The day the kids had long awaited finally arrived. Asta’s birthday! Preparations have been being made for weeks. There were decorations, a party hat and even a cool little doggie cookie for the birthday girl.
Of course, other than chowing down on that cookie, I don’t think Asta has much of a concept of the whole birthday thing. But as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, finding any way to break up the day to day monotony (in positive ways) is gold, so this was a good way to do it.
We planned to do a little birthday celebration with human cake and everything that afternoon. In the morning, Erin and I spent some time doing things around the house and getting things done. We started the day with a delicious brunch. Erin had the great suggestion of trying a quiche with a sweet potato crust, so I went to work on that. The filling had sautéed shallots, garlic, cremini mushrooms, brussels sprouts and goat cheese. Not to brag, but I was quite pleased with how it came out.
After breakfast, I went out with Henry to pick up some cloth masks a friend of Erin’s made for us and left on her doorstep. Erin and Amelia baked that human cake for Asta’s party. After that, Erin worked with Amelia on her LEGO frozen castle.
Clearly it is the women of the house who are skilled with LEGOs, because in what felt like no time flat, they had this impressive castle completed. I wrote yesterday about my own poor LEGO skills, and Henry mainly likes to focus on tearing LEGO structures apart. The lad may have a real future in demolitions, come to mention it.
It was a packed afternoon. While Henry had his nap, I did a little virtual hangout with my buddy Price, doing a virtual viewing of the classic Star Trek episode, “Shore Leave.” It is weird and a hoot to watch. We particularly love the performance of Kirk’s college nemesis, the stereotypical Irish bully Finnegan.
After that, it was a birthday bonanza. We got to jump on a surprise Zoom session to wish a happy birthday to our dear friend, Erika. Asta shares a birthday with Erika, one of the sweetest people we know, so clearly April 19 is a good day to be born. Erika drew a huge online gathering of lovely people and we were glad to be a part of it. Here’s hoping she had an appropriately celebratory birthday.
And then it was on to Asta’s party. We connected with Grandma and Pop-Pop on FaceTime, so they shared the celebration with us. Asta got a few cool new toys and treats, and enjoyed a section of her birthday cookie.
We capped it off with a nice dinner. Taco for Amelia, chicken nuggets for Henry, scallops and whipped garlic cauliflower for Erin and me, and Primal freeze dried pork nuggets for Asta. Yum!
After the kids eventually went to bed, I treated myself to a viewing of Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the documentary about Mr. Rogers. It is wonderful, and I was a blubbering mess while watching it. If you have a chance, definitely check it out. We could all use some care and positivity these days.
