Balloons & a Bike

One of the first things Kate said to us when we arrived in Salt Lake City was that her birthday was only 2 days away. Imagine that, someone counting down to her birthday! I wonder where she learned such a thing. It became quickly apparent that we could NOT gloss over Kate’s real birthday like I had intended and plan a joint party with Jane a week later. Kate was very specific in her requests. She wanted “a bike and balloons” and she knew what day she could expect them.

At breakfast Monday morning Kate had me sing every version of happy birthday I could think of. Then we set out to have a fun day together as a family. Our first stop was to get the girls’ hair cut. The week before Kate had taken her giraffe scissors to her hair, the dreaded but inevitable event of childhood. Fortunately, the shortest piece was about 5 inches long so it still looks cute--short and sassy for summer.

The grand finale of our adventures was going to REI to look for a bike. We had decided to get Kate a skuut. Unfortunately, no one told REI to hide all their shiny pink bikes with sparkly streamers. Kate, deep in her princess phase, has eyes only for pink frilly things just now, so when I first brought the skuut around she said, “no, not a bike like that.” Fortunately, all I had to do was say, “This bike is just like Gracie’s” and Kate was immediately sold. We found a helmet and then headed home for the real fun. Kate and Josh put the bike together and pumped up the tires. We put Kate’s helmet on and she was off without a moment of hesitation. She is the perfect size and level for a skuut and she looks so cute riding it. All week whenever there was a break in the rain she would beg someone to take her out to ride her bike.

Kate’s two best friends, Grace, her cousin, and Makenna, her friend from Philly, both turned 4 at the end of last year. Consequently, Kate has been waiting for 6 months to be 4 like them. When she came and woke me up on Monday, I gave her a big birthday hug and told her she was 4 now just like her friends. As if not to bring the long awaited event to an end too soon she said, “no, not yet.” She spent all morning deciding when she would actually turn 4. First, it was after she ate breakfast, then it was when she got dressed, then it was when she ate cake, but once she got on her bike she knew she was 4 and big stuff to boot!

We had a fun birthday dinner complete with balloons, gooey cupcakes, and homemade birthday hats. For all my worry about not planning anything, the day worked out very well. I think Kate’s hopes were more than satisfied, which means the birthday was a success.

It was pretty fun to watch my little four-year-old cruising around on her bike. I love that little girl more than I can say. I love to hear her continuously singing to herself, sometimes in her high, screechy mermaid voice. I love to do workbook with her and see her excited to learn to read, write, and add. I love to watch her enter into her world of imagination and play there an hour oblivious to all around her. I love to hear her tell her jokes and see her joy in making people laugh. I love to see her play with her little sister. I love to see her get excited about Jesus stories when we read the scriptures. I love how she wiggles and squiggles to get out of being held any longer than 3 seconds at a time. I love to hear her tell me stories. I love to see her spin and twirl and dance and glance over her shoulder to make sure I am still watching her performance. I love to see her do new things, even if it means she is growing up without my permission. I love my little Katerpiller, my adventure buddy, my ball of energy and enthusiasm. Happy Birthday, my beautiful girl!

The rest of this week was spent refinishing the deck, recovering from refinishing the deck, clearing our eyes, noses, ears, and mouths after refinishing the deck, cleaning the house after refinishing the deck, and cursing the rain for messing up our cycling plans. We have loved being around grandparents again. It is nice to take life at a little slower pace for a bit.