Caitlin Turns Seven

My seventh anniversary of becoming a mother began uneventfully, if predictably: the twins woke up at 7:30 am (They slept through the night...again!) and nursed. Then I ran off to the farm to put 32 tomato and tomatillo plants in the ground in what will eventually become a hoophouse. When I returned home, three hours later, the whirlwind packing began.

This marks the very first year that Caitlin hasn't been home for her own birthday. She's off at Camp Grammy in the mountains, so we had to travel to see her.

After a great deal of running around, we hit the road to Gramma's House. Over hill and dale and mountaintops, through rain and hail and 600' vertical drops. Miles and miles we drove! The twins traveled very well indeed this time and even though we stopped for a milk break, they were more interested in the cord to the radar detector than they were in me. We stuffed them full of snacks and kept on going. Five or six hours later, we arrived. Tired and sore from sitting for so long, we extracted our old and creaking limbs and were attacked by a squealing Caitlin.

Was it possible that she'd grown taller in a week? Is it possible to forget so much about your own child in such a short time or was it being around just infants that had me on a different wavelength? She looked so big and grown up. In only a week? What will two more weeks be like?! Aiee!

There was much squealing and hugging to be had.

The twins, who had just woken up from a nap, were not amused.

Eventually, everyone settled in and we had dinner and a small family celebration Saturday night, since that was Caitlin's actual birthday. Grammy, Grampy, Pop-pop and Nana-Sue were all there.

Chocolate mint cake provided by Grammy.

Actually seven!

On Sunday, we partied.

Backyard party.

I didn't take very many pictures, since I was juggling twins. Strangely enough, there was yet another hammock and lots of screaming.

Girls + Hammock = Screaming and Falling

Caitlin had a few friends over from camp, as well as our family friend, Ruby, to celebrate with at Grammy's. Grampy Jim, The Hardest Working Man Alive (TM), slaved away at the grill.

Grampy Jim, short order cook.

The twins were passed around and around and around until they finally gave up complaining when they were handed off to someone that wasn't me. Whew!

"My, Grammy, what a pink hat you have!"

"Dis not fit me so good."

"Dis party for me? Cool! Where's my beer? Daddy said I could have one."

The paparazzi stalk Logan wherever he goes. "Are you getting my good side?"

After a lot of noshing, we got around to cake. This time, we had an actual candle.

Making a wish.

Strangely enough, a few of the girls informed me that they "didn't like cake". Have you ever heard such a thing?!

The baker in me that slaved over the vanilla sheet cake with strawberries and whipped cream was insulted. I blame it on a plethora of birthdays that have featured supermarket cakes that taste like sugar and chemicals. That plus 7 year old tastebuds aren't particularly discerning, are they? Ah well. Even Caitlin, too busy playing, never had more than a bite of this, her third birthday cake in a week.

Feel bad for her. She's so deprived!

Looks like trouble!

Emma, however, upon learning that there was cake to be had, stepped up to the...errrr...plate and tried some.

Mmmmm! Cake!

Emma points out that cake has eggs, wheat, butter and cream it in. All the things a girl needs to grow on!

At least she liked it!

Seven seems to be looking pretty good, so far. Six has been a rough year for all of us. Six anticipated the birth of her very own brother and sister (A two-fer!), but Six didn't realize just how much of her own needs and wants would be put on the backburner when our whole family life would be tossed into the Baby Blender. It's hard to be Six. It's even harder to be the Only Child for six years and then suddenly be the Big Sister to twins. (If you thought just a single baby is cause for jealousy because of all of the attention a new baby draws, imagine what it's like when there are twins!) As the twins get more interactive, however, Seven will have a great time playing with them and teaching them all manner of fun things.

Seven will also find that as her parents get more sleep, they'll also be a lot more fun to be around.

That's my baby!

Happy Birthday, honey my bunny. I love you so!