Kara's Birthday!

Kara turned 8 on Sunday. Last year, she planned on having a party at Pump it Up, but we got snowed out. So, she really wanted to try again this year. The party was planned for Saturday afternoon, February 11th.

But, before I get to that, about a month ago, my good friend Marta asked when she could come up for a long weekend. I suggested she fly up for Kara's birthday weekend. She and her daughter, Elizabeth, arrived Thursday afternoon.  We stopped for a late lunch at Cafe Rio, making it home just in time to greet the kids as they got off the bus. On Friday, the kids stayed home from school. We went to the Calvert Marine Museum and Chick-Fil-A.

It was cold and windy, but we still saw the lighthouse.

Luke wouldn't be in the group photo, but he was there :)

As you may recall from my previous blog, we were all sick a couple of weeks ago with a stomach bug. Shortly after my posting, Jack and Thomas got sick making us 6/6. However, everyone was back to school/work and no one had thrown up in a while and I genuinely thought we were over it. I had washed all bedding and towels and lysoled the house. So, imagine my surprise when on Friday night, Elizabeth mentioned her stomach hurt. Apparently, we were still contagious, because Elizabeth spent the night vomiting. I felt awful! I didn't even warn them what they could be walking into. I really thought we were done with it. Unfortunately, that meant that she and Marta missed the party on Saturday. By Sunday, Elizabeth was feeling a bit better, but Marta was sick. The worst of the bug passes in 24-hours, but they were pretty miserable for the remainder of their visit.

Thomas and I took the kids to the party Saturday afternoon. The stomach bug was also making its way through the school and a few of Kara's friends had to miss the party. But, we still had a good crowd and it meant that some others could bring siblings. Kara had a blast! She loved jumping and playing with her friends and the place did a good job of making her feel special. We served snacks and cupcakes and let her open her presents there. Opening presents in front of your guests seems to have fallen out of favor at most parties we attend, but our kids are always disappointed when they don't see their gift unwrapped, so we decided to go old-school. Two hours after it began, the party was over. One of Kara's school friends was kind of crying as she walked out with her parents and I asked if something had happened to upset her. Her mother said, "no, she had just been looking forward to this all week and is sad it is over." It did go by pretty quickly and I think most people had fun. I was sad Marta and Elizabeth missed it as I was looking forward to introducing them to some of my friends.

They had added some new attractions since the last time the kids were there.

This one was a huge hit

Sunday, Kara wanted to stay home, which was probably a good thing with our guests in recovery mode. I used the day to work on her cake. This year, she wanted a cookie dough cake. I made cookie butter frosting, a chocolate cake and eggless cookie dough to add to the frosting between layers. The cookie butter frosting was a bit strong (it tasted like graham crackers), so I used left over buttercream from the Saturday cupcakes for the exterior. Then, we baked the extra cookie dough to make cookies to decorate. For the final step, I melted chocolate and drizzled it on top. It was fun to make and tasted great. Although, a little went a long way.

This is what it looked like between layers, frosting and raw cookie dough.

Kara wearing her gift from Anna with her birthday cake.

Kara also opened her family presents that night. We have recently started giving the kids an allowance and Jack and Anna used their own money to buy her presents, which made it more meaningful for all 3 of them. I think it meant more to Kara to know they bought the gifts and the kids were definitely more invested. Jack got her an amiibo (for the Wii) and Anna got her a running sweatshirt with thumb holes (the thumb holes are the most integral part). Thomas and I gave her a globe.

Monday, the kids went to school. It was Luke's preschool party, so we dropped him off and then Marta and Elizabeth packed. Marta wanted to go the bead store (she likes to make jewelry), so we went there and then stopped in for Luke's party. We again stopped in Waldorf for lunch, this time Ghengis Grill, before I dropped them off at the airport. Neither was 100%, but they were well enough to fly home. We really enjoyed their visit and everyone was sad to see them go. Hopefully, they don't carry the virus to Florida!

Not only do we miss Marta and Elizabeth, we miss the awesome hairstyles they created for the girls while they were here.