Cruise's Birthday Weekend

When I asked Cruise what kind of birthday he wanted, he told me a bird watching birthday. I tried to talk him into renting one of those water bounce houses like the one we had on the 4th of July, but that was a hard "no" and he was adamant he have a bird watching party. Planning was interesting. But I love a good challenge.

After searching all over the website, I ended up calling the aviary in SLC because they didn't have any birthday party info. Sadly they weren't doing birthday parties this summer because of some construction going on. Then I thought it would be cool to have someone come bring a cool bird and talk about birds at the party. I researched far and wide and the cheapest price for that sort of thing was about $200. So that wasn't workable. Finally, after exhausting all my ideas, I turned to the Utah County Birders Facebook page and put out a call for help. My friend, Laurie, who is not only a member of that FB group, but also one of the directors at the Melisa Nellesen Center for Autism at UVU, messaged me with an awesome idea! One of the students at UVU who is in the Passages program there (a program that helps students on the spectrum navigate the college experience), had just done a presentation about birds for some of the students at the university. She is getting her degree in biology and works part-time at the aviary. Laurie had the idea to connect us and see if she would be interested in doing the presentation for Cruise's party. I thought that was an amazing idea and so we set up a time to meet at Laurie's office.

We had our meeting and I instantly loved Laura. She was wearing a t-shirt with an eagle on it and seemed pretty excited to talk about birds. In fact, she even told me, when I asked what would be a fair price to pay her, that she didn't need to be paid because she loves any opportunity for someone listen to her talk about birds (I still paid her). I told her about Cruise and how he can identify all the birds that live around us and even tries to make their calls. She said he was a boy after her own heart. Lol! We talked about the specifics and then after figuring it all out, I picked her brain about getting Cruise a bird. I couldn't believe just how smart she was and how she could answer all my questions.

Once I had that all figured out, I just had to plan the rest of the party. There was only one bird watching party I could find on Pinterest, which is my go-to because my creative juices aren't as juicy as they used to be. The lady who did the party had put together a great package on etsy.com with invitations, labels, signs, a banner, etc. So I purchased that and took a couple of her ideas. This is the cute invitation:

On Friday the 4th, I spent the day making Cruise's cake. I made a white cake from scratch as well as a really good buttercream. It looked, smelled and even tasted amazing, however it was a little dry, which is sad. But overall it turned out great. I had gone to Michaels a couple weeks before and purchased the decorations since I knew I'd go crazy trying to make a bird and nest out of modeling chocolate. It turned out pretty good. I hoped that it didn't look like a baby shower cake; I was pushing it with the butterflies, but I needed to fill all that white space. I bought an awesome cake platter from Target that was perfect for the whole theme. It's my new favorite purchase.

After I finished the cake, we went to dinner (because I had used all the dishes to make the cake). We decided to have it be Cruise's birthday dinner and went to get sushi. We didn't go to our usual place because it's expensive and not child-friendly (dates only!), but we tried a new place that had really good ratings. Overall, their food was pretty good, but of course once you've had amazing sushi, anything below that is slightly disappointing. But the boys had fun trying some new foods. I made Cruise try a little of everything, telling him, "Remember, it's always good to try new things." So he was a trooper and tasted miso soup, egg drop soup, tempura vegetables, and 3 different kinds of sushi. He liked the Executive (also my favorite) and the California roll. Jett liked the California roll and the miso soup. Miles ate rice. Lots and lots of rice.

That evening after the kids went to bed, Dave and I decorated and got everything ready for the party. It was fun seeing everything all put together.

 It's kind of ridiculous how much time and effort I put into these stupid water bottle labels.

 The lady who did the themed stuff had this cute scavenger hunt printable. However, because she lives back east, all the birds were different, so I had to print out my own and glue them to the papers. It was very time consuming, but I did get a lot of episodes of Arrested Development in.

The next morning, the 5th, I woke up early, got ready, and headed out to get balloons from Macey's, which is where I usually get them. It was about 8 AM and the party started at 10. I walked in, asked to buy some balloons, and then was informed that they were out of helium. I got in my car and asked Google where I could get some balloons at 8 in the morning. I got mad at Google. Everything opened at 10, because who on earth does parties at 10:00 on a Saturday? After driving around, I ended up at Target (because we always end up at Target), was this close to buying a helium tank (they have those), but settled on just buying balloons and dealing with the fact that they wouldn't float. We all make sacrifices. I also got some giant sticky hands for the favor bags while I was there. Everyone loves sticky hands.

