Yes the time had come at last. Mira’s 4th birthday has arrived. I’m not sure what other kids and parents go through. But this is really the first time I think that Mira got all the people that were coming to see her and that this was her special day.
People talk about the magic of being young and wide eyed. Just being amazed and so excited everyday. That’s Mira right now. Erika and Luna came out to join Mira and I whilst we were sledding the day before her birthday and I snapped this pic.
As it was Mira’s 4th birthday and we were going to throw her a big party with all her friends, the relatives started arriving a day or two early. What do you do at our house if you have time? Well, you go sledding down Mira’s hill, of course. However, we’ve had a few warm days leading up to Mira’s birthday and the hill was a bit “small” on top. We had to steady most riders before they went down. But here is a nice shot of Lindsay and cousin Darcy riding the sled. This would be Darcy’s first and only ride. A bit too scary at this age. Lindsay seemed concerned until I reminded her that Mira was afraid of bushes when she was Darcy’s age. Not a lie, Mira was afraid of bushes!
We still managed to get a nice pic of the Keefe family while they were still outside. For those of you new to our family, this is Erika’s sister.
And then Grandpa Mark and Mira had to go down. Ah yes, what a grand time!
Early the following morning we were in full swing with birthday party preparations. We had scheduled the party for 3:30 in the afternoon to allow most of Mira’s friends to take a nap and still attend.
What I didn’t realize was this would also allow us time to bake cupcakes, build Mira’s new balance beam, rearrange the house and most of Mira’s toys, prep the food and dry out the back deck.
Yes that’s right, we have a 4 season porch off the back of our rental house with it’s own natural gas heater. However, we found that two days before the party the ceiling was leaking and the heater was broke. I spent an hour shoveling the snow and ice off then roof and another half day figuring out what on the heater was broke and where I could get a replacement part. Mark and I got the heater working 18 hours before the party and immediately started warming up and drying the room out as we expected much of the party to be in the back porch. 2 hours before the party it was dry as a bone in there and everyone was amazed that the ceiling was leaking just 18 hours earlier.
Mira spent most of the morning before her party decorating cupcakes. Here she is in action:
We put our little girl to bed and promised that her friends would all be here when she woke up if she would just go to sleep. It worked and that little girl sleep for 2+ hours. Wonderful nap and the friends started arriving within 30 minutes of when she got up.
Up next, 22 kids, 50 cupcakes, 1 balloon man and a house full of relatives. What a day!