Eli's family celebration

Eli's birthday fell on Veteran's Day. He thought back fondly on our trip to the Oakland Zoo last year and wanted a repeat performance. When I asked Eli what he wanted for his birthday he was so sweat, he did not request any presents (though his were thoroughly enjoyed) but asked to eat off they bunny plate and have decorations at the breakfast table. Well this was easy to produce.

The morning was fun, I had a treasure hunt set up. I took a big plastic storage box and filled it with beans I got in the mission. I then emptied bags full of little rock treasures. Eva and Eli played with this for an hour. They loved the feel of the beans. It was tempting to help them find the treasures but I resisted until the end. Once I got started I could not stop...

We went to the zoo. I was not expecting the huge crowd due to the holiday. I was so stressed out by the time we got there, parked and made our way. Eli and Eva had fun riding the rides before we went to the zoo. Once we got in it was time to eat, children were hungery and of course the line was ridiculous. We met Naomi/David/Leon there. I can not remember what set Eli off, maybe someone took a bit of his chicken strip but he went into such a rage. He cried and carried on like I've never seen him. Art finally took him away from the table so other guests could eat. It was so uncharacteristic for him that we were snickering (without him seeing us). After this was said and done he was exhausted. He did not want to join anyone on the sky ride but wanted to go the children's zoo with me. We had a really nice time with each other, he was as happy as a lark.

We ate the no-so-successful coconut cake I made him and ate pizza. Eli is 4 - one of the big boys.