The nest emptied for a night

We had no children at our house last night.

None.

For the first time. Ever.

AJ was invited to his friend Gino's cabin. We'd arranged for Sydney to have her friend Elizabeth sleep over. Then, at the last minute, Elizabeth's mom offered to host Sydney instead, freeing up Jeff and I for a date night.

But it was more than a date night, because we came home to an empty house.

Did I mention, this was the first time ever?

I was seven months pregnant with AJ when we moved into this house. Over the years, thanks to family members and babysitters, we've had nights to ourselves. But never at our house. This was the first time in eight and a half years

As far as dates go, we could have made better choices. After selecting World War Z, Jeff is once again banned from choosing the movies we will see. "It's got Brad Pitt," he told me. "Action Thriller" is how one review described it.

No. No. No.

It's a horror movie. About a zombie apocalypse.

I hate horror movies. I spent as much time staring at Jeff's shoulder as I did watching the movie.

Jeff, by the way, thought the movie was soooo unrealistic. Not the part about zombies attacking the world, but when Brad Pitt set off to save the world, he was flying in a plane that took off from an aircraft carrier, and there's just no way a plane that big could take off from an aircraft carrier.

This was just not a good movie for setting a romantic tone for the evening.

And so after that, because we didn't need to rush home, we headed to the casino to play some blackjack.

We are now a little bit poorer than when we started out.

But we got to spend the night together without dealing with bedtime stall tactics. And we got to stay up as late as wanted to without worrying that a child would wake up before we were ready. Never mind that my body decided to wake up at 5:30 this morning. I finished reading a book and went back to sleep.

Because I could.

The kids are now home. It was good to be able to hug them. Especially after seeing the world almost overtaken by zombies last night.

I missed them. And they both said they missed me. But the time alone with Jeff sure was nice while it lasted. And hopefully we won't have to wait another eight years to do it again. Because if last night was the best we could do for a date, we clearly need more practice.

Digging in

Our winter home-away-from-home is no more. The Esko Hockey Shack has been torn down.

But it's a good thing. Construction has finally started on the new sports complex that's funded by the referendum I'd help campaign for last fall. (This is one of those posts about something that happened a couple weeks ago that I'm just getting around to write about. The groundbreaking took place nearly two weeks ago on June 20.)

The timing of the event, by coincidence, was pretty cool: one year to the day that flood waters covered this exact spot. What we did not appreciate was the similarity in the weather. It rained all day, making us wonder if we'd have to cancel the event. And then, wonderfully, about 15 minutes before we were scheduled to break round, the rain stopped and a little bit of sun even managed to peak through the clouds. 

Show time!

It was not the most organized event. We had the people, the shovels and the proud feeling of accomplishment. But no one had really thought about one key detail - where we should dig.

Jeff suggested the parking lot, which was already muddy. But someone else suggested we should dig where the new football field and track will be, since that's the biggest part of the project and the first phase to be started.

And so up a hill through long, wet grass we trudged.

And then we shifted around a bit at the recommendation of a photographer who'd shown up. 

At last we were ready. I haven't been part of that many groundbreakings, but usually somebody says at least a few words of thanks or something inspirational to mark the historic moment. But not at this one. About all that was said, which was directed to the photographer, was, "So, is this a good spot?" 

The photographer seemed to focus in on Sydney as the cutest option for a photo. He directed her to throw the first scoop. Unfortunately, the grass and roots were so thick and the clay was so hard she couldn't get her shovel to go through it. And so I stepped in to help. 

Wearing flip flops. 

Bare toes in close proximity to a bunch of people attempting to jab metal shovels into the hard earth. Another well thought out part of the event.

Jeff came to the rescue, and at last Sydney had some dirt to toss.

1...2...3... the dirt went airborne. Hooray!

And then another TV station showed up, so we did it all again.

We stuck around long enough for AJ and I to be interviewed by the local NBC affiliate. Then we took off for Sydney's birthday dinner. As we were reaching the car, I spotted a third TV news photographer (from my former employer) finally showing up. And that night on the news, that station aired video of more dirt being tossed, so clearly, the rest of the group re-created the magic moment yet again after we'd left.

Nearly two weeks later, a lot more dirt has been moved. Work is well underway and is expected to be done in time for the fall and winter sports seasons. And even though nobody said anything powerful and poignant at the groundbreaking, I hope my kids remember 30 years from now and point out to their own kids that way back when, they were part of this. And it was important. And it was cool.

