Daddy-Daughter Birthday Shenanigans {In Four Parts}

The beginning of June is an exciting and party-filled time in our little Blanch Herd (as well as in the greater Blanch Herd extended family, too).  It's getting especially fun now that Callie has discovered what birthdays entail: making cake, singing Happy Birthday, blowing out candles, eating the cake, opening presents, getting "Happy Birthday cards" in the mail, and best of all, playing with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents!  We did all of those things during this "birthdays week" (more like weeks, actually, with how much partying we did), and had a marvelous time celebrating these two June bugs that we love so much.

Part 1:  The Big 3-2 for Gregg
The day was pretty simple, really.  Gregg worked and Cal and I did our normal stuff, including making cookies for the birthday boy.  That evening for dinner we walked over to Carlos and Harley's (aka "the Restaurant!") for dinner - a delicious treat including their variety of salsas, fajita stead salad, and a triple plate of rice, beans, enchilada, tamale and taco.  Mmmm-hmm.  After dinner we came home to open a few presents.  Then we grabbed the cookies and headed to the lake (Pineview Reservoir) for a lovely evening of splashing rocks from the shore.

Since we'd be having his "real" birthday "cake" at our combined
party with family on the 13th, we opted instead for carrot cake
cookies on the actual day of birth.

First gift, all the way from Ryan in Belgium

Fun bike caps and shoulder bag from the races in Belgium.

Even Cal got in on the dressing up action!

And going along with the biking theme, a saddle
bag for his bike from Cal and Mom.

All the loot (including amazon gift card from the
Farrers).

Pretty Pineview.

Aka Heaven for a girl who loves to splash rocks.

Getting a lesson in rock skipping from Dad.

Part Dos: The Quadruple Blanchard Birthday Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's
Since Kage, Melia, Gregg and Callie all have birthdays within ten days of each other, we opted for celebrating everyone at the same Blanchard Birthday Feast on Sunday, June 7th in South Jordan.  On the menu, as chosen by those we were celebrating: lasagna, pizza, Olive Garden salad, bruschetta, and sauteed zucchini, with trifle for dessert.  Talk about a carb-lovers paradise!  (Callie's pick was raisins, which we actually forgot to serve, but they did make an appearance later in the week, as you'll see soon.)  After dinner, everyone got to open more presents.  Then we took a lovely little stroll on the golf course with the dogs.  It's so fun to be close by and get to enjoy these family meals again!

Ready to eat!

A lot of years in this group.

Cal got some fun gifts from G&G, one of which was
 a bucket and variety of shovels.

And this darling wooden birthday cake, complete with server and
candle, that velcros together so she can cut and serve it to her
party guests.  (Not pictured, she also got some bubbles and a
toddler wading pool for those hot days that are coming.)

Gregg's gifts from Heather and Scott and fam:
Amazon gift card and Boston Creme Pies - they
know him way too well!

From the Padres he got a swanky new hammock, perfect for lounging
in our new, very tree-full, yard.

Cousins on the course - my goodness Kage is looking tall!
(Especially when he stands next to Callie.)

Pooches were present, too, and even obliged by posing for a photo.

Part Three: Callie June Turns Two!
Gregg had to leave for a conference (Destination Summit) in Denver that he had a big part in putting together on Monday morning.  We decided rather than driving home Sunday after the get-together, we'd stay overnight and have a shorter commute to the airport in the morning.  Kim invited Callie and I to stay through Tuesday to play and go visit Grandma Gallagher, so we took her up on the offer and did just that.  On Tuesday morning we woke up and talked with Gregg on FaceTime while Callie opened a present from us (the balloons were a big hit, too).  She got a yummy birthday breakfast of French Toast made by Grandma.  Then we played outside for a bit before heading to Orem to pick up Great-grandma Gallagher to run errands and have lunch at Mimi's Cafe.  After a nap, Cal and I headed back home where we ate noodles for dinner (Cal's choice) and played at the park for a few minutes before bed.   Pretty chill, but happy day for our little two-year-old.

Birthday morning FaceTime with Dad (and balloons!)

"Hi, Dad!"
(Notice the bowls of grapes and raisins - a pre-breakfast treat for
Callie.  Grandma knows what she likes!)

A new apron, reversible and with pockets, just Calli'es size!

French Toast for a the birthday girl.

Playing with the "duckling" by the fireplace.  Still in apron.
(She has since worn it to the bowling alley, the store, the post
office, and the park.  I think it's safe to say she likes it.)

Waiting for our lunch at Mimi's.

Time to eat!

