Today my dear nephew Jack turned four. Rob and Olive came to pick me up from work and we headed straight over to the Ryan's for a family celebration (Mike's parents, Tom and Sharon were there visiting from Wisconsin. I hadn't seen them since Kellie and Mike's wedding, nearly five years ago. Wow.) All of the adults sat round the table and played a few rounds of Taboowhile we waited for the young ones to wake from their afternoon naps, and Olive amused herself with her unfamiliar but exciting surroundings (and befriended a stuffed kangaroo and joey that Kellie gave her to play with). I hadn't seen the kids for about a month - not since Olive's birthday, and it was remarkable how much they'd all changed, particularly the girls. Iris is so much more animated and active, and because of her crawling and pulling up she's shed a lot of the facial pudge. I didn't get as many of the usual grins from her this time around, however; she's starting to regard me the way her siblings do: with uncertainty and skepticism, as one might a toothless man on a playground dealing out baggies of sweets. It's no wonder, though; I was told that Jack recently, when the subject of me was brought up, did the finger-rotating-round-the-temple motion for whacko. He's got a point. I can't seem to help myself from teasing him and leading him to believe that I reside in some alternate universe where dinosaurs look to me like Disney princesses. He rides a fine line between kindly patience and exasperation in his dealings with me, which is always fun for me to witness. His excitement when opening his gifts was infectious; he uttered loud cries when dinosaur-themed presents appeared from beneath the wrapping paper. Kellie applied temporary dinosaur tattoos to the guests (though my red pterodactyl didn't fare too well after my first shower. Rob sported a stegosaurus on his left hand that is almost certainly extinct - HAHA! - after his 60-some hand-washings at the aviary. I should've taken pictures). Felt T-Rexes dangled from the chandelier and the cake featured the same species, and Jack's protests at cake-cutting time were so frantic that Kellie had to do the job in the other room to spare him the sight of it.
Probably the funniest happening of the party, though? Gail called Rob "Zoe" the entire time. Kellie corrected her the first time, but we're cool to let her keep going with it. I guess they look more alike than even I realized.
Goonie, not too keen on avocadosEnjoy this video footage of Olive's parade around the Ryan's house
Thanks for documenting this. I'd been wanting to, but I haven't found the time. We were so glad you guys could come.
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