Under seige

Sydney stayed overnight at her friend Elizabeth's house a few nights ago. That same night, AJ had two friends, Noah and Jordan, stay at our house. I heard stories the next day of the girls playing dolls and dress up. At their wildest, they played hide-and-seek.

Meanwhile, at my house, the boys were strategizing for war.

They had the gear and the weapons, and even attempted to recruit a K-9 (without much success).

All they needed was an enemy. But this other, bigger boy was late showing up, which messed up their carefully strategized plan for an ambush. At last he showed his evil self, and the battle was on.

The troops fought hard, but when it was done, agreed to pose.

Show me your mean face:

Oh, yeah, it's all good.

At least he doesn't want to keep them

AJ had a couple friends stay overnight about a week ago. They were having a great time playing in the yard, and then the next thing I knew, one of the boys, Noah, was proudly showing off a rather large frog he'd captured from a nearby pond. 

Suddenly, catching frogs was all that AJ wanted to do. I wanted to blame this all on Noah, (And, yes, I realize there are far worse ways he could influence my son.) but then Jeff casually mentioned that he was the one who'd suggested the boys go searching for the frog.

Way to go, Dad!

Within a relatively short amount of time, the boys were asking for help scavenging through the garage in search of frog hunting equipment - a net (after they finally conceded that AJ's toy robot claw was not the best choice in gear) and an empty flower pot (it was the best I could come up with) with a make-do lid.

The boys were far more successful than I could have hoped in their quest for frogs. They thought it was pretty cool that the giant critters were coming from the same pond where AJ had released his tadpoles just a few weeks earlier. Surely that meant these were the tadpoles all grown up. In just a couple weeks.

Later that day, Noah went home and family members arrived for Sydney's birthday party. The frogs were quite a hit!

And AJ was very proud to show them off. They were big enough to hop out of the flower pot any time the lid was removed. No worries. AJ just scooped them up again with the net.

Sydney did not share her brother's enthusiasm for the frogs, though at the same time, she was fascinated by them. Until they hopped out. (And no, there was no chance she'd kiss one to see if it turned into Prince Charming.)

Here's a look at one of them, next to AJ's hand for a size comparison.

Thankfully, AJ did not form a particular attachment to the frogs. When I suggested he let them go at the end of the day, he was fine with that. It was Sydney, bizarrely enough considering she didn't want to touch them, who thought we should keep them as pets.

And so AJ headed back to the pond where he let them go.

And then he moved along. In search of more frogs.

Knowing that he's willing to go with a catch and release approach, I think this has turned into a great summertime activity. It just seems like one of those simple things that all kids should do - a rite of passage as part of their childhood. No electricity or technology required. Instead, they only need their imaginations and a desire for adventure.

The Barbie cake

Disclaimer: no Barbies were harmed in the making of this blog post. Or in the making of the cake.

Sydney wanted a Barbie-themed birthday this year. And so, as any good mom would do, I checked out the sheet cake options at our local grocery store's bakery. But no luck. Apparently Barbie isn't one of the licensed characters they're allowed to reproduce.

So then I thought about cupcakes, figuring I could buy Barbie rings to stick in each of them. But again, on short notice (i.e. no time to buy online) I struck out. It was right about the time I was staring at the lack of Barbie party favors in the party supply row at Target that it hit me.

Duh!

If Sydney wants a Barbie cake, I'll make her a REAL Barbie cake.

All I needed was a victim. And Target had plenty of those.

Sydney was quite excited to see the Barbie on the counter. Until I told her she couldn't play with it because it was for her cake.

"You're not putting my Barbie on my cake," she told me with conviction.

"That's right," I assured her before throwing the curveball, "I'm putting Barbie IN your cake."

Sydney looked horrified, so I googled "Barbie cake" and showed her some examples. 

I shouldn't have done that.

Talk about setting the bar impossibly high! Sydney was fascinated as she clicked through the expertly decorated examples of fondant- and frosting rose-covered doll cakes.

The morning of her party, I started baking cakes. Pampered Chef offers a recipe using one of their mixing bowls, which I have. But it requires baking two cakes, each for an hour and 15 minutes. I'm not that patient. Reading the recipe, I saw that you only use the bottom half of the second cake, to give it enough height. 

I decided to improvise. Looking at the cake mix box, it listed options for two 9" round cakes or 24 cupcakes. Perfect, I thought. I'll bake one 9" round for the bottom of the cake, and then make 12 cupcakes, which are easier to serve, anyway.

Problem: a nine-inch round cake is only about an inch tall. Which means, when you stack the pampered chef bowl cake on top of it and then stick Barbie in the middle, the cake only reaches her mid-thigh.