I got home and Dave had set up the shade pavilion thing that we borrowed from Joe, and got everything set up for the Angry Birds game. Then he helped me move the picnic table down to the yard. I got that all ready for painting birdhouses/feeders, set out the favor bags, and double checked my itinerary. The boys helped me blow up the balloons and then Dave strung them up.

 I had planned for 9 because one person didn't RSVP, but we had 8 total kids there, including the birthday boy. It was a good number. Definitely manageable. We had Sam from down the street, Claire (of course), Braeden from next door, and Ethan and Reese from school. And of course Jett & Miles.

To start out, the kids each grabbed their scavenger hunt papers, pencils, and binoculars, and set out to bird watch. Claire, before leaving to search, asked if they were real birds or if I had hidden fake birds. I told her that they were real, and she was kind of amazed. I don't blame her, I never knew there were so many different birds all around my neighborhood until Cruise started pointing them out. They found a red-tail hawk, robin, starling, magpie, chicken, and a duck. Those last two were gimmes since the neighbors have them in their yard.

When they got back, I sent them to the backyard to do the Angry Birds game. Dave made a slingshot and I bought the balls and collected the boxes for two weeks. I didn't' put too much work into the game. I could've, but I just didn't want to put all my energies into that one. No one would've even noticed anyway.

While they did that. I greeted Laura and her mom at the door and helped them bring stuff to the backyard to prepare for the presentation. She brought a chicken and two pigeons. One was a baby and was super cute and impressively chill. Laura talked about identifying birds, eggs, feathers, taught them how to hold a chicken, and then gave everyone a peacock feather. She also gifted Cruise a filled goose egg, which was pretty cool! All the kids were really interested in what she had to say and they all had really good questions for her. During the first half of the presentation, Dave left to get pizzas for lunch. 

After the presentation, everyone went inside, washed their hands, and ate lunch. I saw Laura, her mom, and the birds off. 

After lunch, we all went outside so they could paint their bird feeders. 

After painting, I got the cake all ready and we sang Happy Birthday! It always surprises me how many kids don't like cake. 

Cruise must have had a really specific wish because those candles were melting all over the cake, waiting to be blown out. 

After cake, we did presents. Cruise got a lot of great gifts. A lot of them were bird related (surprise, surprise), and some even specifically for Cupcake. He got some birding books, a bird whistle, a budgie playground, some budgie supplies, a build-it-yourself birdhouse, some drawing paper and pencils, a couple fidget spinners, a little R/C robot, and a gift card to Petsmart. One kid who couldn't make it to the party was so sweet and brought over a gift card to Petsmart as well. 

Unfortunately, we ran out of time and didn't get to the gummy worms in whipped cream game. Two and a half hours went by so fast! But I think everyone had a lot of fun. The moms of the boys from Cruise's class told me their kiddos couldn't stop talking about the party. So...win! 

I spent the rest of the day laying down. My feet hurt. Later in the evening, Jett asked me to take him to buy Cruise a present at Target. So we went and he picked out the game Operation and spent his own money to get it for his brother. He was so excited to give it to them and they played it before they had to go to bed. Such a good brother!

The next day, Sunday the 6th, we had Cruise's family party. I made chocolate cupcakes with peppermint frosting. Cruise wanted Andes cupcakes. I made some vegan ones for Abby and Liev, which actually turned out pretty good (according to Abby); I was a little more critical. I had never made vegan cupcakes before. Luckily, Duncan Hines cake box is vegan, so I used that but struggled for the egg substitute. I ended up following a recipe but it still made them a bit delicate. I topped them with mint frosting from scratch (also not super easy) and fresh mint leaves from my garden. The animal-hating ones turned out great! I made the cake and frosting from scratch and topped them with chopped up Andes mints. 

 These were what was left of the regular ones. It looks like someone got to the top one there. I forgot to take a picture of them, which turned out to be about 24 cupcakes.  They were a hit.

Abby, Casey and Liev came, as well as Dave's parents, Joe, Mary, and 3/4 of her kids, Aaliyah, Eli, and Oliva. 

I was not expecting everyone to bring him gifts, but he got some great ones, which was so so nice of them. Abby & Casey gave him an iTunes gift card (he loves buying music!). 

This is Abby's "Don't take a picture of me, it's awkward" face.

Grandma & Grandpa Ybarra gave him cash and a new wallet! He was super excited about the cash. Who doesn't love cash?

Uncle Joe gave him a really nice camera bag for him to use while he's out bird watching and documenting. Which was really great because he kept taking my old purse out for a stroll around the neighborhood, and while I didn't have a problem with that, I was worried neighborhood kids would tease him. Also, a shoulder strap is just not sensible for a bird watcher. 

