Picture Perfect Birthday Week

One WONDERFUL birthday week, in pictures, from Saturday to Sunday:

SATURDAY, JUNE 20th

Me and Ayize head to Wagner Farm for their annual big breakfast event, and are excited to be meeting pal Jeff there, who's in town from San Francisco. Ayize starts by playing the beanbag game at a kid's area set up by Heifer International, where he wins a "Share a Sheep" pin

We get into a super long line which feels interminable, and super hot, as we're standing in direct sun, but find it's all worth it once we taste our plates

Num num! Ayize is loving the food and so are we, all good-naturedly cooked up in a hash line by the chefs from Glenview's Egg Harbor

After breakfast, we amble around the farm and find -- what's this? -- something new!

Ayize eagerly peers inside...

...and this is what he sees! Lots of juvenile chickens dashing around. He claps with joy, much to our amusement, and returns to peek again and again and again

Into the barn we go, to visit Mama, who is due to give birth any day now

Outside, Ayize pauses to pet some cows with Jeff's moral support

[FYI, Blogpot is being rotten about videos today, so I had to resort to linking to YouTube a bunch of times in this post, but the videos should open in a separate window so you won't lose your place in the blog. Sorry!]

YouTube: Cow comedy at its finest!
Ayize goes into gleeful gales of laughter every time the cow twitches her ear, or her skin "shivers" from his touch.

Next, we traipse over to the pigpen, and Ayize eagerly watches the pigs vie for the optimum afternoon nap spots, the ones that are both shady and covered by the overhead fans

This little fella comes over to investigate and see if Ayize has any food to offer

The sheep are so much more peaceful about their sleepy spots, nestling and nuzzling so sweetly with one another

We walk behind the barn to the bench to wait for a turn on the hay ride

Our tractor driver is super nice!

YouTube: Round and round we go!
Ayize enjoys his first tractor-driven hay ride; we are usually pulled by a team of horses. After the ride, we take one last fast jog round the farm and then head home for his nap. He is sooo busted!

After his afternoon nap, Ayize is eager to roll out. We head out to Custer Street Fair -- running into Alice and Maya on the way, hooray! -- and stop first at Eiden Park to meet Jeff, who springs for a poodle balloon for Ayize made by these awesome clowns. Ayize decides to hang with them for a bit

Next, we play on the playground and run into Vanessa and Miss M, who tell us the Giordano Dance Company is about to get started. We head towards the edge of the park and watch these girls perform some wonderful steps. Ayize claps, seriously and appropriately, at the completion of each routine -- very funny stuff!

Unfortunately, the camel rides have apparently ceased for the day. Dang! Still, the tent provides a dramatic backdrop and Ayize is into all the painted animals

The juggling DJ juggles, the medicine man readies his bullwhip, and the magician and the fair organizer just mug for the camera. Ayize is fascinated by them all

As the dancers finish and another guy gets ready to perform, we run into Bee, Felix, and Ayize's little pal Anatole. Ayize steals about 90% of Bee's sugary drink because she is too sweet to resist his repeated attempts

This guy hops onto a board which is balancing on a rolling log on top of a rickety box, and then proceeds to juggle fire sticks. All a little alarming, considering the audience of mostly toddlers was super fascinated, and kept creeping closer...and closer...to his feet for a better view!

YouTube: Watch yo back, son!
The Medicine Man busts out his bullwhip and uses it to crack the head off a very small flower held in the hand of a kid. This video does not do justice to the VOLUME of that thing

We run into Mollie, her sis, and Ayize's longtime pal, Jonah McJ, and the boys blow off some steam on the playground equipment while I bid Bee goodbye

We wander into the Fair and on our way to the ATM and Starbucks, we catch these awesome aerial performers spinning by their heads. Ayize is duly impressed!

Ummm...good to know!

YouTube: The youngest AC/DC fan in the world!
What can I say, he has good taste in music! We exhaust ourselves checking everything out -- including radio station booths -- and it's fun running into so many friends -- Manon and Christian, and their sweet little newborn girl; Aimee from high school, and a slew of others.

