Birthday extravaganza: Part 2

After my dad and Sondra left on Friday, Eric and I got busy in the kitchen. Cooking busy, that is.  Actually, we started getting busy toward the end of their visit because there was a lot to do.  Eric made the cole slaw and started the potato salad while I was at the playground. He put the pork in the crock pot the night before (while I was struggling to get the birthday extravaganza: part 1 pics posted).  I had started the hamburger buns before leaving for the playground, and he rolled them out and cut them while I was gone. Then there was the shortcake to make and the ice cream to prep....I made peach shortcake and peach pie ice cream (my attempt to duplicate Ben & Jerry's Willy Nelson's flavor which is, by far, my favorite).  By the time Friday was over, we were beat, but it was nice to wake up on Saturday and just hang out with our guests rather than have to spend time in the kitchen.

We didn't have a formal present opening thing; Hannah pretty much opened them as people walked in the door.  Grammy was first to arrive, and she brought Hannah a smaller, softer Elmo doll--good for snuggling--and some adjustable roller skates which Hannah is pretty into though she prefers to sit back on them while holding my hands and let me push her along.  She also got her a book, some Dora and Boots paper dolls, and some new socks because I'd called earlier that week and asked her to pick up some more purple socks.  The last pair she got have become Hannah's favorites, and she will not wear any other pair when sleeping, not the white or green or pink. Just purple. Unfortunately they do not come in packs of just purple so we now also have two pairs of pink and green socks which Hannah will not touch.  On the bright side, two pairs of purple socks means they get washed occasionally.

Kim and Jason showed up next with a very cool magnetic dress up doll that Hannah has played with pretty much every day since then.  She's already picked out her favorite outfit and we are not allowed to put the doll in anything else which is a total bummer for me because I want to play too! Sigh.

Before choosing that favorite outfit, she let Grammy help her dress the doll. Lucky Grammy.

The loot piled up on the table! Daddy was pretty into the skates while Grammy stuck to the doll and Hannah just stared on blankly, clearly overwhelmed with her sudden increase in toy choices.

I guess it was all too much because Hannah retreated into the snuggly safety of Kim's arms and stayed that way for an abnormally long time.  Awww!

When Grammy showed up, I said "Hannah, guess who's here??" Her eager response was "Jason??"  Nope. It's Grammy.  But here's Jason!

The carpeted upstairs seemed like a good place to take our first test run on the skates.

My Aunt Pam and Uncle Donny were the next to show up.  They brought Hannah this puzzle with zoo animals that makes the noise of each animal.  The monkey is, hands down, the favorite.  Hannah and I play with that puzzle a lot during meal times but we use the animals like they're dolls and march them around the table and have them talking to each other.  They also got her this magnetic number maze which she does not totally grasp the concept of yet, but she does like to point out the animals, and we are working on learning how to use the magnetic wand thingy.

Chip and Erica and Clay rolled in last with a bag full of tissue paper and this really sweet kitty cat keyboard that Clay picked out for her.  The cool thing about that is the microphone (and also the "meow" setting where each key meows the appropriate note).  Hannah has a much smaller keyboard with a mic, but the mic recently died and she has recently been really interested in using it, so this present was really timely.

Not sure what light that is on Clay's face...I guess a fellow mamarazzi??

After opening her last present, Hannah took Clay upstairs to show him her new bunk beds and bed tent.

Next up on the toddler's agenda: running laps up and down the hallway and in and out of the bedrooms on either end of the hallway while screaming and giggling incessantly.

After working up a good appetite, we all grabbed food and found a seat.  Hannah's favorite part of any bbq is the hamburger bun which is why I opted to make my own.

The post lunch coma...I think Eric took this pic while I was upstairs with the kiddos. (I got new curtains last week!)

Said kiddos went straight from lunch to jumping on the bed and then rolling around in it. Clay is blurry in every single picture because he does not hold still for longer than a second at a time...

I finished up the desserts then, stuck a candle in some whip cream, and gathered everyone around the table to sing to Hannah again.  She looks thrilled, right?  She loved the peach ice cream which was a total melted mess and didn't harden up until much later in the day, but didn't touch her shortcake.

And back upstairs again, doubly full and on somewhat of a sugar rush.  Clay was very enthralled with Hannah's baby Lila and spent much of the rest of the visit feeding her.  He's going to be a good big brother when his little sibling comes in February!

I think Clay might need his own baby doll...I might have to look for one for him for his birthday.

Hannah was hanging all over Uncle Donny, wrapping her arms around his neck and jumping on his belly, but all of those pics turned out blurry because of my refusal to use a flash.  This is all I got...Better than nothing!

Mmmmkay. I'm exhausted.  And we still need to take down the decorations...It's like a permanent birthday party up in here.