Nic's birthday........

I turned 18 again the other day...... How did the last 18 years go so fast?  How am I in the second half of my 30's? Time is just moving too fast these days!

As usual with a toddler and a baby, the day started early.  We all had colds and Astrid was in the midst of hers so managed to sleep in until almost 8am but her brother had me up at 6am for a feed, so no birthday sleep-in.  This year Astrid made me a card and some chocolates, and of course helped me open all my presents.  Soren happily played with the paper and the cards!

After breakfast, Anto and Astrid started making my birthday cakes.  For months Astrid had been telling me I was having cupcakes....... so apparently I was having cupcakes.  They decided on raspberry & vanilla and dark chocolate with peanut butter icing.

Astrid is the baking Queen, and loved nothing more than making birthday cupcakes while still in her PJs. She is very good at mixing, measuring and of course tasting.  I reckon in another year she might be baking on her own.

After the cupcakes were out of the oven and Soren had napped and had a feed we decided to head out for some birthday activities.  All the lovely outdoor activities I had mentally planned for my birthday were shelved due a cold rainy day (and sick kids and adults). We opted to head into the city and do a little shopping and give the kids a ride on the merry-go-round.

I thought it was a little shameful that Astrid is almost 3 and hasn't been on the merry-go-round we all rode on as kids, when it's a 15 minute drive from our house.  She had a couple of carousel rides in Europe, including her first on the carousel at Sacre-Couer in Paris.  Extreme slackness meant we hadn't been on our local though.  I have great memories of conning many rides out of my grandparents (and parents) as a kid.  The Civic merry-go-round is a bit of an institution in Canberra, and I'm sure there wouldn't be many local kids who hadn't been for a ride or 10.  Astrid was beside herself with excitement about it, so we didn't get too much shopping done before heading out for her ride.

I decided to ride with Astrid and Soren.  Astrid was keen to give a horse a go and I sat with Soren on one of the elephants.  I somehow managed to place both Astrid and Soren as far away from Anto standing with the camera as possible, so he struggled to get any decent shots.  We did grab a few though, and Astrid thoroughly enjoyed riding up and down on her horse, and cried when the ride was over.  Soren thought it was hilarious but wasn't yet up to begging for more rides.

It was then lunch time and since we were going out for dinner, we opted for grill'd as it was nearby and provided options we all ate.  We've never taken Astrid there before as were impressed with their kids lunches. Astrid had a chicken burger and the pack it came in with water, pencils and colouring in book was quite cute.  Speaking of cute, Soren put on his best cute faces during lunch to entertain everyone in the vicinity.

After lunch we finished our shopping, and somehow even though it was my birthday the two kids ended up with purchases and I didn't! Then it was home for afternoon naps for the littlies and the promise of cupcake icing and decorating for Astrid.

We headed out to a local(ish) cafe for dinner with 3 of the 4 grandparents (my dad had already returned to Queensland) and Uncle Mikl.  Astrid loves going out to dinner and tried a bit of everyone's dinner.  Soren mostly just grinned at people and was hoping it was time to go home to bed!

Once home and with Soren safely asleep, it was time for cake.  Astrid was excited to be allowed up late for the candle blowing out ceremony...... and most importantly, cake consumption!

According to Astrid, I had a lovely birthday!  I agreed.