Birthday Celebrations

Three family members have birthdays in February: Grandma Tsukamoto, Aunt Karrie, and Ian. Aunt Karrie’s birthday is Valentine’s Day, but she lives far away in Massachusetts so we didn’t attend her party. However, we held a double celebration for Grandma and Ian last week since grandparents were in town for the Monster Concert (see previous post). Here is a group photo with Grandpa and Grandma Young and Grandma Tsukamoto where Ian is trying his hardest to not look excited.

We made lots of cake—chocolate for Ian and lemon poppy seed for Grandma. (We lack the exquisite cake decorating talents of Aunt Andrea, but we do what we can.)

On 15 February, Ian’s actual birthday, he didn’t have to practice piano or eat any carrots. What more could a 7-year-old ask for? In the morning we looked at his baby scrapbook and reminisced a bit. Erin picked out some nice birthday balloons for him, one of which she decided was hers.

In the afternoon some friends came over for a little party--here are Luke, Andrew, Ian, and Soren. They watched Over the Hedge, ate homemade pepperoni pizza, cupcakes, and ice cream, then played for several hours. Ian had a good time and says, “THANKS!” to everyone for the nice presents and the fun parties.