Maia's Birthday

We were in Minneapolis this past week to visit Jessica's and Will's families and, most especially, to celebrate Maia's 5th birthday. Leo and Maia were quite happy to see their Nana once again. She has FaceTime sessions with them often, but there is nothing quite as good as being in her arms.

On Tuesday, Anders' school was not in session. Since his parents had to work, we took the opportunity to host him for the day and to include him in a play day with Maia and Leo. Will and Sandy brought Anders to work with them (General Mills), and I met them there. We even enjoyed a nice breakfast together in the employee cafeteria. It was fun to see Will's and Sandy's workplace. General Mills is celebrating 150 years of being in business in 2016, and there were banners and displays to commemorate that milestone.

Once Anders and I got back to Jessica's home, Maia was allowed to unwrap the presents we got her. (Leo got one too, just to keep all possible smiles in place.)

Nana had picked out lots of new clothes for her, including a new winter jacket. Maia seemed to be looking for some new Barbie accessories and was rather ho-hum about the clothes at first. Fortunately, there was a Barbie toy in the last package.

Because the weather was so cold (about -5º F; -20º C for those living in a country that uses sensible measurement systems), we took the kids to a wonderful indoor playground, which had a large room full of balls, hoops, rolling toys, a bouncing cage, and basketball hoops. The kids ran and ran, and we all had a great time playing with them and watching. Leo knew about twirling a hula hoop, and he did manage to get it around a time or two.

He also loved the basketball setup, with low rims, where I could lift him up to do a slam dunk.

Anders and Maia got in lots of shots too. Sorry for the fuzzy action photo.

There was also a colossal maze/treehouse/slide system. The children in it were well protected with netting and padding. I know that all of Anders, Maia, and Leo were in there somewhere, even though you can't see them in this photo. I did manage to catch sight of Anders at one point.

In the evening, everyone got together to celebrate Maia's birthday at a hibachi restaurant for dinner. This was one of the more entertaining hibachi restaurants I've ever visited. The kids were all big-eyed while watching the cooking and the chef's tricks.

Enough fried rice to feed an army.

The birthday girl was very excited.

Knowing it was her birthday, the restaurant staff turned on a ceiling-mounted, multi-colored disco light; brought out a special mask for Maia; played drums and other instruments; and sang not-the-usual birthday song to her. At first I thought she might be frightened of the mask, but she was a good sport about it and looked very cute. She laughed at the pictures I was able to show her.

Later, there were birthday cupcakes and a number 5 birthday candle!