It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly two weeks since we celebrated my baby boy’s three-year old birthday on the Lake in Garrison. In point of fact, we celebrated his 2-year birthday in Montauk (see here and here) and I’ve yet to finish all of the postings for that one! Yeesh.
For the past two years, instead of having big full-on birthday celebrations, we’ve opted for more intimate family getaways and outdoor luncheons (the first one on Shelter Island and the second in Montauk). Somehow, I always felt like the big birthday stuff, particularly when the little ones are so green and emotionally unaware, can be a bit tricky. Call me selfish, but I really just want to relish my baby’s birthday with him and him alone (okay plus hubs) ... and well, particularly for 1 year old birthdays, it always seems to be more about the grown-ups than the kid. Doesn't it?
This year however, we’ll be doing our very first big group birthday party (in the aftermath of our family lake-house getaway). I’m pretty jazzed about it, actually -- as we’ll be going all out and doing a barnyard-bonanza themed party at the Brooklyn Zoo. It’s always a bit tricky for my son, you see, who has a summer birthday, so would invariably mean that we'd have to celebrate when school is off and folks might be out of town. For one thing, August is generally the month where everybody’s away on holiday, and for another… well, this will really be the first year where he’ll be mature enough to understand what’s actually happening (I think), and moreover – he’ll finally have his cohort of “little people” that he can celebrate with.
… All to say, mamma’s a bit nervous, but I’ll let you know how it all goes this Saturday! (See here for more details on the zoo party).
Back to our Lake House excursion. It was actually quite a special experience, particularly as my son really got the vibe that something truly unique was going on, and we were able to enjoy our moments together, just the three of us. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but the best part was being able to soak in the outdoors with our little guy, collecting acorns by the water, and chugging rocks into the lake (who knew that happiness can be this simple!). Oh, and he absolutely loved his birthday bike from TokyoBike – he’s been riding it nonstop ever since and rapidly becoming super confident on it, which makes it oh-so-fun to watch (though difficult for this mamma to keep up with, what with her ever expanding belly and all!).
Related:
Baby's First Birthday Celebration
Summer fun (and birthday) on Shelter Island