The Outsourced Unicorn Party

As I've mentioned before, I find party planning incredibly stressful for some reason, so I tend to keep birthday celebrations super simple in our family.  I let the birthday boy or girl choose dinner and dessert, I buy them a present or two, and at dinnertime I invite everyone in the family to share something they love about that person.  It's simple, fun, and I don't have to decorate anything.

I'm related to three girls who love to party, though, and they decided to plan a surprise birthday party for Anna this weekend.  Joy spearheaded the idea and invited Anna's friends (we had to change the date three times--have I mentioned that I find party planning stressful?), then Red Grandma and Aunt Heather took charge of the decorations.  While Daddy took Anna on an errand this afternoon, we all rushed around turning our home into a unicorn-themed party scene.

Anna's arrival was the most anticlimactic thing you can imagine.  She just calmly walked in and waved at everyone, as if it was perfectly normal for people to shout "Surprise!!!" when she stepped into her house.  She insists that she really was surprised, but you certainly couldn't tell.

The party was fun though.  We played "Pin the Tail on the Unicorn" and "Unicorn Ring Toss" . . .

. . . then we busted open a pinata . . .

. . . and decorated cupcakes.  It was a delightful party, the kids had a great time, and I was SOOOOOO glad I didn't have to organize it.

The Sites and Tastes of Boston

Red Grandma requested that we spend a little time in Boston this week . . .

. . . so I booked a Freedom Trail tour--a 90-minute walking tour with a costumed guide.  Our guide taught us a lot of interesting (and often entertaining) things about Boston's landmarks, both old and new.

For example, we learned that the so-called Boston Massacre didn't actually take place in front of the old town hall, where its plaque is.  The squabble happened in the middle of the street, and if the historical society had put the marker in a busy intersection, the tourist death toll would have been higher than the actual "massacre's" (in which five rowdy citizens were killed by frightened British soldiers).

Luna found the tour very informative.

At the end of the tour, our guide posed for a picture with us in front of Faneuil Hall Marketplace (which is currently enshrouded in very patriotic scaffolding as it undergoes renovations).

We tried some of the famous mac 'n cheese from the Faneuil Hall food court, as well as some delicious clam chowder (when in Boston . . .).  Aunt Heather also bought a yummy little Boston cream pie to share with everyone.

As if that lunch wasn't decadent enough, on the way home we visited Uncle Andrew's absolute favorite gelato place in a nearby suburb.

Uncle Andrew was right--the gelato was awesome.

Berry Picking with "The Relatives"

As we considered what Massachusettsy activities to do with "the relatives" (as my kids have taken to calling our visitors), I recalled that a nearby farm allows customers to pick their own berries.

Blueberry picking was fun, and the blueberries were tasty . . .

. . . but we were all really looking forward to visiting the big raspberry patch.  The farm charges an exorbitant $7 per pint of raspberries, because they know you'll eat two or three berries for every one that goes into your basket.  And we did.  The raspberries were heavenly.  In fact, we eventually had to hand Joy's container to someone else because she was just eating berries and not putting any in her basket.

And you can bet we filled those raspberry baskets all the way to the top before we left.

Guess Who's Eight!

Can you guess whose birthday it is today?

(Hint: It's the human wearing the party hat.)

Anna has been looking forward to her eighth birthday for months, because in the Church of Jesus Christ, you need to be at least eight years old to be baptized.  Anna has chosen to be baptized this Saturday . . .

. . . and a couple visitors came to town to celebrate this exciting step on Anna's journey home to Heavenly Father!  It's been so nice to have them here.  We miss being close to family since we moved back east!

We introduced Red Grandma and Aunt Heather to Gourmet Donuts this afternoon.  We had planned to eat our donuts at the park, but it started raining, so we ate them on some pizza place's porch instead.  That's summer in Massachusetts for you.

Later in the evening, Joy decorated a birthday cake for Anna . . .

