Sort-of-birthday weekend

Just to clarify, that's a 3-8, not an 8-3!

This past week, we continued the fall birthday extravaganza that happens every year in our family: on Thursday, both Clark and my sister Andrea officially became one year older.  Though there was not a whole lot we could do about Andrea's birthday (waaaaayyyyyy over on the west coast) the kids and I were all over Clark's "festivities".  Seeing as the birthday fell on a school/work night, this really meant that there was a lot of deep discussion about the intricacies of the cake.  Flavour, colour, theme, shape, candy embellishments... there were many ideas thrown around, and heavy contemplation in the bulk candy aisle.  

The end result was "ocean"-themed (in that the icing was blue, and Linden created a lego boat for the top), 3-tiered (because that is the kind of cake that Linden likes to draw, and therefore wanted a real-life one), had chocolate caramels and mini-peanut butter cups on top (I don't know the reasoning there), and had both chocolate AND vanilla layers (because no one could agree on one flavour).  It was huge, and a little lopsided, but everyone happily ate the results.  And may I add that I created the blue icing by using a home-made red cabbage dye, and that it WORKED? Here is a close-up:

I think that technically the candies are supposed to be animals and rocks sticking out of the water.

The other exciting mid-week event involved picture days at school.  I of course do not have the official pictures yet, but I did snap a shot of Linden before he went off. (Juniper's was the next day, and I didn't have time between doing her hair and solving pantyhose emergencies to capture her outfit before she bolted out the door).  That tucked shirt didn't even last until he got on the bus, and I'm sure his slicked-back hair was wild by the time he sat for the photographer, but look at this little guy!

Mr. Slick.

Now, in any reasonable scenario, this past weekend should have been an excuse to really celebrate Clark's birthday.  This was doubly true this year, as both my parents and my sister Faye arrived on Friday and Saturday, respectively (Faye because she had been at a wedding in Newfoundland, and my parents because this was the only opportunity they'd get to see Faye before she takes off again for Freetown next week):

Games in the front yard

Shenanigans in the living room

 Despite all the very good reasons to party and relax, however, Clark spent the weekend... working. As luck would have it, Clark's birthday just happened to coincide with the BIO expo - a huge event that only happens every five years.  Clark had not one, but TWO booths to prepare and tend to, and the turnout on both days was huge.  He was completely knackered by the end of it all.

The event, however, was amazing, and I doubt anyone would argue that it wasn't worth all the hard work that everyone put into it.  On Saturday, for instance, I texted Clark at around 3pm, to ask if he was done yet, and he replied: "It is insane. Technically the doors are supposed to be closing now, but there are still thousands of people here.  It's amazing!" Total nerd.

Clark and the kids at his "Arctic" booth

Of course, we all went to check it out.  On Clark's suggestion, we arrived just as the doors were opening on Sunday morning, which meant we got to check out the most popular exhibits before the queues became unmanageably long. (Except for Juniper, who went in with Clark a bit earlier to "help out" for awhile).  We also managed to time our arrival with Ruth and kids, so it was an especially fun adventure.  Here are some pics:

Young scientist in training

I told Linden to go pose with this guy, and had to reassure him 5 times that he wasn't real.  He was still trepidatious. 

Boats and exhibits everywhere!

Touch tank

Linden and Liam, contemplating life from the Coast Guard ship, the "Earl Grey"...

... and then posing by the anchor

"hmmmm... can I launch myself out of this hole?"

Group shot!  (Clark and Juniper found us just as we were getting off the ship)

One of the most popular (and smelly) exhibits - the dead, frozen sharks!

Some very posed drama in front of the shark.  Apparently this one fought for over 4 hours before it was finally captured.

Melany shows the kids one of gliders (this was Clark's other booth)

Linden, Liam and Zoë squeeze the pressure bottles...

... and then are amazed to see Clark, the celebrity, on the video being shown on the TV.

We had to go through a special parking lot to get to our car at the end (because Clark had parked in the staff lot), and Linden was thrilled to find this "ginormous" digger.

Being a goof-ball with Faye

 And that's it for this week! There are already some plans afoot for an adventure with Faye next weekend, so stay tuned.  See you next week!