Recently we ate lunch at Tucanos. Carissa ate the whipped cream off my sundae.

Wes ate nothing.

This afternoon I took the kids to Costco to return an item. We couldn’t leave without ice cream–or, as Wes says, “ISCWEEM!”

Costco sells waffle cones with three scoops of gelato (berry, pistacio, and chocolate chip) for just a buck-fifty. Good price. Good eats.

And aside from me helping lick up a few dribbles down the side and sneaking an occasional bite of cone, Wes ate the ENTIRE thing by himself. All of it.

Here’s proof: Wes finishing off the cone tip.

Later in the day we spent a little time at the water at Riverwoods. Wes LOVED playing in the water. Carissa got really excited and screamed happily as she toddled around, until the water squirted her in the face and then she needed some love from Mom or Dad before going back in.

There’s nothing better than seeing your kids happy.

I took this kids on a trip this morning. First we spent a little time at Gardner Village. It’s a quaint place, but I suppose it would be quaint AND enjoyable if you were with other adults and not a four- and one-year-old. We walked through two stores, both of which were nice, but Wes would have none of it. I ended up carrying Carissa in one arm and pushing Wes in the stroller with the other so he would at least be contained. When we came to the duck pond it was all I could do to keep him from jumping in and throwing rocks at the ducks.

It was a quick visit.

Instead of going right home, we stopped at Thanksgiving Point. I had heard about the children’s garden that is supposed to be nice to visit. And it was. (Even for $10 admission–$6 for me, $4 for Wes.)

The first thing you see is a giant Noah’s Ark water feature. Wes was basically in heaven.

Carissa’s favorite game was tossing her bottle in the water and then standing at the edge, innocently saying, “Oh, oh!” over and over until I fetched it. And then she’d throw it in again.

Carissa thought the water jets were really fun, but she wouldn’t venture into the water by herself (it was chilly).

I didn’t dress the kids for playing in water. Wesley’s corduroy pants were sopping wet, even rolled up–especially after he sat in the water.

After Wes fell face-first into the water (he was chasing the big kids), I took off his shirt to dry and he sported this cool saggy bottom look.

At long last I dragged them away from the water and we strolled the gardens. They have some cool features: a bear cave, a fish pond, and hedge mazes (there was NO WAY I would let Wes loose in there). The best part was probably the giant sandbox.

So busy.

So tired.

So big.

Not big enough.

Popsicles with friends.

Solo snack.

Rock time.

Walk time.

Today we celebrated Wesley’s 4th birthday with his first-ever party with friends.

This would also be my first-ever experience planning a birthday party for little kids.

Lesson Learned #1: Simple is best!

When I started planning I was kind of extravagant, but I simplified and things were a lot easier to pull together with less time. Plus, the kids are three, four, and five. They don’t care about extravagant. They just want to play and eat cake.

We held it in our backyard. The kids liked to play, but they wanted a little structure, too. Once the thrill of just playing wore off (about ten minutes) we brought out snacks.

I bought some pointed wooden sticks from a cake supply store and mounted fresh fruit on them, ala Edible Arrangements style, only with less style and for a lot less money.

I included strawberries and grapes stacked in three as well as marshmallows and half-bananas that I dipped in melted chocolate/peanut butter (recipe below).

The pictures above were taken after the fruit had been out a few minutes and already attacked by the kids. I think they especially liked the chocolate-peanut butter marshmallows and bananas.

But Wesley’s favorite was the strawberries. I think he may have eaten them all.

Carissa liked the banana.

When snacks were done we pulled out a pinata. This was a smashing success. And, it was the most orderly I’d seen the kids all hour. They lined up and patiently waited their turn to swing at the ball.

We gave each kid a couple swings, and then after a few rounds we just told them to whack at it. That pinata was industrial strength!

Wes needed a little help to realize he was supposed to be hitting the pinata and not the tree, the clouds, etc.

At last it fell and the kids were on that candy like piranhas.

We had cake and ice cream.

When all was said and done and eaten, guests left with a goody bag because I like to say thanks to everyone who came.

The goody bag included bubbles and a chocolate-peanut butter marshmallow that I made myself.

It was easy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dipped Marshmallows (and Bananas)

Melt 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips and 2 Tbsp. peanut butter in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes at 50% power, stirring now and again. Dip the marshmallow (I used a lollipop stick I got at a cake/candy supply store), top with sprinkles, and put in the fridge to harden. Since I used sticks, I stuck them in a piece of Styrofoam to keep the chocolate looking pretty as it hardened.

You can also do this with banana halves and freeze them for a nice alternative to an ice cream bar.

I actually just read about how you can mash bananas and freeze them and it tastes a lot like ice cream, except better-for-you, and now I can see how that’s true.

Last of all, because every mom deserves a little something, they all got a goody bag, too, with cake bites from my favorite place.

Lesson Learned #2: Birthday parties are best with lots of help! So glad a couple moms stayed to help me out!

And now I am One Who Throws Successful Birthday Parties for Little Kids.

Phew. No more until next year.

What is an umbrella for, anyway?