Birthdaypalooza 2010: Photo Essay.

Whew! What a weekend. Correction - what a fantastic weekend!! I couldn't have asked for a better Birthdaypalooza than this one. It was three days of fun (and now I'll need three days to recover). Friday (Cam and my birthday) started out super lovely with Scott taking the day off to shuttle the kids to and fro for me. I got to relax all morning, drink my coffee in peace, take a leisurely shower...seriously, I was happy with that, but it got better.

After I dropped Cam's princess flavoured cupcakes off at daycare for her birthday celebration, I went to pick out a bathing suit for myself (the gift I requested from Scott's parents). They have a kick ass pool and up until now, I didn't have a bathing suit I wanted to be seen in). This had the potential of ruining my day.

I had no idea there were so many bathing suits with animal prints:Seriously. Like I need someone to help someone compare me to a large four legged creature while I am walking around in spandex: I waffled between a black one piece and this cute pink and brown tankini. I decided that on my 35th birthday I should a) have some fun and b) buy my 1st two piece bathing suit ever (purely functional = easier to pee in). Yeah, that's me in the change room (don't get too excited):
I got home from the mall, ate the tasty Thai food lunch I picked up for myself (with a glass of Pinot Grigio to wet my whistle) and moments later my oldest friend and honourary sister Jennifer appeared. And then a surprise gift from my mom appeared (who doesn't love a Hello Kitty themed fruit basket?!!).
Jennifer and I went shoe shopping (I bought myself a pair of mephisto sandals) and then hit the spa where I had a crazy massage that involved wearing disposable panties (a 1st!), getting exfoliated and rubbed down with mud from head to toe, and wrapped in foil blanket while I had a scalp massage. Then I got into a tub with a 100 jets (woo!!) and once I was all cleaned up, I had a Swedish massage. Yay me. Jennifer met me after that and we had a manicure and pedicure. Not too shabby, eh?

We got home to find Scott feeding the kids dinner (I could get used to this!!). Jennifer gave the kids their birthday presents, which included a stuffed unicorn and elephant by Meeka's Creations along with new books. Cam named her unicorn "Charlie". Before bed Max, Cam, Jennifer, and I played the Honey Bee game for a while. We also played another game that involved catapulting monkeys into a wobbly tree. Cam was way better at it then the rest of us. Go figure.On Saturday morning, I got up and went to part one of a sewing class on machine quilting at the Oakville Sewing Centre (a birthday gift from my mom). More on that later as it deserves its own post. I will tip my hand and say it was A LOT of fun, and yes, I was the baby of the group at 35 years young (hah).

I returned home in time to help get the house ready for the Birthdaypalooza Party. Max was busy showing his Aunt Jenny that he has sorted out the whole flying business:
Aunt Jenny (the official Birthdaypalooza Photographer) also took this picture of Max and Cam being super friggin' cute while I was at my quilting class. This is my new favourite picture of them together. I love that Max is touching Cam with both his hands (or maybe he's getting ready to pinch her??):
I opted to go with a cupcake platter instead of birthday cakes like last year. While the whole blowing the candles out might have been a good moment to get a picture of, I find the business of herding everyone together to surround young children to sing a crazy song all loud and out of tune while you present them with a flaming dessert to be a bit stressful. My goal for this party was that I just wanted Max and Cam to have fun and for Scott and me to not get too stressed out. So ix-nay on the candles and singing.Cam LOVED the cupcakes (the Prince ones were her favourite): I'm not sure who Cameron is looking at in this picture, but I have a feeling they are teasing her about her cupcake consumption. I don't think she cares what this person thinks:
Max enjoyed hanging out in his new playhouse. I think his friend Charlotte was in with him at this point (he's looking at his Aunt Jenny as if to say "hey, you're cramping my style...."):
Our friends Jenn and Dave brought their son Jack to the party:
They also brought the wonderful Emma. In this picture Dave is explaining to her that "no, their backyard isn't overgrown with weeds, this is called "English Garden Style". Clearly she isn't buying it:
Our friend David brought his son Kai out to O-town for the party. I hear tell that Kai is skipping kindergarten and going straight into the NBA (take THAT David Stern!):
Aunt Jenny passed her camera to someone else to get a picture of her and the super cute Ronan:
Ronan's big sis Charlotte (future brainiac and super model) had an amazing time partying with all the kids:
Our 3rd friend named Jenn had to rescue her beer from her son Maddox (the very child I witnessed being born):
And at the end of the party, when most of our guests had cleared out, Scott entertained Max, Cam, and Maddox's big sisters Maya and Hannah, up in Max's room.
On Sunday morning Jennifer and I headed to the mall for a bit of girl time (SHOPPING), and then she headed back to Ottawa. I put Cameron down for a nap and when I went in to get her up I found her sound asleep on the floor!! Guess who figured out how to launch herself out of her crib? Guess who moved into her big-girl-bed tonight? Here she is giving it a test drive after I took her crib apart:
And here she is sound asleep tonight (after a bit of complaining). I was thinking we'd wait until the Fall to move her out of her crib, but like Max she had other plans. Interesting that she made the big move only 5 weeks before he did!:
I'm happy and pooped and ready for bed. Thank you to everyone who made this is a terrific Birthdaypalooza. I am truly blessed to have so much love in my life.