It's almost 7 when we return to Eiden Park. We find Sean and Ben at a picnic table and Ayize settles in for some snackies and water. Afterwards, on my way back from the Port-a-Potty, I run into Naomi and Ayize's longtime pal, Charlie, who is expecting a little sister this summer, hooray!

YouTube: Doin the circuit!
He is one determined young man!!

The boys look on and laugh as Ayize puts the mack on a much older chick. I check the time and it's past 8, so we pack up and head home. An exhilirating -- but exhausting -- start to an awesome whirlwind of a birthday week!

SUNDAY, JUNE 21st

Finally...Ayize's about to be on the inside looking out! We start our gymnastics class today, and he is sooo ready to run right onto the floor. Here he is at 9:57 a.m., very excited and eager and happy to be the first in line to enter the gymnasium this morning.

Somehow, we all end up in the foam pit...in fact, Nyika and I are pretty darn excited to hop in LOL. Didn't see too many other adults in there but what the heck?? The kiddos have a blast, and so do we

After class, Ayize wants to explore, so off we wander. First, he finds this little garden niche complete with a stone lion fountain. He's very pleased and immediately sets to work splashing water all over himself and me...

Next, the sound of "clickety-clack, clickety-clack" draws his attention here, so we walk over and find a little skate park. He's so eager to see the action that he climbs up higher for a better view and shouts random babbles at the kids as they shoot past us doing ollies and kick flips and rails

We spot a playground not too far in the distance so I get his new trike out of the car and we make our way over. He's very taken with the cool design of this peek-a-boo climbing wall, and we run round and around it several times in a toddler version of Tag

The tot lot has two other structures, a grown-up half...

...and a wee ones half. He plays his butt off on both, and is particularly fond of the pseudo-school bus. Then we sit on a stone wall nearby and he eats his snack and drinks almost a whole bottle of water, before ya-a-a-awning. So off we go on the trike, back to the car, and to home, and to his bed for naptime

YouTube: Ayize's post-nap antics are betrayed by the baby monitor

YouTube: More theatrics, these involving sock sorting.

What can I say? The kid has a flair for drama!

Next, we bike over for an early-birthday BBQ dinner with my Jamaican peeps. Kayla decides she wants to try out Ayize's ride and adorably takes my advice to "Hold on tightly" very, very seriously

The girls ham it up in the hammock

Nyika and Kai pose for a mom-and-daughter portrait...too cute!

Ayize gets a little overconfident...per usual

After THEE most delicious dinner, with lots of tasty sides to boot -- saffron rice, baked beans -- and a delicious dual dessert of Daryl's cinnamon-sugar grilled pineapples (YUM) plus homemade milk chocolate fudge -- we kick back, digest, and catch up, while the kiddos clown around with some packing boxes. Finally, around 8, I reluctantly gather my stuff, and my kid, and my bike, and we head home for home for PJs and bed, in short order!

MONDAY, JUNE 22nd

Ayize -- undercover in his spectacular koala shades -- bids Grandma a rousing good morning with a gynormous hug and smooch

We hop on the bike with Weemers (here, hiding in the background to the right) and tootle over to Porter Park.

YouTube: A small, but satisfying, accomplishment at the park.

The nice weather has brought out all the kids, and a bunch of nice nannies I know from around town, who congratulate Ayize when he climbs the metal "rope ladder" alone for the very first time

"Land ho!" Or maybe, "Three-pointer, ho!" Ayize has figured out the periscope and loves to spy on the bigger kids hooping it up on the attached b-ball court

After the park, Ayize and I have lunch in the gazebo -- I made us a farfalle pasta salad with plum tomatoes, basil, a little butter-roasted garlic (the secret ingredient!), hard parmesan, lemon juice and olive oil. He seems to approve!

After a nice, long "happy nappy", we're back up and at em. This time, we're off to the very-awesome, all-wooden, Penny Park by the high school to meet our oldest playgroup pals. All aboard!