. . . then we sang her our traditional birthday medley.  It was nice to have a couple extra singers on hand, because it increases the odds that multiple people will sing off key.  That's part of the charm of the Sorenson Birthday Medley.

Happy birthday, sweet Anna.  Thank you for the gentle kindness and good cheer that you bring to our family. :)

Let's Get Bouncing!

For years, I've dreamed of having a yard, a garage . . .

. . . and a trampoline for the kids to jump on.  We ordered a trampoline shortly after we bought our home, but this was the first sunny weekend when Phillip had a big block of time to assemble it.  The kids helped him set it up in a spot that's shady most of the day . . .

. . . and by afternoon they were running . . .

. . . and jumping . . .

. . . and super bouncing . . .

. . . and (in Todd's case) wondering when the heck it's going to be their turn.  We figured out pretty quickly that we needed to use a timer to make sure everyone got a chance to bounce.

P.S. I love that Joy's jumping over a rainbow in that last shot.

Where the Wild Things Are

When we moved into our new house, there was a big plant growing next to the deck.  I wondered what it was . . .

. . . and I became even more curious when it started producing lots of flower buds.  What could they be?

The answer: Beautiful, pink hibiscus blooms!

Speaking of natural wonders, the kids and I went to a nature show at the library this evening.  The speaker taught us lots in interesting things about opossums . . .

. . . Burmese pythons (my dad would have shuddered all through that part--he hated snakes) . . .

. . . and something called a kinkajou (which looks like a cross between a monkey and a lemur).

It was fun to see exotic animals at the library, but it's also fun to see them around our home.  One of the cool things about living next to marshy woods is that we see all sorts of wild creatures you wouldn't run across in a city.  Things like a bunny nibbling the lawn, jewel-toned dragonflies, and this little frog we discovered in our back yard last week.  I may not find them so heartwarming in the future when I have to defend a vegetable garden from some of them, but for now, I love that we seem to see a new bug or other creature every single day.

A Summer Day at the Lake

Some friends invited us to spend this afternoon with them at a lake in New Hampshire.

It was nice to take a break from moving, and just relax for the day.

Daddy, the girls, and I really enjoyed paddling around in kayaks.

The boys aren't big fans of the water, so Daniel preferred playing on the slackline . . .

. . . while Todd bounced around on the trampoline . . .

. . . and wielded a shovel on the beach.

As the saying goes, if you're lucky enough to live near a lake, you're lucky enough.

Playing Outside

One of our favorite things about our new home is that there are lots of fun things to do outside.

You can scoot in the quiet neighborhood . . .

. . . climb a tree . . .

. . . throw a frisbee . . .

. . . climb a tree AND throw a frisbee . . .

. . . or just hang with your sibs. :)

P.S. Someone in our family is getting baptized later this month!  Hint: It's the person who somehow managed to be in every single image in this post.

Picking Lavender Flowers

I took the girls to the store today to buy sheets for their new bunk bed.

After much deliberation, they picked out a set with flowery blankets, and even some decorative pillows.

They're pretty delighted with their new bedding.

More importantly, the squishmallows approve.

Pushing the Easy Dinner Button

When . . .

. . . your kitchen looks like this . . . 

. . . and your new oven looks like this (because you didn't realize you were supposed to remove a bunch of packaging before you fired it up and melted plastic onto the racks) . . .

. . . dinner tends to look like this.  Hopefully I'll manage to cook something tomorrow. :-/

Fun Around the New House

I've got a lot of unpacking to do.  Some rooms aren't too bad . . .

. . . but others need some serious help.  Fortunately, the kids are pretty good about keeping themselves entertained while I slowly turn this mass of clutter into a home.

The girls like to doodle on their new bunk bed.  Well, not on the bed itself--you know what I mean.

We've got our computers up and running, so Joy can brush up on algebra before school starts again.

We've also managed to find some of our favorite books . . .

. . . and the kids are having fun with Daniel's new Exploding Kittens game.  It's always exciting when you get a spare Defuse card, right Todd?