It’s been pretty quiet here on the blog lately, but that’s because it’s been ANYTHING BUT quiet here at home these past few weeks.
After being away almost all of the month of April (one week in Alexandria and then two weeks in London), we arrived home and spent a week ‘recovering’ from all our travel. There is always a mountain of laundry, errands to run, food to buy (so much food!) and all. the. things. to catch up on. It took me a week to come up for air.
Then, just as I was ready to hit the ground running (quite literally–I was planning to get into a new workout routine), Maelle got hit with the stomach bug on Sunday night. Uh-oh. This was our first ‘real’ experience with a toddler with a stomach bug, and it was a doozy.
Thankfully, the vomiting was short-lived, but we weren’t so lucky on the other end. I did EIGHT loads of laundry just that first day. She was down for four days straight, spending much of that time lethargic on the couch. I’ve never seen her so sick. We were up multiple times per night, she slept either in our bed or in her cot BY our bed, and after a couple days we were all exhausted. She finally turned a corner later in the week and we were out of the woods by Saturday.
NOT! Andrew and I both came down with it that weekend. I was feeling OK on Saturday, but Andrew wasn’t, so I picked up my own Mother’s Day flowers. (That Andrew had ordered–at least they were beautiful.)
Andrew and Maelle had had big plans for breakfast for me on Sunday, but it was my turn to be sick. Thankfully, our illness was much shorter, and I was feeling better by the next day.
Meanwhile, the weather had improved and I was more than anxious to get our patio furniture out. We’d already lost one week to trip recovery and another to being sick, so I REALLY kicked it into high gear in order to get some things done. I started weeding the back landscaping to get it ready for mulch, and potted some plants. I pressure-washed the patio, dried out tulip and daffodil bulbs, and marked my iris by color. Ten yards of mulch appeared on our driveway, but I still had some planting to do in the back landscaping before I could get it all out.
The following week was Maelle’s preschool spring program and her last day of school, so we made that special by taking her out to lunch afterward. We’re hoping a visit to the Bar-Bill becomes an annual end-of-school tradition for us!
In between all the yard work and mulching I was doing, I also got a new phone! It had been four years since my last upgrade, and I ended up switching carriers to save some money. It was a bit of a hassle, but I’m thrilled with my new phone (a purple iPhone 14 Pro), new case and extra money in our pockets. Loopy Case for LIFE!
And we finally get to the point of this post, my birthday. (It’s been a long month…)
We kicked off the birthday celebrations with a run group party! Three of us have birthdays on Memorial Day weekend, so we always find some way to celebrate! We met at one of the runners’ houses in Orchard Park and had a casual party with plenty of kids and pizza. It was basically chaos for two hours… (I’m not sure what my new phone did to this photo, but it’s actually a pretty good representation of the evening.)
On Friday, Mom and Hannah came to visit! It was a surprise, but not….Andrew made all the plans himself, but told me about a week ahead of time. (Kinda hard to be prepared to host people if you don’t know they are coming! Plus, I’m not really a *surprises* kind of girl. Some I can do, some I cannot.)
We started our birthday weekend with an adults-only dinner at Rick’s, which was SO NICE. The following day, my actual birthday, was packed with fun activities. First up was a delicious breakfast of pastries that Andrew and Maelle brought home from Blue Eyed Baker. Then mom, Hannah and I left for our morning pedicure appointments, followed by shopping (we all got Birkenstocks!) and then lunch at Left Coast Taco.
Funny story about the Birkenstocks… I had my eye on a pair (below), and intended to get them for myself while we girls were out shopping. Mom offered to treat me to them as a present, and I took her up on it. Later that afternoon, I put them on at home to start breaking them in, and as soon as Andrew saw me, he freaked out. Apparently, he and Maelle had gone to the same store and bought the same pair for me as a surprise! (I was both touched and irritated…why did I all of a sudden feel bad for something that wasn’t my fault?!) I quickly hid them before Maelle could see, and acted incredibly surprised later that evening when I opened the shoes she and daddy had wrapped.
You’d think that would be the end of it, and that I’d simply be able to return the actual pair Andrew had bought, but no. The store does not refund shoes purchases (there is a sign by the register) but they do exchange. So, after the kind proprietor (who does offer a 10% discount on every Birkenstock purchase!) would still not refund my despite my sob story, I ended up exchanging them for TWO pairs (of lesser-priced shoes, of course)!
I’d fallen in love with both of these pairs while at the store, and I basically wear only Birkenstocks in the summer, so, it makes sense, right?! The white ones are rubbery, so perfect for wet days and the pool.
We arrived home in time to prep some fruit salad to bring to Gillian’s house for a birthday barbecue and pool party!
The following morning, it was MOM’S birthday we celebrated.
The girls (minus Maelle) headed down to Ellicottville, where we started with an amazing brunch at West Rose, then walked around the arboretum there, then did a little wine tasting.
We were pooped by the time we got home, but ended up mulching before we ordered pizza and wings for dinner.
Mom and Hannah stayed for Memorial Day, and we watched the parade go by our house, and then followed it to the cemetery for the ceremony. I believe last year was the first time we did it. We again met up with Gillian’s family for that, and walked from the cemetery to the legion for a chicken barbecue lunch. It was fantastic. The kids enjoyed playing near the pavilion where we sat for lunch, and everyone was tired out by the time we had to walk home.
That evening, we had the Nyes and Andrew’s parents over for a barbecue, and we were so thankful the weather cooperated all weekend. Below is a photo of Andrew, pressure-washing the patio (again), just an hour before our guests arrived. Please note the LACK of patio furniture on said patio.
We were literally putting cushions on the couches as people arrived, which is exactly how I liked to start my parties as a host. After that, it was a mad dash to add table covers and a few decorations before I could sit down and enjoy myself. Andrew was excoriated by the adult women for his procrastination, but redeemed himself when he brought out his Christmas present–a Solo Stove–and we had a delightful and smokeless fire on the patio to end the evening.
As usual, we did not take nearly as many photos as we should have, and we were very sad to see mom and Hannah depart the following morning.
For so long, turning 40 seemed like such a big milestone and I wanted to celebrate it in a different way than other birthdays. Andrew and I had discussed having a big party earlier this year, which I would have enjoyed, but it just never came to fruition. Having mom and Hannah come for the weekend and getting so much time away from the house really made it feel different and special. I’m so glad Andrew thought to invite them and to keep the planning a surprise for me. It was such a fun weekend, I needed another week to recover!
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