Looooonnnnnnggggg Day

Yesterday Johnny was watching Big Big World on PBS and some of the characters were playing hide-and-seek.  I had never played the game with Johnny before, thinking he might be too young to understand the concept.  But shortly after watching the scene in his show, he ran around the living room while covering his eyes, counted to five, and then threw his arms up in the air and shouted "ta da!", as if to say he found himself in hide-and-seek.  He then broke down into giggles.  It was really adorable and showed me that he understood the concept a bit more than I gave him credit.  A prime example of how great he is at entertaining himself.  I love my silly little boy. :)

Today was a long day.  Parts of it were good and other parts exhausting.  Since John has been busy with school and work this past week and then we had a major snowstorm on his day off, things have been very busy and I haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping.  So, I had to get up early this morning and go grocery shopping at Safeway, Whole Foods, and Target.  That took up the morning and when I got home I had to unload the groceries and put them away.  After that was done we had to get on the road to drive up into the mountains for a birthday party.  

The birthday party was for my friend Wemi's son Elias's first birthday.  He is such a cutie! :)  It was sort of a going away party too, since they are moving to Sacramento on Wednesday.  I'm bummed that they are moving, but I'm happy for her too because she is moving back to her home and her family.  I know what it feels like to want to move back to your home.  They live with her in-laws up in the mountains, about an hour from us.  It was actually really beautiful once you get up into the mountains (though the mountains and forests in the northwest are a lot more beautiful), but it was also snowing.  They also lived at the top of a very steep windy dirt road that was filled with mud and snow.  Oh, and it was only wide enough for one vehicle with a sheer drop down a cliff and no guard rails.  And even with 4 Wheel Drive we were sliding all over the place on the way back down the driveway to head home.  We were both pretty freaked out afterward, but thanks be to God! we made it home safely.  I have no idea how they manage to drive up and down that every day.  Wemi's father-in-law even had to drive in reverse for half a mile down the driveway because he was coming up it when we were heading down it - I have no idea how he did it!  They have a really beautiful cabin and an amazing view of the mountains and even Pike's Peak way off in the distance, so I can understand why they moved there when they retired.

The party itself was a lot of fun, even though Johnny was grumpy for parts of it (not much of a nap).  There were toys and friends to play with, lunch, cake, presents, a Cookie Monster piñata filled with candy, and in general lots of fun!  :)  Johnny was obsessed with the Cookie Monster piñata while everyone else was making a mad dash for the candy.  He could have cared less about the candy - silly kid!  Thanks Wemi for inviting us to Elias's birthday party; we had a lovely afternoon.  We will see Wemi, her husband Cory, and her adorable little boys Isaiah and Elias on Tuesday night for the Family Free Night at the Children's Museum.  It should be fun to see them before they leave for Sacramento on Wednesday, though we'll miss them when they are gone. :) 

Johnny in his new coat (bought it in 4T on the clearance rack for $8 at Babies 'R Us - sweet!)

Johnny fell asleep in the middle of eating chips yesterday after eating lunch at Panera Bread (yum!) while we were running a few errands

What a cutie!

Coloring with his new fancy twistable crayons yesterday

At the bottom of the scary driveway today (and some random house)

Wemi was showing Johnny how to turn the firetruck into a transformer :)

Daddy & Johnny playing with the transformer

Elias, the birthday boy! Cutie :)

Isaiah was showing Johnny how to play with the toy :)

This is what happens when balloons get loose in a cabin with very high ceilings

All of the kids playing (excluding the super cute newborn who was sleeping)

The boys were all very focused on playing

Wemi, husband Cory, Isaiah, & birthday boy Elias with cake

He went and randomly sat with a lady at the party during present-opening - she was amused :)

Poor cookie monster didn't know what was coming for him...

Pure sugar-induced chaos :)

mmmmm...sugar

Isaiah was giving his brother Elias a hug for his birthday - super adorable!

Johnny was concerned only with Cookie Monster for the remainder of the party

Now I'm off to bed to get some sleep.  Tomorrow should be another busy day.  It is also Palm Sunday - hope everyone has a blessed Palm Sunday tomorrow! :)