Birthday Party & Keeping Busy

Froggy Boots had her 2nd birthday party this past weekend!  I can't believe she's 2 years old already -- where did the time go?  Anyways, we all had a good time!  Froggy Boots had a Thomas birthday cake, which she could literally hardly keep her hands off. 

This is the 2nd year in a row that we've purchased a birthday cake from Kroger.  The frosting is awesome and the cake is really moist and delicious.  I've been pretty impressed considering they were just grocery store bakery cakes!  Here's a picture of the Thomas cake:

Froggy Boots received lots of fun gifts for her birthday!  I think the gift that was the biggest hit (with Froggy Boots and all of the kids at her party) was a Radio Flyer wagon from her grandma and grandpa Dahlem (my mom and dad).  Froggy Boots didn't notice the wagon right way, but when she did, she made a mad dash for it.  She ended up opening up the remainder of her gifts while sitting in the wagon!  Here are a few pictures of Froggy Boots and her new wagon:

If you look closely, Froggy Boots is holding the little Thomas train from her birthday cake.  She didn't let go of that until we got home after her party!

"Oooo!"

Froggy Boots riding in the wagon with one of her friends while myself and another one of her friends pulls the wagon.

Since Froggy Boots' birthday party, we have been keeping really busy!  On Tuesday we went to library story time at the Ann Arbor District Library downtown branch.  On Wednesday we went to the farmer's market and explored the many different types of vegetables we have never tried before.  I got a lesson about Kale from a woman from Tantre Farms (one of the local CSA farms) and bought a cookbook with recipes and information about cooking with seasonal vegetables. 

I have been inspired to try cooking with some different vegetables and would like to try and take advantage of the abundance of local produce we have available in the Ann Arbor area!  The cookbook I bought is called From Asparagus to Zucchini and has vegetables listed in alphabetical order along with recipes to use each one, information about where they originated, and when they are in season.  The cookbook also has lots of information about making a transition to cooking with seasonal food as well as how to store it for later use.

On Wednesday we also had an impromptu seed planting lesson.  While Froggy Boots was helping me fill the bird feeders with the new birdseed I just bought at (you guessed it) Kroger, she was very interested in the sunflower seeds that were mixed in.  So, I decided we would go ahead and plant some of them in a pot and see what happens.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get any pictures of us planting the seeds because my husband was not within shouting distance to ask him to bring the camera out.  But, I did manage to get a couple pictures of her watering the seeds after we planted them.  She really wanted to get the seeds good and wet, so she stuck the watering can right into the dirt!  Here's a picture:

My plan is to take a picture of the sunflower plants every day as they grow, print them out, and make a little book for Froggy Boots that shows how a sunflower grows!  Here is the first picture from yesterday when we planted the seeds:

On with the week so far...  This is beginning to remind me of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  On Thursday (today) we went to Froggy Boots' playgroup.  We are only able to attend during the summer months since I teach preschool during the school year.  But, when we are able to attend, I really enjoy the company of other mom's and Froggy Boots enjoys being with her friends.  Today the kids enjoyed spending time in a kiddie pool. 

It's interesting to see the differences in kids depending on their age.  Froggy Boots spent most of her time playing by herself while the other 2 kids (who are 3 and almost 3) spent most of their time playing together.  Next summer will probably be a completely different story -- especially since Froggy Boots will have attended Montessori school for an entire school year by that time.