BDay celebrations

We had a great, fun-filled Doodle's Second Birthday today.

We awoke to snow, and lots of it. We are chicken-sitting for J's advisor up at The Cabin north of town and kinda in the boonies. It's peaceful, quiet, and gorgeous. Oh, and it gets a lot more snow than down further in the valley. So we played inside this morning, enjoying Doodle's new tea set and play food. Then we packed up and rolled into town where we did some mad-dash cleaning and decorating before The Party. Streamers and balloons were deployed, and the house was looking downright birthdayish (it's important with a December birthday to make sure this special day doesn't get lost in the pre-Xmas stuff. Daktari, the holder of the SoIL December Birthdays Suck party taught me this.).

Friends big and small arrived bearing gifts of music, books and eggnog (homemade!). I have a new-found appreciation for eggnog. Mmmm, fatty goodness! We ate burgers and cake, played with balloons and tea sets, and chatted. We ate too much, drank too much eggnog, and partied until the toddlers were exhausted. It was great.

Post-party we piled up the dishes, grabbed fresh clothes, and hit the road back out to The Cabin. The storm was letting up but we wanted to hit the snowy roads in daylight in case we needed to chain up to get to The Cabin. Main Street was icy and very slow, and Doodle was asleep before we even made it out of town - guess we really wore her out with The Party. Some sliding at a couple of stoplights plus a slower-than-usual drive, but we made it out to the cabin just fine. The snow was deep on the driveway but Elmo the Jeep just plugged along and made it up with no problems. Later one of the Advisor's neighbors came by to plow the driveway with his tractor. Very nice.

Now Doodle is playing with her new Playdoh, cookie cutters and rolling pin on the floor while J and I relax. We'll probably read a bunch of books, play tea party and go to bed early. Definitely a great way to celebrate the two year anniversary of Doodle's birth.

Tomorrow: sledding on the hill behind The Cabin, the first use of skis and snowshoes this season, and maybe an epic snowman. We shall see.