The Elliotts gave him a puppet making kit, and the kids threw in a necklace, some marbles, and some change. Definitely stuff Cruise loves to put in his pockets. 

Finally, Cruise opened Grandma & Papa Greer's present: a bike! They had it sent to our house and Dave put it together. Cruise had outgrown his old one and was in need of a bigger bike with handlebar breaks. It didn't take him too long to figure out the breaks, but the gears are tricky to learn. That evening he rode it around the neighborhood for about an hour. 

On Monday the 7th, Cruise's actual birthday, we actually didn't do much. We just hung out and Cruise got to play with all his new toys and chill with Cupcake. I also didn't do much. I was recovering from too much birthday. And...I was Pinteresting ideas for Miles' birthday which is next month. 

Cruise's New Pet Budgie: Cupcake

Cruise has been asking for a pet bird for the past 2 years. In fact, two Christmases ago, he asked for a pet eagle. So naturally we got him two robotic parakeets. About a year ago when he got really into bird watching, he asked for a pet bird again. When we asked what he wanted for his birthday this year, of course he replied with, "a pet bird!". Dave and I played with the idea for awhile, but it wasn't until one evening a couple weeks ago, I went into Cruise's room and found him crying. I sat down next to him to talk and he said he wished he had a "best bud" like all the other kids. I knew he had been feeling alienated and a little down lately; most of the kids in the neighborhood are Jett's age and Cruise only has one friend in the ward. So what was I supposed to do? Not get him a bird? So...I told him I'd get him a bird for his birthday. 

The next day he and Jett made bird furniture.

Dave and I found a little baby budgie (parakeet) on KSL.com classifieds for $40 for both the bird and the cage. She was born on May 27th and we bought her on July 31st; Cruise named her Cupcake. She is a sweet little bird and it took her about a week to get used to our loud, obnoxious house and to bond with Cruise. She stays in Cruise's room and he takes very good care of her. He changes her newspapers, feeds her, changes her water, plays with her (takes her out of her cage 2-3 times a day), cleans up after her, and even sits and reads to her. They're really cute together and despite my apprehension about the whole thing, it has turned out to be so much more positive than I had imagined. For one thing, Cruise keeps his room clean because Cupcake can't come out of her cage until things are picked up. He also is learning a lot about responsibility and patience. He loves having a little friend to talk to and hang out with. I think she was a great gift for him. Jett and Miles love her too and enjoy participating in holding her and being around her. 

Cruise reading "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher" to Cupcake.

Cupcake likes music, she chirps a lot in the morning and in the late afternoon when she wants to get out of her cage and play. Cruise always obliges and she loves him for it. She will now let everyone hold her and will eat out of Cruise's hand. She never pecks or bites and is the sweetest little bird ever. 

More Catching Up...Almost There!: The Failed Boat Trip

On July 29th, against our (I say "our", but I did warn Dave) better judgement, we took the boat out on a Saturday. Which, as some may know, is a horrible, horrible day to go out on the lake because EVERYONE is out on the lake. Especially when Utah Lake is pretty much closed due to the algae bloom and everyone is forced to go to Deer Creek. Dave's brother Dan, his wife Sofia, and their daughter Liza, all met us there. Sofia's sister and her husband came as well. Sofia, Liza, and Sofia's sister stayed on the "beach" near the docks while the rest of us took the boat out to hopefully do some wakeboarding. It was crowded, the water was a bit choppy, and as soon as Dave was up on the board, things got bad. The boat started making a funny, clunking noise, and so we had to stop. We took the boat to the beach where we all got out and met up with the girls, while Dave tried to figure out what was going on with the boat. He and Dan ended up taking it back to the dock and spent about an hour and a half waiting in line of cars to get the boat out of the water. So while they did that, we hung out on the beach. Lucky for us, they had brought a giant swan to play on, so that kept things interesting. Sadly, Dave's boat is currently out of commission and he is trying desperately to fix it. So, we'll see if we can get her out on the water again before school starts.  

More Catching Up: Lehi Outdoor Pool

On the 24th of July, we took the kids to the outdoor pool since they had been begging us. It's not my favorite pool because most of it is really deep and so I get nervous letting Jett swim around without keeping an eye on him since he can't reach the bottom. Miles didn't complain about having to keep his puddle-jumper on, probably because he has to wear a life jacket when we're on the lake. So it wasn't too bad. The kids had fun going down the slides and Cruise & Jett had fun jumping off the diving board. Cruise went for the very first time off the high-dive and I was really proud of him. By the end of the day, the both of them were doing flips off the low-dive. Jett learned his lesson quickly when he did a flip off the high-dive and was met with a great, big belly-flop. Which, at the time, looked really sad and painful, but now looks hilarious...and painful. 