Jonah McJ and mom Mollie, who biked over too, arrive simultaneously, and Mr. J gets straight to work jacking up my wacky bike horns

Ayize hollers in poor Lukey's ear, assuming, I guess, that he can't hear well through the ear flaps on the sun hat

Brady-Boo is delighted to play with these wacky puffball puppies that roll and tumble through the park like two gynormous feather dusters

I can usually get a big smile out of bashful Miss B by acting a crazy fool, as I do here! Thankfully, this is a pic and not a vid

Lukeykins, rocking the one-Croc look (it's all the rage among the 18-month set). We stay at the park until well past dinnertime (Tamara's wonderful snackies have tided us over), then shoot home by bike to eat, play, walk around the block, and sleep

TUESDAY, JUNE 23rd

Woo hoo! Taly and the girls have set up the new backyard pool and Ayize and I head over to spend a wonderful, water-filled morning together

The water is a little chilly, according to Kayla!

Taly gets the bubble machine blowing, and that pretty much blows Ayize's mind

Ayize to Kayla: "My pearl, the world is our oyster!"

After a long afternoon nap, we head to the Skokie Water Playground to meet Tamara and Brianna for some swimming, splashing, sliding fun

YouTube: Doin the doggy paddle all by himself!
Ayize wastes no time in honing his old swimming skills, despite some girl's legs getting in the way!

Next, he bum-rushes the giant mushroom waterfall...

And finally, he gets a bit overly-enthusiastic over the spraying fun fountains, and starts whipping the water around with his hands, much to my dismay (it was a bit chilly!). We finally head out at like 7:20 -- we actually thought they had the time wrong because it seemed so early still!

We head home, where Ayize slams down a huge dinner, gets into his PJs, and hits the sack. I head out on my bike to book club, and have a wonderful time talking about everything BUT the book with these lovely ladies, until we finally disband well after 11

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24th

On our way to meet one of our playgroups this morning, we run into Carrie and her awesome new puppy, Chippers. They accompany us to the Kelly Tot Lot, where our playgroup kids go crazy for him, and he revels in all the love and attention big time

This is our first time at this particular tot lot in South Evanston, which is a lot of fun for its small size. Also, nice and shady -- a big plus when the weather is topping out over 90 and the humidity is high as hecky

Awesome to see Miss Mack and her wonderful mama, today! And all the more glorious now that we know 'Kenzie is expecting a little sib of her own in the near future!

Ayize loves him some tunnels, bwah...

...but we know Baker Park, around the corner, will be an even bigger hit, as it's structured for older kids. Before we can even get there, though, we must traverse the b-ball court, which never goes unnoticed by Ayize. He practices a few layups with his plastic orange ping pong ball...

...then suddenly notices the gynormous play structures, and takes off towards them at a trot, ball still in hand

A very fun place to play! There's an old-school wooden playground and then this newer, handicapped-accessible structure as well, with lots of ramps and slides. Ayize is psyched, and we play there until he starts to yawn like crazy. He is asleep by the time we get home so I transport him carefully to bed and head downstairs to join my family for my dream birthday lunch...Potbellys!!! I think I've found heaven right here in my gazebo with my biggie vegetarian on white, everything except the onions, and a Nantucket Nectar Pomegranate Pear to wash it all down!

After his afternoon nap, we head to Lighthouse Beach to meet up with our playgroup, where he fearlessly hits the chilly water for a swim

My sister and nieces make it to the beach, too -- hooray! And Maddie and Sophie let the cat out of the bag when they come racing across the beach to hug me, shouting, "Happy Birthday!"

Lukey is smiling because it's an awesome day to be at the beach! And because a bunch of our friends come out to play and we have a fantastic time! This just might be the best birthday yet!!

After the beach, and after a quick bath for Ayize to get off the four pounds of sand clinging to him (!), Davis, Akari and the girls come over to have dinner -- Indian food from Everest, YUM.The girls play some wild Wii after dinner as we adults sit around and digestify. Ayize tries to assist the girls and it's pretty funny to see him mix non-stop hug assaults with his version of Wii Hula Hooping (he's pretty good at imitating them, which has us all laughing 'til our sides hurt!) Eventually he gets pretty heavy-lidded so off we go to bed, and once he's asleep, I'm able to dig into my chocolate cake -- Tag's, DOUBLE YUM -- without even having to fight off a food-crazy toddler. Woot woot! We stuff our faces until we can barely move!

