What can I say -- this is Sparrow's moment. My grandson turns two today. That young lad of many smiles and sweet hugs, who gets worried when attention comes at him from all directions surely has a right to the spotlight, even if it should be a gentle spotlight. Not too forceful. He likes to test the waters before plunging into mayhem! But here's a secret: if he can get you to laugh with him -- you'll be his friend forever.
It is also a unique day meteorologically speaking: we're getting blasted by a tropical storm. Yes, Cristobal is making its way here, to the upper Midwest. A tropical storm batters our state once in a lifetime (fourth such storm in 170 years of record keeping!) and for us, it's a "brace yourself" kind of forecast.
So, two big events, all on this warm and humid day.
(Ed and I still eat breakfast on the porch. We like it!)
For the rest of the day I concentrate on getting ready for Sparrow's birthday dinner that was to take place here, at the farmhouse. This includes cake baking of course. But I keep an eye out on the forecast. Heavy storms is a threat that makes you perk up and listen. And when there is the first brief sprinkle of rain, Ed comes in and tells me -- it's hot rain. Not your cool Wisconsin rain. Even in the Caribbean it never felt this warm.
In the late afternoon, the rains come down hard. Getting the toddlers up the driveway and into the house would be.... wet. So instead, Ed and I offer to move the party to my daughter's house. That means carrying cakes and gifts and seafoods (Sparrow loves a good spaghetti with squid, so it's on the menu!) and salads and cheeses and pots and pans and half the kitchen to the car, which is parked all the way down the driveway because we're concerned that leaving it under a willow tree during a major weather event is sort of begging for a branch to fall on top of it. All this in pounding rain straight from some southern regions of the globe, all the way up here to central Wisconsin.
And now we are safely in my daughter's home. I bring out everyone's beloved cheeses: d'Affinois and the 5year cheddar.
I turn to finishing up the dinner prep. Seafood pasta sauce. Shrimp, squid, salmon, and a tiny lobster tail, divided into nine even tinier pieces.
Oh, and time to whip up the cream for the cake.
My favorite band of cousins in the world!
There will be two more days of some degree of visiting and co-mingling, but this evening, this Sparrow birthday evening is the last time where we are all together. All nine of us.
Happy birthday, dear Sparrow!
Blow, little guy, blow!
(The best part for the kids? The chocolate ice cream, for sure!)
In the evening, the rains ease a bit, though it is still insanely humid. A bunny rabbit hops up to the house. The kids watch...
Just a little more play, just a little more! But it's past everyone's bedtime. Ed and I make our way home. Ed remarks how good it is to see the kids so happy.
It is. So very very good.
It is also a unique day meteorologically speaking: we're getting blasted by a tropical storm. Yes, Cristobal is making its way here, to the upper Midwest. A tropical storm batters our state once in a lifetime (fourth such storm in 170 years of record keeping!) and for us, it's a "brace yourself" kind of forecast.
So, two big events, all on this warm and humid day.
(Ed and I still eat breakfast on the porch. We like it!)
For the rest of the day I concentrate on getting ready for Sparrow's birthday dinner that was to take place here, at the farmhouse. This includes cake baking of course. But I keep an eye out on the forecast. Heavy storms is a threat that makes you perk up and listen. And when there is the first brief sprinkle of rain, Ed comes in and tells me -- it's hot rain. Not your cool Wisconsin rain. Even in the Caribbean it never felt this warm.
In the late afternoon, the rains come down hard. Getting the toddlers up the driveway and into the house would be.... wet. So instead, Ed and I offer to move the party to my daughter's house. That means carrying cakes and gifts and seafoods (Sparrow loves a good spaghetti with squid, so it's on the menu!) and salads and cheeses and pots and pans and half the kitchen to the car, which is parked all the way down the driveway because we're concerned that leaving it under a willow tree during a major weather event is sort of begging for a branch to fall on top of it. All this in pounding rain straight from some southern regions of the globe, all the way up here to central Wisconsin.
And now we are safely in my daughter's home. I bring out everyone's beloved cheeses: d'Affinois and the 5year cheddar.
I turn to finishing up the dinner prep. Seafood pasta sauce. Shrimp, squid, salmon, and a tiny lobster tail, divided into nine even tinier pieces.
Oh, and time to whip up the cream for the cake.
My favorite band of cousins in the world!
There will be two more days of some degree of visiting and co-mingling, but this evening, this Sparrow birthday evening is the last time where we are all together. All nine of us.
Happy birthday, dear Sparrow!
Blow, little guy, blow!
(The best part for the kids? The chocolate ice cream, for sure!)
In the evening, the rains ease a bit, though it is still insanely humid. A bunny rabbit hops up to the house. The kids watch...
Just a little more play, just a little more! But it's past everyone's bedtime. Ed and I make our way home. Ed remarks how good it is to see the kids so happy.
It is. So very very good.