More Catching Up: Bridal Veil Falls

Towards the end of July, we visited Bridal Veil, since the kids were tired of boating and Dave & I were tired of taking them to the movies. It was a nice change of pace and the kids had fun climbing and throwing rocks. I just was happy that the water was ice cold because it was above 100 that day. 

More Catching Up: Cruise Goes to Robot Camp

Mid-July, Cruise got to attend Robotics Camp at UVU. It was a week long camp that last 3 hours each day. I ended up having to stay in the building during it for at least the first couple days because Cruise was having some anxiety about it and because his medication had just been switched. It was great catching up on some reading though! But I was able to leave him for an hour or so the rest of the week so I could get a few errands run. Jett even came with me one of the days so he could got pick out a birthday present for a friend. Cruise did great and learned a lot! Next year he wants to go to scratch camp. Apparently that is a programming camp for robotics, but I know nothing about any of this stuff, so I'll take his word for it. 

During break, Cruise bought Starbursts out of the vending machine and fit himself with some new teeth.

On the last day of camp, each partnership built a lion lego robot and had a program they connected it to on the computer, making it move and roar. Cruise was pretty proud of his. 

Overall, it was a success and I feel good about having him go again next year. 

More Catching Up: The Boys Find a Bird

The neighbors had a little bird fall out of a tree and looked like it had something broken. We told them to put it back into the nest, but for whatever reason they couldn't. So they tried to take care of it, put it in a basket in a tree (like the articles say to do), but sadly the bird didn't make it after a few days. It was pretty sad and they were all pretty broken up about it. 

More Catching Up: Independence Day

I know, I know, I'm waaayyy behind. It seems like we are always doing stuff, there are always photos to transfer and edit, and not enough time to blog. So I've got to do a lot of posting this week so I can catch up.

For the 4th of July, Dave's parents invited us over for a BBQ and they rented a bounce house for all the kids to play in. The boys had a lot of fun and I am so glad they rented it since it was about 100 degrees out. Such a good idea!

In the evening, we did fireworks in the cul-de-sac. Despite the fact that we kind of hit the jackpot because the neighbors had bought a ton of aerial fireworks, I was still pretty irked at the fact that people were being super careless about where and how they were setting them off, and the sheer number of them. Who needs clean air anyway? Right? I'm not a huge fan of fireworks. But the boys had fun doing our own little fireworks, watching the neighbors' fireworks, and then getting on the roof (sans Miles and I) and watching the Thanksgiving Point show.

Poor Lucy was pretty scared since the neighbor's fireworks were right above our house and seemed to last forever. I tried to help her out, but she never kept the headphones on. 

Today You Are Ten

Dear Cruise,

Ten years ago today I became the luckiest person in the world: I became your mom. At 2:27 PM, you came into this world with a head full of black hair and a football shaped head. You were so small and I didn't want to put you down or give you to any of the nurses. I just wanted to snuggle the little person I had spent 9 months waiting for. As a baby and toddler, you were curious and noticed everything from tiny little bugs to the big sky full of stars. You were adventurous and found humor in any situation. I look at you today and you've grown so tall and become more and more handsome every day. You are funny and kind, you're sweet and smart. You are so talented and still as curious as ever. And as much as I hate to realize that you are getting older and bigger and more independent, I am proud of the person you are and who you're becoming.

You, like so many, struggle with things you have no control over. I know it makes you sad and frustrated, and sometimes even angry. I know it can be hard and that sometimes it feels like you're alone, but I hope you will always remember that you are loved more than you can imagine. Know that not only do your parents love you and will always be here for you, but that your Heavenly Father is always there as well, is mindful of you, and loves you more than any of us can imagine. You have overcome so many challenges in the 10 years you've lived on this earth; you are strong and a hard worker, and I am in awe of all you've accomplished.

Cruise, I wish we all could be like you. I wish we could all see the world like you do: with hope and wonderment. With a faith that is so pure and unadulterated. I wish we could all have the resolve to continually try to do better. I wish we all could serve so quickly and easily, and without a second thought. If the world were full of people like you, how perfect it would be. But there is only one you, and how blessed I am that you are mine. You are a light to all those around you, especially to me.

I love you, Cruise. I am proud of you and I want you to know just how grateful I am that I get to be your mom. I pray that this world never breaks your spirit, and that you continue this life with your unique view. And kiddo, don't be too quick to grow up. It's totally overrated.

Love,

Mom