The end of April

My baby turned 7 this week. I usually spend some time reminiscing about birthday's past while I'm planning for the next. Here's a quick run down of how we've celebrated Lula's big day over the years:

1: Picnic in Sheep's Meadow, Central Park NYC
A few friends, a big blanket and Sprinkles cupcakes.

2: Party River Run Playground, Riverside Park NYC
Reserved a spot through the Park Commission. More cupcakes. Lots of hungover friends without children. Even more friends with children. I don't remember what we served for food. Delivered pizza, probably. Fun game where I hid toys in the sandbox tied to strings and the kids dug them up. Awesome face painter. Favors were personalized buckets & sand shovels.

3: Bounce House, Grandma Lonah's house Austin, TX
We flew in from NY and rented a bounce house shaped like a castle that took up half the back yard. There was a bubble machine and a piñata that was as big as Lula. Favorite memory: after the party jumping in the bounce house with my girls, my mom and her two big dogs*, Nightmare and OhNo. *100% positive this was specifically forbidden in the contract.

4: Zoo Party, Grandma Lonah's house Austin, TX
To spice things up we hired one of those traveling zoo services to come to the party. There was a chinchilla, a porcupine, a giant tortoise, a kangaroo and a giant snake. Good times.

5: Family trip to the beach, Galveston Tx
Instead of a party we took off for the beach. We stayed at a hotel, went to the Rainforest Cafe and swam in the polluted ocean.

6: Bike and Scooter Parade, Lakewood Tx
Thought this was a genius idea. Invited the whole class to meet us in a park with a circular path. Everyone decorated their rides, Hazel and her BFF carried a large banner proclaiming 'Happy Birthday' and we all rode/marched around the park. Hot dogs, fruit, cake. The weather was a bit uncooperative.

7: Originally we were scheming up a doozy of 'Top Chef' party. Which morphed into a party at a cooking school. Which changed into a slumber party. (Same as her sister's 7th). So last night her four best friends came over for dancing, scavenger hunting, a PB&J bar and tell your mother I fed you some fruit, cupcakes and an ice cream cake. It was fun and manageable, but a late night.

To top it all off, tomorrow we'll be camping as a family under the Golden Gate Bridge at Kirby Cove. Fingers crossed for me. I've got weather, equipment, fussy husband, foghorn and wildlife issues to contend with.