Decorated with guaranteed happiness

At the risk of sounding redundant, we've had a busy couple of weeks, the Bug and I.  The most notable being getting hit by Hurricane Irene and celebrating Lily's 4th birthday.  I should preface this by saying both those statements are misleading.  First, we were not actually *hit* by the Hurricane (thank goodness), and, second, Lily is not actually four-years-old yet (also, thank goodness). 

After days of watching the Hurricane's path and getting all prepared with water, food, batteries, candles and all that fun stuff we would need in the event it did hit us, I was somewhat diappointed that Irene veered off course.  I know how crazy that sounds.  I mean, who actually *wants* to be hit by a hurricane.  Especially living on a small barrier island.  But I can't change who I am, and who I am was kinda looking forward to experiencing it.

But I digress.

So, the hurricane didn't actually hit us, but rather passed by about 200 miles off shore.  Lily and I took the dog down to the beach to watch the monster waves Irene brought with her and to collect some pretty spectacular treasures that washed up on the shore in her wake.

There is just something about watching Lily play in the sand and/or the waves that brings me such joy.  I can't define exactly what it is.  Maybe it is just the quintessential picture of a joyful child on the beach.  Or maybe it is that the worries and stresses of the real world seem a million miles away when we're there, just enjoying the beauty of the day.  I don't know.  But whatever the reason, there really is nothing better than spending a morning or afternoon relaxing at the beach.  Even during a hurricane ;)

Now, onto our next notable event.  Lily's 4th Birthday.


So, several weeks ago I made a last-minute decision to celebrate Lily's 4th birthday over Labor Day weekend, even though it is weeks before her actual birthday.  I did this for several reasons.  First, most of you probably know that Ernie is currently on a job in Texas.  He had five days off for the holiday and was flying home.  Since he would be there then, and not on her actual birthday - and Lily really wanted to celebrate with her Daddy - that weekend seemed perfect.  Also, the water park where I wanted to hold the party was closed after Labor Day, so it was either schedule it early, or re-think the venue.

It was a great party.  The greatest part, I'll have to admit, was the fact that there was really very little preparation required.  The park provided everything but the cake and ice cream.  We got there five minutes early, threw out a few tablecloths and some balloons, and were good to go.  I didn't have to worry about entertainment, as the kids had to be bribed to come out of the water.  The park workers brought out the food and drinks at 11:30 and the cake at noon.  Then we just rolled the garbage into the tablecloths and dumped it all in the trash.  Five minute setup and five minute cleanup.  Now *that* is my kind of party.

Thanks to being able to swim in Grandma and Grandpa's pool almost everyday this summer, Lily was a pro at swiming by the time her party came around this year.  She was so proud of going into the deep end all by herself.  She spent hours in the water, only coming out for food and (of course!) presents.  Now, keep in mind that in the day preceeding this party she'd stayed up until well after midnight since her Daddy had just come home.  So she was very sleep deprived, amped up on sugar and the excitement of her party, *and* she'd been swimming and running around more or less non-stop for over four hours.  It is, therefore, probably unsurprising that this is how we found her before we even left the parking lot of the water park:

It was a fun weekend.  But it was also bittersweet, since we had to say goodbye to Ernie again on Tuesday.  The next time we'll see him is Thanksgiving.  I'm not going to lie, it is tough.  But you do what you have to do and carry on as best you can.

Luckily, I've got this ray of sunshine to make my life easier.