Mimi and Grandpa arrived Thursday evening and we headed out for Carigan's family birthday celebration. We wanted to take her somewhere special, but it's hard to find a restaurant that's especially fun for a 3-year-old. I did some googling and Buca di Beppo kept popping up as a fun place for kids. I've only ever been with adults (
it was one of Susan's favorites), but it's lighthearted and fun, so we decided it would be a great place to take the kids for the first time. When I told them about it, they were excited but none of them could remember how to say it... eventually they were all calling it "Boogety Beppo." Buca di Beppo happens to be right across the street from Build-a-Bear, something Wesley and Anna Kate beg to do ALL the time. We've only paid to do Build-a-Bear once, when Wesley had just turned three and we were on vacation in Destin. But both Wes and AK got to do Build-a-Bear over the summer as part of friends' birthday parties. Mimi & Grandpa always send money at birthdays to get each kid a gift (
yes, even siblings always get a gift on birthdays - such a great Mimi!), and the kids need absolutely NOTHING. I already feel like we're drowning in stuff so I hated the idea of shopping to find yet another thing they don't need. But building a bear is an actual event - a fun memory, and then they still get a toy. I've always preferred spending money to
do something rather than to simply buy something. We decided it would be the perfect gift for all three. When I suggested it, all three kids went crazy... they were
SO excited.
We had the whole store to ourselves, and Carigan got lots of special attention for it being her birthday. Wesley informed all the employees that this was Carigan's first time at Build-a-Bear, Anna Kate's second, and his third. They had the most fun picking out their sounds to put inside (
that play when you squeeze the bear's hand). Anna Kate picked a kissing sound, Carigan picked a giggle, and Wesley picked a song. It sounded familiar but I couldn't place it... then I realized the next day that I knew it from a video a bunch of teens in my brother-in-law's youth group had made about him for camp last summer. It's "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction. Wes loves it.
Carigan made a beeline for the grooming tub after she filled her bear with fluff. We couldn't pull her away after that. She just wanted to keep cleaning her bear. She named it "Fluffy." -
BELOW- Anna Kate filling her bear... actually, I think hers is a dog. She named it "Kissy."
Wes filled his bear with quite the dramatic flair. He named his pet "Camo Singer." He loves to rock out with it.
-
BELOW- After about 30 attempts to get Carigan to turn and look at me while at the tub, I finally got her to give me a quick glance. I have 29 shots of her back. She was a busy girl!
The worker helping them prepare their hearts to put inside their bears.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
The kids would have stayed at the mall all night, but we managed to round them up and drive them across the street to "Boogety" Beppo. They all insisted on bringing in their pets, which they showed off proudly to the seating hostess. Wesley decided to serve as in-house photographer for the night. We have lots of interesting pictures, especially of their new pets in various positions all around the table. The waiters brought out the official Buca di Beppo birthday candelabra with dessert but Carigan wigged out when they started singing to her and hid behind me. Wesley was more than happy to step in and blow out her candles.
She wasn't shy about eating her birthday dessert though! Friday morning Michael had Daddy Centers at LCS with Anna Kate. Since it was a special day, he was allowed to sign her out early without it counting as an absence. I told him to check with Wesley's teacher to see if she would mind taking him early as well. She said he's so smart it wouldn't matter a bit. :o) So Michael signed them both out before lunch and we all got to go to Olive Garden together. My kids are fans of Italian food, if you can't tell. They would pick either Italian or Mexican for every meal if they could! They were all eager to come home and open Carigan's presents from Mimi and Grandpa.
She was ecstatic about her Peppa Pig family! She's a bit obsessed with Peppa Pig right now... she won't let us turn the TV on to anything else. You'd think she'd get bored and want some variety, but if I attempt to show her something different or new, she gets upset and yells, "
NO! I want to watch Peppa Pig!" I knew we had to have a Peppa Pig theme for her birthday party, but you can't find Peppa party supplies on this side of the pond since Peppa Pig is a British cartoon. I actually ordered some things on Etsy and had them shipped from China! I was thrilled to find these on Amazon (
and shipped from the good 'ol USA). We used them to decorate her cake at her party on Saturday.
As sort of a side note (
I never know where to squeeze these tidbits in on my blog), Carigan's thing for weeks and weeks now has been to ask me every 30 minutes, "
Are you happy or mad?" And don't try answering somewhere in the middle, because she makes it clear that your only two options are
happy or
mad. She started this several weeks ago when Michael was in California on a business trip and Carigan had three accidents in one day, right in front of the toilet. It was the most bizarre thing because she's been potty-trained since October and hasn't had an accident since that week Michael was gone. But that day she kept waiting too long to run to the potty and when she'd get there she couldn't get her pants down in time and I had to clean up a puddle on the bathroom floor three times in one day. Obviously sensing my frustration, Carigan kept asking me, "
Are you happy or mad?" And now I guess it's a game or she's declared herself official mood meteorologist of the family, because she likes to ask everyone that question all the time. Especially when I'm attempting to discipline one of the kids.
As for an update on giving up the binky, there proved to be a direct correlation between being over-tired and asking for her binky. Most every nap time and night time this week, she went down with no problem and never asked for it. But the night we got in from Buca di Beppo and it was hours past her bedtime, and then again the next afternoon when we'd been out and she was still extremely over-tired, she cried for her binky. I could tell she was just in that irrational state of exhaustion, so both times I picked her up and took her to my bed and snuggled with her until she fell asleep. For the first five minutes we snuggled, she kept saying, "
I'm NOT happy." I could tell she was waiting for me to ask why, but I didn't take the bait. Finally she said, "
Mommy, I'm not happy because I'm mad for my binky." I just said, "
I know" and waited the five minutes until she zonked out. Now that we've been keeping her a little more properly rested, she's been bragging, "
Mommy, I'm happy! I'm not mad for my binky anymore!" Once again, she's very proud of herself for being such a big girl.
The girls immediately asked to pull the doll house out of the playroom and into the family room so they could play with their Peppa Pig family for our entertainment. I almost couldn't bring myself to order these little figurines sine they cost $17 (
crazy!) but I gotta admit they were worth every penny. They girls have continued to play with them for hours and hours on end. They were a hit!
