Marlow turns 2

Marlow had her second birthday. We had a little birthday party for her and invited over a few little girls she knows (most of them conveniently had older brothers for the boys to play with). The kids played in the yard in our little pool and on the slip'n slide. At one point I looked around the yard and there were kids in the sandbox, some kids swinging on the tire swing, a game of tether ball going on, kids in the pool, some playing on the swingset and a couple kids in the tree house. It was nice to see the various play areas of the yard being used by a fairly large group of kid so well. We played and ate dinner outside. We used our new large picnic table Joseph built (sorry, I forgot to take a picture), and it held the crowd pretty well. I made a big taco salad, big fruit salad and hot dogs for the kids. It was pretty hot out so we came in for cake and ice cream and opening gifts. Marlow had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed the attention. When we set the cake in front of her and started to sing she just beamed and then started to sing along.

She has learned from the boys that it is special to get to lick the candles off after you blow them out and she was very happy to lick her two candles.

And just so you don't think I am giving my little girl "boy" stuff -- I bought party hats that just said "Happy Birthday" and I also got out the left over Justice League hats from Asa's birthday for anybody who wanted one. And Marlow, being the little sister of two boys who play "guys" all the time, wanted a superhero hat.

The hats were actually quite a bit of fun, all the boys were trying to see how many they could get on their heads. Asa chose one of each. Marlow thoroughly enjoyed her birthday party and is eagerly looking forward to her next one...anytime she sees cake she says "My birthday cake." And I have to tell her, "No, your birthday is over until next year." It is kind of a tough concept to get, she just says, "Oh" and looks a bit confused.