After that we went to her well-child check-up with the pediatrician. I was feeling bad for scheduling this ON her birthday because I thought she was due for some shots. Turned out she didn't need any (whew!). She had fun with a bunch of firsts at the doctors: getting weighed and measured on the big girl scale, having her blood pressure taken with an arm cuff, her reflexes tested with the little hammer knee thing, and doing some hopping around and coloring games.
After that we stopped for a quick early lunch at "Old McDonald's" before heading to Brookside Garden's "Wings of Fancy" Butterfly exhibit. I wished I'd planned ahead enough to pack a picnic lunch instead, but it was so so hot outside I didn't feel that bad about it.
The butterfly garden (as we refer to it) is one of the most magical things to experience. After paying admission you go into this sauna of a greenhouse enclosure that is filled with flowers and hundreds of butterfly species. So many shapes and colors it just takes your breath away. Evalyn was a little older than Henry last year when we went. This time it was Henry's turn to be awestruck and squeal and point and try to grab everything in sight! Evalyn meanwhile was just as delighted by it but was so "grown-up" and verbal about everything she saw. It made me realize that she's not a toddler anymore! One of the guides gave her a magnifying glass to explore with. She proceeded to hold it next to any stationary butterfly and examine it carefully as she flitted about.
I was kicking myself for forgetting the camera. There was this especially endearing shot of her leaning over a rock with outstretched arm peering through the magnifying glass. That's my girl! Fortunately another mom with two kids in tow took a couple of shots and emailed them to me. We happened to buy our tickets at the same time and stuck up a conversation about our baby carriers. She had her 10mo in the same style of Ergo that I own, but I was wearing Henry in my black Mei Tai that day. It's always fun to meet a fellow babywearer while out and about!
It was so hot and sweaty chasing Henry around and trying to keep him from grabbing every blossom and butterfly within reach. Plus he was getting tired and a little wound up so even when I did put him back on my back he protested loudly. Evalyn's attention span was pretty much at it's limit anyway, so it was definitely time to go. I would really like to see this exhibit sometime sans kids, or at least crazy toddler, so I could actually SIT on the bench and soak in the tranquility of the place and read some of the signs and pictures about the many species. As it is, I never feel like I get my whole $5 worth ($9 incl one child admission).
The next stop along Evalyn's Birthday Day of Fun was a ride on the carousel and train on the other side of Wheaton Regional Park from Brookside Gardens. If it wasn't the middle of the summer and a code orange weather day and me being great with child, I might've considered taking the jogging stroller and walking through the gardens like we did when my mom visited last spring. Needless to say driving through light traffic in an air conditioned vehicle and parking a the carousel was the way to go this time around. Sadly the train was out of service getting some repairs done. : ( So we settled on a carousel ride with blaring 80's music before coaxing the kids back in the car. Both were very tired. But the drive home was too short for Henry to fall deeply asleep so naps were a miserable failure. Tired Mommy was very very disappointed.
Later that evening we went to California Tortilla for dinner, Evalyn's favorite place to eat, and made a quick stop at Coldstone Creamery for her free birthday dessert. My brain was a little fried at this point because I let Evalyn choose her "pink" ice cream flavor based on color rather than flavor. I knew she wanted strawberry but when she pointed to the raspberry sorbet I didn't feel like explaining the difference. The coupon was for a free Love It size. That is a lot of ice cream. So the obliging scooper put one small scoop in a sugar cone with rainbow sprinkles and the rest in a Love It size waffle bowl with another generous coating of rainbow sprinkles. After Evalyn had licked all the sprinkles off her raspberry sorbet she handed me the cone and we traded. She ate some more sprinkles off the waffle dish while I licked away at the melting cone. I love ice cream in almost any flavor. But this particular combination was disgusting. Since it was "free" I felt bad throwing it all away so we took the leftovers home. It's still in the freezer but will soon be in the trash. yuck!
The post-dinner birthday party was almost a disaster due to the Dead Battery Fiasco (see separate post). But candles were blown out (albeit on red white and blue 4th of July cupcakes rather than the gloriously pink layer cake that never got made) and presents were opened. We watched a few minutes of the Babe DVD Evalyn had just opened before reading some stories and tucking our sweet little princess in bed for the night. I wanted her to have a special day of happy memories and I think we succeeded.
(I know this is a very looooong post and I am a wordy writer, but hey, no one's paying you read my blog and my husband is no longer paying me by the word! ; ) I do appreciate anyone who's read to the end though. Hopefully you didn't fall asleep in the process. I almost did....)
2 comments:
Sounds like you made the most of the day, all things considered. And, no, I did not fall asleep while reading! I love how you write. :) And I admire you for going out in the sweltering heat to give your girl a good time!
That is a SERIOUS good mommy day. Well done mommy of a three year old!!
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