Birthdays, Baked Goods, Brazilians and Baseball

We have had a very full first week of April filled with all kinds of good times and celebrations. We kicked off the past weekend a little early with Ellie's 1st birthday!  She really did not know what was going on but she appreciated all the attention, delicious sweets and neat gifts.  Her big day started off with homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast!

 

 

 

 

 

Ellie's big day ended with homemade cupcakes! It took her a little time to get into it but once she did she made a nice mess while enjoying a little frosting. We were at a leadership meeting and dinner for Cross Culture so she had a whole crowd of friends singing to her for her birthday. 

 

 

 

In between all the deliciousness Ellie enjoyed opening and playing with her new gifts.  Sue had the wonderful idea to give Ellie permission to do what she loves the most - splash in water! So with some recycled wood parts and a couple new items we built Ellie her very own water table (soon to be colored high gloss pink). Hopefully now she can play to her heart's content and allow the dog to drink from her water bowl peacefully, the birds to bathe in their bath, and the toilet lid to remain down.  

 

 

 Loving her new baby with hugs and kisses (kinda)

 

 She loved opening her gifts and her siblings loved "helping" her

 

The next day some other guy also had a birthday.  More importantly the aforementioned cinnamon rolls were turned into cinnamon roll French toast for dinner.  Then all that was washed down by another homemade cake!

 

The next day the real weekend started and we enjoyed the beautiful weather that springtime brings us in Savannah.  After a rocking Hull Park Hurricanes soccer practice we headed downtown.  After dropping my bike off to be tuned up (I'm now a bicycle commuter to my new gig downtown) we stopped by the park to play. We were surprised to find yet another SCAD event being thrown at Forsyth Park. This time it was International Festival which was accompanied by lots of great music, great smelling food (which ran out before we could get some), and great displays of handmade wares from all kinds of countries and cultures. 

 

Savannah made a Carnival mask at the Brazilian tent then spent the rest of the day dressing up as a Thai lady (with a sparkling dress and shoulder wrap) and a Saudi Arabian women (with a veil on). She also learned how to write her name in Arabic and Korean.

 

On Monday I started work in my new position.  It has the perk of being able to eat lunch by the river but the downside is I do not have time to come home for lunch anymore.  Fortunately there was plenty to look forward to on Monday evening when I got home.  Our kids have been waiting for months for the Sand Gnats to come back to town.  While the small, annoying, biting sand gnats came back a couple weeks ago the baseball version started back on Ellie's birthday. Since we had been busy we waited until our favorite night of the week - DOLLAR MONDAY - to go to our first game of the season.  It is only a few blocks to the stadium so we walked up for the game.  Ellie rode and sat in the stroller because we hoped that would convince her to sit still.  She did better then Sue expected, lasting to the 3rd inning (which is longer than the Augusta Greenjackets pitcher lasted).  The rest of us only made it through the 6th inning before we had to head home for bed and the NCAA men's final. Apparently the Sand Gnats lead didn't last much longer than us.  Savannah and Isaiah checked the score today and found out the Sand Gnats lost.  Oh well, at least everyone got to wear their new gear!