Jimmy's due date was January 16th. Yet he decided to arrive 3-1/2 weeks early and narrowly missed sharing his sister's 12/27 birthday by 2 hours and 18 minutes. So that means 2 birthdays back to back (right after Christmas!) For the last 3 years, I have been pondering how to make each birthday child feel special on their day.
Well, Doug came up with a fabulous idea! On their birthday day, they get to pick a special activity to do for the day. Within reason, of course. Obviously we can't fly to Disneyland for the day or go to the water slides in December. I added the special birthday dinner too. I will make them whatever they want.
Paige's Birthday - 12/27
For her birthday she decided she would like to go to In & Out Burger for lunch and then have a pony ride. After Alyssa's morning nap we headed to In & Out for an early lunch. After lunch we drove down to Half Moon Bay to Friendly Acres Ranch. It was a bit cold outside, but fortunately the sun was out and there was no rain in the forecast for this day. We walked up and a very nice cowboy helped us out. The pony rides last about 20-30 minutes and he was nice enough to have us only pay for one child and they could share the time. He found that at this age, the kids sometimes get bored or scared. Doug lifted her up and she was a little hesitant at first, but then loved it! Jimmy wasn't scared at all and was anxious to jump right on.
We returned from Half Moon Bay and Doug took the kids down to the school to ride their bikes and scooter. I stayed back so Alyssa could nap and I could get ready for dinner and finish frosting Paige's cake. Paige's dinner request was lemon chicken and pasta. However, the most important request was that she wanted to eat the cake first! Excellent!
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| Paige & Shayla sneaking a peek at the cake! |
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| Happy Birthday to my big girl! |
At the last minute our friends across the street joined us for Paige's birthday dinner celebration. She was so excited to have her best friend Shayla over for dinner and cake. After dinner she opened her presents. It was a great day and she enjoyed every minute of it. She fell right to sleep that night...the sign of a good day.
Jimmy's Birthday - 12/28
For his birthday, Jimmy decided he wanted to go to the fish tanks (a.k.a. The Aquarium). This day it was raining, so it was perfect he wanted an indoor activity. We packed up around 11am and headed down to Pier 39 for lunch and a visit to the Aquarium of the Bay. We went to Bubba Gump's for lunch...it was the most child friendly restaurant on the pier. We had a really nice lunch and the staff sang Happy Birthday over his chocolate sundae.
We walked back down the pier to the Aquarium. The kids were so excited. It was actually pretty cool. There was a lot of neat things to see, especially the moving floor that led you through the tunnel where all the fish, rays and sharks were swimming all around you. Jimmy & Paige loved that part!! When we emerged from the tunnel, there were touch pools where you could feel a star fish, shark and a ray. Doug touched everything and the kids just watched. Neither wanted to touch anything but the water. Jimmy had such a great time. I loved seeing such a big smile on his face, bursting with excitement as he ran from tank to tank!
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| He was a little reluctant to take this picture. |
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| Jimmy pointing at a shark that just passed him a the glass. |
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| A cool shot I got of the jellyfish. |
We returned home and moved into gear to make Jimmy's dinner request of Shrimp & Egg Flower Soup and spaghetti. He decided to have his cake after dinner. The Whitley's joined us again for cake and present opening after dinner. It was another great day and judging by his smile all day, I think we were successful in making it special for him.
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| Happy Birthday to my big boy! |
Now the only thing left is the birthday party we have for them in January with all their friends. The "kid" birthday party is what I call it. Due to the holidays, I always postpone this party until January for better attendance.
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