Happy Birthday, Hunter!!!

Hard to believe it's already that time again... Hunter's birthday! Wow - and he's FOUR! Absolutely nuts that four years ago we were in Taipei pushing the little guy out and now we're in New Zealand pushing him on swings... but what a guy! We love this little man... he's such an encourager - he can often be heard saying things like "Dad, you're doing a great job...", "Mama, that was a good dinner...", "Mei mei, I like your dress...". He's also a great host - he'll greet people, thank people and try to make his way to see everyone in attendance. Other fine characteristics include: a great memory for places, people and events; a wonderful laugh and smile; creative with Duplo, cars and train tracks; and a keen interest in anything mobile. We're loving watching him grow.

Anyway, this isn't supposed to be a brag blog, I just got a bit carried away! Saturday, January 22, we celebrated his fourth birthday at the Aotea Lagoon where about 7 boys his age brought along their parents and siblings for the festivities. 

Way back in June, our good friend Auntie Suzanne baked a "Thomas" cake for Mikey's birthday/Hunter's going away... well, my boy with a great memory for things decided that was what he wanted for his birthday cake so I decided I'd go for it - full throttle!!! The result...

Yahoo... a giant train cake with four coaches: milk car, log car, sand car and fish car! I was still in bed about 6:30am pre-party when I heard him rustle in his room saying something like "my cake?"... next thing I saw was my boy's expectant face. He and Helena were sooooooooooooo thrilled when I pulled it out of the fridge to show them!!! CHOOOOOOOOO CHOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 The Lagoon has a great playground so the kids brought their bikes and scooters and made use of the public facilities and in the end all my planned activities went by the wayside in favor of more organic play! I'm learning to be flexible.

 This great tire swing was a hit with most of the kids and proved to be the most exercise I got during the day. Must've got them going pretty fast since Hunter's eyes were closed and Helena's face was pulled back from the G-forces...

 but hearing these kids giggle and squeal made all the breathlessness worth it!

 Smart moms kicking back while dads are keeping watch over the children.

 We had a BBQ lunch but did something really genius (if I don't say so myself, eh?) - we did all the cooking at home then insulated everything - the result: warm sausages and corn on the cob, more time with friends and kids! However, I totally over-calculated how many sausages the kids would eat and now have a large container of BBQed sausages kicking around in the fridge which we'll have to eat in various ways over the next week.

 While the boys ate together, Hunter accompanied the ladies... pretty smart boy, eh?

 Here he is with his train cake - doesn't look anything like Thomas, but hey, it worked. And homemade frosting looks a whole lot different from the Betty Crocker demo I followed... but the look of approval on Hunter's face was enough to make me forget any perfectionistic tendencies I may have been tempted to dwell on.

Here we are - Happy Birthday to Hunter - Happy Birthday to YOU!!!