I love my girlies! Between them and little Zaha, I have the best nieces in the world!!! How did I get so lucky?!

THURSDAY, JUNE 25th

In the morning, Taly and me double-stroll the wee ones in my sister's old Maclaren over to Independence Park, while Kai and Wee (the other Wee one) walk alongside us

Ayize demonstrates his newfound talent for the dramatic hand flourish, while Kayla sidles into the sandbox in a modified crab crawl

Then he chows down on tasties from his Snack Trap (which went R.I.P. at the Taste the next evening, sadly) while Weeman eagerly anticipates the leftovers.We stay and play until well past noon, when Ayize and Kayla start looking super busted, so back to the house we stroll to drop off the girls, and then it's home and to bed for Ayize

In the afternoon, we head back to Kai and Kayla's for another impromptu backyard pool party

The kids hit the playhouse where they do a climb-sit-slide circuit, and Kayla decides to prolong her turn by executing this attempted somersault

Next, she carefully waters Kai's lefty Croc plant -- perhaps hoping to sprout one of the right-footed variety?

Afterwards, Ayize happily mows the concrete -- it's been looking rather tall lately

Ayize and Kayla take a break from their grueling day to kick back in the hammock. Then we hit the grocery store quickly before heading home, where Grandma and Grandpa are waiting to babysit

Their generous offer allows me to head out for some birthday prickly pear margaritas and incomparable quesadillas in the presence of three wonderful people ! Hooray!!

I get home at 9:30 and find my little man fed, dressed in PJs, and awaiting me with open arms. Apparently he has been the perfect little boy!

FRIDAY, JUNE 26th

Ayize insists on dragging his umbrella stroller behind his trike so he can stand on the foot rest bar of the stroller and hold the push bar of the trike. Then, somehow, by undulating his hips, he manages to make the whole mess inch slowly across the kitchen floor. Hmm...interesting technique...

Next, he leaps with great gusto onto Grandma while she's reading the paper. Poor Grandma (but she gets her revenge with a little tickle). Clearly, it's time for us to clear out for a while

We shoot over to the pirate park (AKA Burnham Shores) on the lakefront. I stop en route at Italian Coffee Bar to treat myself to a birthday hot chocolate, my fave in town! The weather is perfect -- pretty sunny, with a heavenly breeze off the lake. We meet up with some pals, including little Sebastien, who is amazingly outfit-coordinated with Ayize from head to toe (well, Sebastien had just removed his sunhat)

Nyika, Taly, Kai and Kayla come by too, after Kai's beach camp is done for the day. Check out Kayla's mad muscles! Ayize is duly impressed (as is everyone else within eyeball range)

After a fun morning, it's time for Sophie # 1 to head home to nap, so off she goes in the stroller with Mama Marcie...

...just in time for Sophie # 2 to arrive. These two are like ships in the night! But one day they'll meet, I'm sure! Not long after, Ayize and I head home, too. He crashes in the car on the way home

After his afternoon nap, we hit up the Taste of Chicago with Nyika, Taly, Kai and Kayla for some good grub and great tunes -- a free concert with Cameo and Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band!

YouTube: Ayize does some interpretive dancing.

While we wait for the show to start, Ayize rocks out to the DJ spinning "Billie Jean" in an impromptu tribute to Michael Jackson

Then he offers Taly some technical support on her cell phone

The three strollers are lined up along our picnic blanket with my gynormous additional stroller sun canopy (thanks, Christy, that thing is awesome!) stretched and velcroed across in a crazy kind of way as a makeshift shade-maker -- and it's working like a charm! But unfortunately,

this unusual array has the kids playing musical strollers, and when Ayize introduces the additional game of Peek-a-Boo under the stroller flaps, that's pretty much all she wrote

YouTube: Ayize say "Hoe-oh!"

