penelope's birthday party.

I said last week that I'd tell you more about Penelope's birthday party, so here we go!

We drove up to Des Moines to spend the weekend at my parents' house.  My mom had told Penelope that she'd cook anything Penelope wanted for breakfast, so Penelope chose... grilled cheese sandwiches.  Weird choice, but I admire it.

After breakfast, we all headed to the botanical garden.  My nature-loving girl was given the choice of going here or hitting the zoo.  Tough decision!  Selfishly, I was glad she went with the garden.  I'm more of a flora girl than a fauna girl, and I won't turn down an opportunity to hang out with plants!

I was so obsessed with this agave.  The color.  The depth.  The texture.  I wanted to steal it and put it in the middle of my living room.

The kids, on the other hand, were obsessed with one thing and one thing only: finding all the plants on the scavenger hunt bingo sheets.  Why, you ask?  Well, because it would earn them a glorious prize.

They were successful in finding nearly every item on the sheet, but the prize ended up being just a lousy ol' sticker.  The kids were still excited about it, because my kids aren't jerks.  Being a jerk myself, though - I was underwhelmed.  I had hoped they'd let us pillage the gift shop.

I don't even know what's happening in this photo, but I can tell you I love it with all my heart.  When Finneas is 70 years old, I hope he has a chair just like this one on his porch, where he can Grandpa-Dick-smile and farmer-wave at all the passersby.  That's what I hope most for his future.

I know you're dying to know what was going on in the kids' heads through all of this, so I'll just give you a quick glimpse into the internal workings of the Van Voorsts.

"Oh, you know.  Just relaxing, enjoying a little skyline with my best brah."

"Oh, you know.  Just relaxing in my own personal chariot like a real frickin' boss."

"What is the meaning of life?  Why were we put here?  Do we have a grand purpose, and if so, what is it?"

"BIRFFFFFFFDAYYYYYYYY!"

I think Penelope literally grew up a little while we were there.  I'm pretty sure she was noticeably older by the time we left.

Who do you think I'd have to call for a quote to have one of these erected in my yard?  Like, just a contractor, or like a glass guy, or...?

After we got home, my mom made Penelope's lunch request: loaded baked potatoes, and a mermaid-themed donut cake.  (It was a carby day, if that's not been clear to you yet.)

The kids found Great-Grandpa Jim pretty entertaining.

The cake was a true masterpiece.

I feel like Penelope looked at me with too much credit in her eyes.  I had literally NOTHING to do with how well this cake turned out.

Rocco discovered the joy of powdered donuts.

After lunch and cake, Penelope opened her gifts.

"I. HAVE. MY. VERY. OWN. TOOL SET!"

All in all, it was a pretty stellar day, celebrating a pretty stellar kid.