The morning Daniel Tiger crew
Ella finding endless entertainment sitting in Big Bear’s lap
Hummus everywhere, but apparently she’ll “pass” on the carrots
Reading to Margaret Tiger
DJ “Dr. Ella” prepping for tonight’s rave
What could imaginably be almost any mammal, Des explains this is a sea turtle
After dinner dance party ends with a dip
Eleanor riding the birthday whale into her second birthday
Up close and personal with SO many butterflies, it was a magical birthday morning
Birthday hugs…
…followed by mom’s famous (birthday) blueberry muffins
Yeah, they’re that good.
Naturally.
It wouldn’t surprise anyone that she got up there all by herself.
Can you say “birthday envy?”
Aptly making a cake for sister
Exchanging family gifts, Des’ card
Pure joy upon opening her own Margaret Tiger stuffy
Combining two of her current passions- Margaret Tiger and putting any object to sleep with a blanket
She pretty much has stethoscopes figured out
New Daniel Tiger story book, and brother isn’t complaining
Let the wild, pink-spangled butterfly rumpus begin!
Reading with ma
…followed by asking grandma to read the exact same book again.
Grandma cheerleading taking bites with the slow/distracted eating crew
Weeks candle-blowing training comes down to one moment…
Nailed it!
Cake!
Saying good-bye to Ol’ Monkey Butt
The many faces of cake euphoria (during)
After cake, as you’d expect
All clean
Silly goose [mouseover/tap]
“Oh look,” the monsters shout. “It’s 6:08! Your present opening cannot wait!”
Cookie baking as a companion set to the much beloved tea set
Ella takes the same creative liberties to opening cards as she does bucking convention while eating sandwiches layer-wise
The birthday Hug of Thanks tour starting with grandpa
Kisses with ma
Cousin Cal, one of the finest huggers known east of 72nd st.
Dr. Des and Dr. Cal checking up on the llama patient
“It’s ok, her throat beat is strong!”
What may have been Desmond’s first Snickers bar
But definitely Ella’s first taste of the rainbow
Max being a good sport (the birthday 🐳 shall rise again…)
As dad later described- if you looked at a map of North American butterfly migratory paths, there’d be a big dot on Omaha. Mom doesn’t skimp on the butterflies.
A new autumn tradition- piling leaves in the recycling bins. Every Wednesday evening after preschool/daycare.
When mom’s out for a work obligation, the tables turn. Or at least the seating switches up.
The elusive Ellasaurus and the Dinosaur Scientist (yes he knows what a paleontologist is, but he prefers his alternate title), ready for another year’s Halloween parade
The cutest little pink-chucks-wearing dinosaur you ever did see
Parading
Ma’s handmade costume has a quality last appearance
What started as a joint venture slowly turned into a one-man con job on dad to complete a puzzle for Des’ viewing entertainment
Oasis Hummus – Good to the very last lick
“Can we do bath drops tonight, dad?”
Des and Ella learning that flying kites inside is big trouble
Not sure what to make of ma and pa’s skeleton decoration
Building the birthday Millennium Falcon
Piloted by the coolest Chewbacca minifig ever
Go strap yourself in, Des is going to make the jump to light speed
Eleanor proudly showing off her artwork
Poke bowls!
Desmond chose yet again to spend his fourth birthday out of school on a special adventure with just mom and dad to… the pumpkin patch. While waiting for the tractor to depart, Des surveys the map
Cold and muddy, he’s undeterred on his quest for the perfect pumpkin
The kind lady taking tickets at the gate, upon learning it was his birthday, offered Des a special birthday button. It took nearly 10 minutes for her to return with it, but clearly worth it.
Proud of his haul
While dad runs the pumpkins to the car, Des hops on another tractor ride
The now annual windmill photo, Des is notably more comfortable walking on grated surfaces 🙂
He was a bit trigger happy, though some apples made contact with the steel pumpkin and black cat silhouettes
While last year’s climb to the top was immediately followed by walking down the stairs, this time Des was all about the Big Slide
The yellow barn was the same loud, pneumatic chaos of foam ball fury
Desmond was endlessly tickled by the horse with what appeared to be dog-like patience and interest in pellet treats. The swing-arm feeding tray that he could control likely also played a role in his ear-to-grin and giggle fits.
Gotta feed the goats…
…but there’s no one like his #1 pal
Able to peddle his own way around the trike track with dad needing to push. It was a lot of fun until he didn’t understand that one must yield to pedestrians loading/unloading at the beginning :/
Refueling with some sandwiches and a pickle
The equivalent “fun” of paddle boats, Des enjoys the ride as mom and dad peddle (with their knees to the chest) what can be best described as a manual dune buggy. Mom takes the wheel as dad engages in vehicular photo shenanigans
Practicing his mastery of the force in the corn pit
Much more confident as a four year old, Des really enjoyed the bounce pads
Duck racing, as you do
Snack break for some apple cobbler and ice cream
It’s not a John Deere, but it’ll do
Mom and dad weren’t sure how this was going to go…
There’s sometimes a fine line between thrill and terror, but Des clearly landed on exhilarating!
To be fair, no one in Team Llama got over a condescending “bumpkin”
About sums up the day-
Opening family presents
Des first Hot Wheels track!
His own music station, for mixing his noise-scapes on a whole new level
Yeah, that’s fun
Continuing the tradition of birthday cupcakes
After half a cupcake, Ella get’s pretty wild
Chef and his two sous chefs reading up on making poke bowls
Not too shabby-
and quite the hit!
Desmond caught watching the playoffs via the neighbor’s living room window
