up, I left Jane with Jack and Everett, and the rest of us went on a walk up to All Saints. On the way there we played "I spy with my little eye," which Clara has gotten the hang of thanks to practicing with Mom the night before. All the little kids were holding our hands and excitedly pointing out different colors. I was especially touched that Clara loved it and started to understand it. When she said "I spy little eye something that's white" I was excited/impressed.

Up at All Saints the rides for the Parish Picnic this coming weekend are already set up but of course no on was there late on a Wednesday. Clara was really taken with the giant bears and monkeys for one of the spinny rides, and she and Zoey and Malcolm wandered around checking out everything. It was great. She was upset to leave until we started playing "I spy" again, and on the way back we heard bats and saw a lot of fireflies. Zoey even caught one. Such an idyllic midwestern summer night.