Part D: The Birthday Bowling (and Hot Dog Roasting) Bash
We hosted our families to some birthday bowling (it's tradition!) at Wildcat Lanes on Weber State's campus (it had the best deal).  Once everyone got there (we had some confusion in directions for some people), we had the whole place to ourselves for an hour of bowling mania.  Gregg, of course, dominated the score-sheet (although he only beat Scott by one point and me by a handful).  Callie's favorite part was pushing the buttons on the arcade games nearby.  Everyone seemed to have a good time, even if we (okay, maybe it was only me) were sore after it was all said and done.

After, we headed back to Eden for a backyard hot dog roast and bbq potluck.  Everyone contributed something utterly delicious to the meal: the Elwood grandparents brought potato salad, Heather and Scott brought pasta salad, Heather and Terrell brought squeaky cheese, the Blanchard grandparents brought watermelon and seven layer dip, Swaze brought pop and ice, and I made Joan's Jello (with raspberry instead of apricot) and baked beans (recipe to come soon).  Oh my, yummy-yum!

We had Callie open some of her gifts while we waited for the fire to turn to coals, but she had so many, and enjoyed each gift as it came, that we had to save half for after dinner or we would have all starved (and the fire totally died away).  After all the presents were opened and played with, we had dessert: Gregg chose Peach Cobbler Cheesecake (thanks a million to my uncle Bryan for coming through with a fantastic recipe for me!) and Callie chose a "brown cake" decorated like a lady bug (well, honestly, I chose the decoration - she's really into bugs lately and I thought it would be cute and fun).

Not the best pic of either of us (what is going on with our
awkward mouth thing?) but the only one I know of us at the bowling
alley, so here it is.

Cal's turn for bowling (with a little help from the ramp and Dad).

Bowling ball or Baby Dos under that shirt?  Hard to tell the
difference these days.

Callie with her "Gramma and Other Gramma!"
"Gramma, Gramma!  Two Grammas!"

We had four lanes reserved (and the other four were empty) -
quite the fun little outing at Wildcat Lanes.

First present (of many, many) for Callie was from
Swaze: some bubbles and gummy worms.  She
loved them both!

Coloring books . . . 

. . . and a cute little fabric crayon roll-up holder
from H and T.

She didn't waste any time going to town on the coloring.

New pink shoes (same as the ones she had on before, just a size
bigger) and Go Go Grapes! from the Wihongis.

She had to read the whole thing (by herself) to everyone before
moving on to the next present.

"Hello, Tangelo!"

Ky-Ky helping Callie with the big present from
G&G Elwood.  (The blue pole in her hand is a
broom handle - yes, you read that right - from us.
For some reason the broom part didn't make it from
Amazon, so we're currently waiting for a replacement
in the mail!)

A Callie-sized picnic table!  Just in time for dinner!

She made sure Dray and Kage knew they were invited to dine with
her on the new digs.

Dinner time!  (Our deck makes a great buffet area, I think.)

We got her a play kitchen (KSL steal of $8 picked up in Logan by
my mom and delivered to the deck during dinner by my parents).
We just left it there and waited for her to discover it.  Pretty good
reaction, I say!

In no time she had donned her apron and was busy
cooking things in the microwave.  (We also got
her some pots and pans and utensils to play with,
which she opened shortly after this.)

After dinner was over she got her very first taste
of a gummy worm.

It took her a minute to figure out how to eat one,
but once she got it down, there has been no looking
back.  We have to ration them out or they'd be gone
in a flash!

More presents to open - this one from Auntie Ky.

A new Aggie Game Day shirt!  (Of course! ;)

And a fun story from Auntie Meg.

Gregg wasn't left out from the gift department, either - he got
a plug from Swaze.  Doesn't seem like much, but it makes it so the
vibrator and heater work in our recliner chair.
What a guy, that Swaze!

The gang shooting the breeze after dinner.

Cal got busy stocking the shelves of her kitchen, and cooked
noodles and pizza (her specialties) for everyone.

She had to specially invite Dray (and Kage) to join her in her
kitchen, and they were quick to oblige her little imagination.
Such good cousins they are!

Cake was served, too!

Real cake, even!  Here's Gregg's Peach Cobbler Cheesecake -
something he requested and luckily I was able to make (without
having to do any experimenting whatsoever).

Callie's Ladybug cake was a hit - I think it was the oreos.

You can see she's already grabbed an oreo spot and started feasting.

She didn't waste any time with the fork either - picking peaches
off the cheesecake over and over and over.

What a great evening to cap off so many days of celebration for these birthday kids!  We sure feel blessed to have such supportive friends and family to spend their time and love with us!

(And thanks to the folks I stole photos from for this post - mostly Kim, but at least one came from my mom, Peggy.  I'm glad there is a paparazzi to catch the things I miss with the camera!)