Birthday Blasts

Both Max and Hannah really enjoyed their birthdays this year, and somehow Marc and I survived the intensity of the season, given that Hanukkah had ended just days before.

Max had a family party for his first birthday at my in-laws home in Hartford (a million thanks again!). Most of Marc's family is based in Connecticut, so it was the easiest way to get the most people together. I managed to get Max to take a nap in the morning, and when Marc went to wake him up, Max definitely knew something was up. Max was a great host, wanting to stay by the door and see everyone (plus he could keep climbing the stairs that were also nearby). He sat on my lap patiently while I opened each of his gifts for him, and made a nice display of eating his cake for everyone to take pictures. It was wonderful to get so many people together to celebrate his first year.

Hannah's birthday is just four days later, so we had her fifth birthday party at Kids U in Needham. The party was fantastic, and the staff at Kids U was amazing. I definitely recommend them for a stress-free party experience! The kids ran around a giant climbing structure for about half an hour, then were moved into another giant room for games and dancing, and then we ended with the traditional pizza and cake. Our turnout was a bit lower this year from Hannah's class since some people were still returning home from vacations, but she had a great time. She was a very gracious greeter, got to be the fox in "What Time is it Mr. Fox?" and enjoyed her strawberry cake.

So no more birthdays around here until Marc hits a (somewhat) big one in September. We're hoping to take a trip to Las Vegas, just the two of us, towards the end of the summer to celebrate, but we'll see if we can make that happen. Right now we're trying to plan our first vacation as a family of four - to Disney World. I've worked myself into a frenzy trying to read up on all of the best things to do, but really I'm just excited to go away together. All of the vacations we've taken since Hannah was born have involved an extended family component - visiting my family in Ohio and California, going to the Cape and traveling for weddings for Marc's family. So I am very excited to do a trip that's just about the four of us, and if we get to ride Dumbo too, even better. If you've got any tips for us, feel free to post them to the comments!