Killing time waiting for Cameo by practicing somersaults for gymnastics class

YouTube: The kiddo crazies kick in!

Kayla and Ayize are up to adorable antics on the blanket when Cameo busts into "Word Up" and everyone starts dancing. This inspires Kayla to do some silly kicking and Ayize to do some saucy somersaulting

Mister Hugs starts loving everyone up! And believe it or not, this little boy decides that he likes hugging so much, he starts hugging the heck out of Ayize back, and then hugging Kai too -- it's an all-out love fest

Showing Kayla some love, too

Time to go

YouTube: Riding home on LSD after a wonderful evening.

The kids are nodding off -- it's 8:30 -- but still happily chattering, the sunset is gorgeous, the palm trees along the lake are breezing in the wind, and a Michael Jackson tribute is on every radio station

SATURDAY, JUNE 27th

Ayize and I bike down to the lake to meet one of our playgroups, stopping for a photo op along the way when we happen upon this jolly "Just Married" trolley outside a church, wedding bells ringing resoundingly in the background

After the playground, we take a wonderful, breezy walk all over gorgeous Lawson Park and along Lighthouse Beach, enjoying the perfect weather

On the way home, we stop off at Linz and Vail's for gelato with Nyika, Taly, Kai and Kayla, and then we all bike back to the house, where Daryl is BBQing dinner. The kids goof off in the backyard and Ayize befriends a little ground squirrel

Extreme close-up of the "Dah!"

Daryl takes a break and gets bombarded on both sides.Once again, we linger until late, but Ayize has dinner of his own waiting at home and we're both pretty busted, so off we go on the bike, heading home to eat and sleep

SUNDAY, JUNE 28th

The last day of my birthday week, but certainly not the least. Ayize and I are spoiled today because we get to hang out with not one, but both, of Ayize's godparents. First, Peter surprises us by coming to gymnastics class

YouTube: Ayize warms up for class alongside the teacher

YouTube: This little boy LOVES him some foam pit


Wait...WHICH little boy??

Ayize works the rings

Mom cheerleads on the sideline...

...while Ayize chalks up in preparation for the uneven bars!

Next, we bike to Bent Park and enjoy our mini-picnic while we wait for Nyika, Kai and Kayla to arrive by bike also

Weeman goes undercover, getting all camo amidst the purple flowers (note his collar, harness, and leash)

Ayize is getting awfully possessive of "his" puppy these days

Ayize is just a tad too short to assist Kai in scanning the horizon for pirate ships. We play all over the park, climbing the big structure, tooling through the sandbox, and having a "tea party" on the little houseboat thing, with a small picnic of sorts in between (Ayize noshes on peanut butter and honey cracker sandwiches, a recent fave), but soon it's well past one and time for the little guys to nap, so we part ways and head to our respective homes

Post-nap, we head to Noah's Playground for Everyone with Grandma and the girls, and Ayize gets silly at the top of the climbing structure

"Bon voyage, Maddie!"

Mini-Me hops right in the middle of the lovely maidens at Lookout Point

We switch locales, and Ayize's godmother Diana, joins us to play at Lovelace Park and to celebrate my birthday with dinner and a movie, hooray!

The girls get the old kite flying high

Diana takes a turn and things are going great, until...well, let's just say, a little roof rescue was in order for my beloved kite

Dinner on the second-story patio at Siam Pasta on a perfect early-summer eve. We go REALLY crazy and each get Thai iced coffees. Potent! Now we're hyper and Ayize is getting bored. What we wouldn't do to entertain this crazy kid!

YouTube: Ayize is SOOOO chatty during dinner!

We head home and whip up a big batch of homemade fudge, num num. I get Ayize down for the count, Grandma is game to babysit, and Diana and I fairly fly out the door for the 10:20 showing of My Sister's Keeper -- great, but a definite five-hanky flick. Consider yourselves warned.

An awesome end to an incredible week! Thanks to all my wonderful family & friends. I am forever grateful and love you guys so much. I truly had the most perfect birthday week possible!

Now...here's to another fantastic year!