Improvising again, I cut off the excess width from the round cake, and started piecing it together around Barbie's hips, using frosting to hold it all in place.

It was right about that time Jeff walked by and said, "That looks really good, Hon."

No it doesn't! It looked horrible, and now I'm questioning what I really looked like on all those occasions when he's sweetly told me that I look really good.

But the nice thing, I quickly discovered, about making a Barbie cake is that what matters most is the frosting. And so if something isn't working/looking right, you just add more frosting. And I've never heard a kid complain about a cake with too much frosting.

Ta dah! The finished product. In all its frosted glory:

It was by no means good, but I've seen far worse. I let Sydney frost the cupcakes, to which we added homemade Barbie decorations. (Thanks, Pinterest!) Rather than stick candles in the cake and risk setting the doll's hair aflame, we used a corner cupcake.

The moment of truth:

Success!

And now she wants me to make another one for her party for her friends next weekend. Should be a piece of cake.

Party time

This has been one of the most hectic weeks of my life. Highlights include a birthday party and Father's Day celebrations last weekend, two large media events at work, with a significant communications crisis thrown in for good measure, three nights of kids' sporting events, a groundbreaking for our community's new sports facilities and a birthday celebration for Sydney on the big day. (And let's not forget about a little thing called a half-marathon tomorrow, followed by an out of town trip for an extended family gathering.)

But despite heavy rains overnight (that fell eerily on the anniversary of last year's flood) my basement is dry. I'm counting my blessings.

One of those blessings, of course, is my amazing six year old.

The birthday celebrations began, as mentioned last Saturday with family and gifts. AJ happily volunteered to help Sydney read her cards, until I reminded both kids that Sydney (with a little help) probably could do that herself now.

Cousin Zane was excited to show Sydney the present he'd help pick out. He also helpfully explained, as Sydney looked at the birthday card, which included small stickers, "My dad says girls like to put stickers like that on their toe nails."

New Lego girls sets, clothes for her favorite doll and for her, and fun gear to help in the kitchen. What a perfect day!

And there was cake (the story of the Barbie doll cake will have to wait for another day.)

Of course, the big day was actually yesterday. I felt bad leaving for work in the morning while my birthday girl was still sleeping, but figured Sydney, who is not a morning person, probably wouldn't appreciate being woken up just for a birthday greeting. I did tell the babysitter to feel free to spoil her for me. When I got home last night, Sydney asked, "Is it my birthday today?"

"It is," I confirmed. "You've been six ALL DAY."

Oh, boy, did that make her smile.

A plus side to the heavy rain yesterday was that AJ's baseball game was cancelled, which freed us up to go out to dinner. Sydney, who loves Texas Roadhouse and dancing with the servers there, totally shocked me by choosing instead the Osaka Grill for her birthday meal.

Apparently she felt a need to prove her new-found bravery now that she's six. The hibachi grill cooks, as part of the show, send flames high into the air, which usually sends Sydney diving under the table in fear.

But now she's six, so, oh yeah, she can handle it.

Or maybe not.

The look of relief on her face when it was done was awesome. She'd done it! And that left only good things to come: eating (she loves the food!) and the disco ball. The restaurant flashes brightly colored lights while piping in the happy birthday song and presenting the celebrant with a dough-wrapped ice cream treat.

Oh, yeah, It's all good!

When we got home, we let her open the gifts we'd gotten here. But the party hasn't stopped yet. Sydney's been saying for weeks that she wants breakfast in bed for her birthday. So if she ever decides to wake up (I told you she's not a  morning person), I'll be putting together something for her. Plus, she's still got a party for friends - we'll be rollerskating - next weekend.

Lucky #6

It was her number in hockey and now baseball. And now it's her age. My baby. Is six years old.

And she's certainly not a baby any more. She made that clear last night, getting a solid base hit. (And based on the photo, she apparently did it with her eyes closed.)

Later that evening, she performed a bit of a water ballet in the front yard. Again with eyes closed at point of impact.

And now that I look back at other memorable photos from recent days, including when AJ tried showing her and Grandma Elouise the frogs he'd been catching... well, the pattern continues.

She may close her eyes at key times, but she sure doesn't miss a thing. And she's definitely opened my eyes. Being with Sydney, it's impossible not to notice the simple joys of life, the beauty that's all around us, and the power of a sincere smile and compliment. Because Sydney notices and points these things out. And as competitive as she is, especially with her brother, she's always the first to remind, "the most important thing is to have fun!"

She is happy and confident and fun. And now she is six. How blessed I am that she's my daughter.