House Willis

Fourth Birthday - Part I

Porter and Fallon recently turned four years old. I can look back at photos of them from only a few months ago and I realize how quickly they are growing now.

This realization has made Toni and I more aware of how important these days are with them. I guess that's why family photos become so important - they capture these events and stories in midstream, allowing us to revisit them more easily when years have passed and the kids have grown up.

We celebrated their birthday on two separate days: one with just us, on their actual birthday; and again the following weekend with all of their friends. This entry is only about the first celebration. I'll add another entry later to chronicle the weekend festivities.

Until then, we hope our family and friends enjoy this entry about the family's celebration of their fourth birthday.

The anticipation for their birthday began building about a week prior to it, when Toni and I asked them what they wanted:

Porter - A big pirate ship
Fallon - A stuffed horsey to that she can ride on

We hinted that they might get them on their birthday, which was upcoming in a few days. Of course, as their birthday approached throughout the week, we let them know that it was only a matter of days before the celebration and presents.

Meanwhile, Toni went to White House Toys to shop for their gifts. She was able to find exactly what they had wanted. However, Porter had changed his mind on the pirate ship a few days later after seeing a batman toy at another store. We knew we'd have to deal with some level of disappointment if his expectations didn't change before their birthday; but we didn't figure it would be too bad.

The night before their birthday they were visibly anxious for the big day. They both were incredibly excited as they went to bed, thinking about their presents and birthday sweets. Of course, when they awakened the next morning they wanted their presents immediately. They had to wait, however, until I returned from work that evening before they could open anything. I can only imagine the anticipation that had built up by this point.

When I finally got home they greeted me at the door with huge amounts of enthusiasm. Toni told me they had been asking about when I'd get home all day long. After getting settled, we brought their presents out and sat down on the dining room rug to open them. After giving them a hand with the ribbons, they were soon shredding the wrapping paper to bits, eagerly trying to get to the presents within.

Fallon's first present was a carousel with horses and trick riders, from a company called PlayMobil. They make high-quality plastic toys with lots of intricate pieces that fit together and can be interchanged. She was totally delighted but really wanted to open her other toy - the big one.

Porter only got one present, but it was quite large and detailed. He also received a toy from PlayMobil - a large pirate ship. At first he was quite upset that he didn't get the batman toy. But we opened the box together and began sorting through all of the parts (more than 100, with over 15 pages of instructions - ugghhh), and he had soon forgotten all about his other wish.

Fallon checked out all the little pieces for her carousel - feathers, riding and trick saddles, hats and other items for the riders. Soon, her attention was turning again to the large present, so we let her open it. It was a lare white, stuffed horse, named blizzard. She immediately began hugging it and laid down with it on the rug. She even snapped a few pictures of it with my camera.

I began what turned into a three hour task of assembling the pirate ship. Porter and I worked together to assemble many of the pieces. He was really excited to see the ship slowly taking shape as we added on the deck, canons, masts, ropes and pulleys, and finally the sails...and, yes, the pirates and their treasure.

Fallon also joined us in the later stages of the construction and helped find parts and put together the sails. She was excited to see it all come together too.

Before long we were all quite tired - not to mention that we'd all forgotten about dinner due to the excitement and focus on the toys. So, we decided to eat a quick bite and settle down to watch a couple episodes of Little Bear before bed.

Eventually they both got into bed, taking bits of their presents with them. Fallon took Blizzard and her music box, and Porter took parts from his pirate ship (canon's and such).

In part two I'll write about their weekend birthday celebration, where they were joined by lots of friends, Buckaroo Bob and a couple fiesty ponies.