Happy B-Day Tootsie!
Saturday was Tootsie’s birthday. It was also the day that she rescued me from having to take care of both kids by myself. I prefer not to be outnumbered. We had a nice breakfast and Ellie slept in the car as planned. Tootsie took us to the playground where we met up with Megan and the ladies and everybody went down the slide 723 times. Phoebe and Ellie and I went back for Tootsie’s for lunch. Tootsie had given cheese to Phoebe as a side dish but this became the main course with a side of pears, turkey, and yogurt. She will choose cheese over any other food. However, she is a purist. Other than crackers, the cheese must not be, say, on top of broccoli or in any other unsuitable location. She is also just as happy with the industrial stuff like the mozzarella tubes that Cristin eats as with the fancy stuff. I made myself my favorite summer time sandwich which is salami and cheese with mayo. It reminds me of when I worked at the yacht club. It was such a taxing job that we needed a 90 minute lunch break which in summer Chatham congestion is just enough time to go to D’angelos where my love for this sandwich started. After lunch I walked Ellie for almost two hours while Tootsie read to Phoebe and put her to bed. The Wellesley Hills are great for such walks. You can literally stroll for hours and have at most a dozen cars go past. Of course during this time you have all the time in the world to look at all the beautiful houses and remind yourself how far you fell short of your aspirations. After naps, the ladies came back with Dave and Auntie Mo and we had a pizza party. Cupcakes from Quebrada for dessert adorned with trick candles purchased by accident that produced a substantial amount of flame. After dinner, Tootsie and MoMo gave Ellie and Phoebe a bath. Moments after I finished explained the previous nights whale incident, the fish that Tootsie uses for that same purpose scared Ellie back into hysterics. Apparently she doesn’t like plastic marine life safety products. Auntie Mo was entertained by Phoebe’s critical reports such as “baby is crying” and “baby threw up”. As a special birthday present to Tootsie we left her with a completely toddler-ransacked house. Ellie was still crying as we left the house but was asleep by the bottom of the driveway. Phoebe however was on a raging sugar high until we got home.
Above: Phoebe shows off her party suit. I had to get the girls dressed and I realized that I had no idea how to put an outfit together. Zero. However, I think what I came up with for Phoebe was fabulous. She is wearing a beautiful knee length dress with a long sleeve shirt with grey sweats. I guess that would be grunge. Below: Ellie’s outfit was a bit more mainstream but I didn’t get a good picture of her. 
Above: Tootsie opens some “juice” for the kids. Below: Olivia doesn’t seem to have quite the same level of enthusiasm for the party as her father. Her pose reminds me of the The Thinker. However, what she is likely doing is thinking about how to dole out punishments for those who chose to single too loudly. 
