Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Noa's birthday over a span of a couple of days.  First we celebrated with an adults-only dinner with some friends at a local Thai restaurant, followed by a quiet family celebration at home the next day.  There were presents, carrot cake cupcakes, and lots of singing and playing with the girls.  

We are incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful, giving person in our lives.  Because of Noa's hard work and sacrifices, we can have some pretty amazing adventures....like living in Spain!  He's a dedicated father and thoughtful husband who deserves much celebrating.  I hope we were able to express that to him this year.  Happy birthday, Noa!  You are loved!

The Beginning of the Christmas Season

Now that we are into December, we have been busy preparing for Christmas and enjoying the Christmas season activities.  Normally, I go a little over the top with decorating for Christmas - after all, it is my favorite holiday - but, we had to limit the number of Christmas boxes we could bring with us.  We the "main" decorations up: the tree, Nativity scene, stockings, and a few extra things here and there.  I did have to order garland since it's really hard to find here.

And, yes, we've (and by "we" I mean Noa) built some fires in our fireplace.  Our house gets pretty chilly in the evenings and the fireplace is so cozy and warm.  I love it, although we were a little spoiled by our fireplace in Washington.  This one actually has to be monitored and attended to or else the fire goes out! 

This past week we checked out Rota's small Christmas market downtown.

Tonight's event was going on base to WMR's Winter Wonderland.  They provide food stands, crafts, "snow," train rides, and other fun kid activities.  We got there a little late due to the girls' napping schedule, but we did get there in time to see Santa's dramatic entrance…by helicopter!

First the elves dropped:

Then the helicopter made another pass and brought Santa down.  It was pretty fun to watch!

Then, hopped on a fire truck and made his way to the crowds and boy, was it crowded!

Could you find Santa in that crowd?  Anyway, we never got super close, but that's okay because we got some food after that and then headed into one of the hangers to see the holiday laser light show.

We didn't get to stay for the entire program, which included a list of stars (singers, actors) who were visiting for a USO tour, due to impending bedtimes.  But, our Christmas season is starting off with lots of fun activities. I know the rest of the month will be packed with things to do, but I'm glad we are finding time to enjoy some of that this month has to offer.

Ruby Turns 3!

This past weekend we celebrated Ruby's third birthday.  I told Noa that I was going to just do a small party for her this year since we are still not really settled into our home and we still have a lot going on right now.  But, in typical Julie-throws-a-party fashion, the party ended up being a little more involved than just a simple cake and ice cream party.

I had asked Ruby a month or so ago what kind of party she wanted.  She, without hesitation, said she wanted a Superman party.  I found this request kind of odd since we have never watched a Superman show, movie, or read a book about Superman.  So, I'm not quite sure where she got the idea from.  I sat on the idea for a week or so and asked her again.  She again said she wanted a Superman party.  I also noticed that she could identify superhero characters whenever we went to the store and they were on something, like a box of cereal, or something like that.  Since we have never really done anything with Superman, Spiderman, Batman, or any superhero figure and I was pretty sure that the characters from those stories would most likely scare Ruby (she can be kind of sensitive to dark characters/"bad guys"), I adjusted the theme to "Super Ruby."  This way she could still have a superhero theme, but one that fits her personality and comfort level.

I ended up ordering a custom cake (yeah, probably won't be doing that again since it broke the bank), capes and masks from Etsy, and purchased just a few party necessities locally (food, balloons, etc).  The rest of the party decorations I already owned or made.  If we don't include the cake, it was a pretty modest party budget-wise. On party day, I was pretty pleased with how it all came together and Ruby seemed thrilled. Here are a few pics of things before the guests arrived:

 

We even got Mila into the whole supergirl theme:

Keira arrived with her family first, which gave the girls a little pre-party playtime.  

Then, the other guests arrived and the birthday activities began!  We had bubbles and sidewalk chalk, and a balloon room (basically my living room filled with balloons) to start.  Then we loved on to the Superhero Training Course (a simple obstacle course).  The kids seemed to really love it!

It started out with a demonstration from the birthday girl.

Then the party attendees each had a turn.  First they had to run around some cones.  For the older kiddos, this was a breeze!

But, some of the younger ones needed help:

Probably one of the highlights of the course was the block wall that had to be kicked down:

Then there was jumping onto circles (no pics) and riding the zebra ride-on toy to the ball.  Once they got to the ball, the kiddos had to kick it past the "bad guy" (one of our friends who agreed to help me out here).  

Or you could just toss it past him if it was your dad.   :)

Afterwards, the kids played with the course rearranged the different parts.  It was pretty cute to watch.

After the training course, the kids and parents participated in defeating the "bad guys" that infiltrated the party.  Together, they had to use their super powers (AKA silly string) to shoot the bad guys and knock them down.

Afterwards, it was cake time!  The cake, although pricey, was gorgeous and tasted delicious!

After that, it was playtime until the guests had to go home to nap.  

On Ruby's actual birthday (Sunday), Noa had to work, but we made it special, with a breakfast date with her BFF, Keira.

After breakfast, it was beach time!

When we got home, it was time for presents.  Her big one this year was a dollhouse.  It actually was given to us by another family and is in great shape.  We are the third family to use it and I hope to pass it on to another family some day.  In the meantime, Ruby loves it!

And, fun with a GIANT number 3 balloon that sadly flew into the sky after taking these pics.

Happy girl!!

It was a really fun weekend and I'm glad that it was all about Ruby.  She is such a joy in our lives and we just cherish moments like these.  Happy birthday, super girl.  We love you more than words can describe.