I would first like to say, before we get into the birthday stuff, that Fawkes and Phoenix have had two nights in a row where they’ve improved their sleep. I woke up to Fawkes making some noise at 5:59 AM. I put his paci back in his mouth, figuring it wouldn’t really last, and got to sleep until 6:11. Glorious. Tristen said she had gotten up once after their late night feeding, but it’s such an improvement over getting up every few minutes starting at 4 AM, putting them in bed at 5, and hardly getting any sleep until we all get up at 6.

This was one of those days where we had a lot to do, but it was kind of spaced out. Tristen had to go into work for a little bit this morning. While she was out she asked if she should go ahead and go to Target to pick up a prescription. The boys were already sleeping, so I told her it was fine by me. She ran into Samantha while she was there and they chatted a bit. She also, at my request, stopped by Child-Fil-A to get me a chicken biscuit.

The boys were back up before she got home though, and Phoenix was only happy when I was carrying him around. No putting him down, no sitting down myself, just standing and preferably walking. I carried both boys around for a while, but that 12.8 pounds per arm starting wearing on me after a while. Fortunately, Fawkes was content to sit in the swing and listen to classical music.

Since we added the second crib to the boys’ room and moved the long dresser out, we’ve been in need of some storage. The room isn’t huge though, and we had a specific place we wanted to put a dresser or chest of drawers. Tristen wanted to go to Ivy Cottage to check out some furniture, which I’m normally good with, but I ended up staying home. The boys were due for a nap (not that they wouldn’t have slept nestled up to us in their carriers) and I was a bit tired myself, so I told her to go ahead. She ended up getting a nice dresser that fit perfectly in the space where we wanted to put it.

I did a little bit of work while she was gone. I also ordered two cookie cakes for Milly’s birthday party. I was in the middle of that when Tristen got home, so I had to help move the dresser before I could take my nap. It wasn’t heavy at all though, and it wasn’t particularly big and cumbersome. It did make me happy once again to have the Sorento that we’ve had for just over a month now.

We fed the boys a little bit early so we could leave the house around 3:00. Tristen was taking them and meeting up with Torrie to decorate the shelter we’d reserved at Hugh MacRae Park. I went to pick Milly up.

Milly had baked a Father’s Day cake and Amanda had sent me a picture of it. It included me and my dad (“Dad” and “Pap” on the cake). They had cut those parts out to give us. Milly said something about giving some to Pap, but we won’t see him until the weekend after the Fourth of July, and I’m not sure the cake will keep that long. Maybe we can freeze it.

We stopped by Lowe’s Food to pick up the cookie cakes, a couple balloons, and some ice. I have to say, given my nebulous description of what I wanted, they did a good job on the cakes. I had asked for one to just say “Happy Birthday Milly” and the other to be science-themed since Milly wanted a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) party. My only real request with it was if they do a flask or beaker to make the contents green since that’s Milly’s favorite color. Well, they spelled Milly’s name right on one and the other was a giant, green-filled flask. Milly and I both were pleased.

We headed to the park after that and helped set up and decorate. Kids tricked in. In order of appearance, as best I can remember, there was Abigail, Haley, Sophie, Miles, Robbie, his brother Matthew, Zoe, her four siblings who we invited to come hang out too since they were all there and we had plenty of stuff, and Annabelle and Jacob. We had one sick call-out and three forgots, but as Zoe’s parents both said, with five kids they’ve got a ready-made party anytime.

The kids played on the playground for a bit then we had them do a competition where they were given twenty sticks of uncooked spaghetti, a yard of masking tape, and a marshmallow. The winner was the team who could get their marshmallow to the highest point using only those items. I randomly split them into teams. The team with Annabelle, Zoe, and Zoe’s little sister (Team Wolf) won. They were actually the only team that got their marshmallow above the ground. The team with Robbie and Zoe’s oldest brother started off well, but all three other teams ended up trying to build a thick tower. Team Wolf had lots of buttresses. The tower was surprisingly resilient, even swaying a bit in the wind.

Speaking of the wind, the weather was amazing. Being later in the day, which was out of necessity from lack of other available shelters, probably helped. There was a really nice breeze the whole time, too.

Anyway, we were going to do a science experiment too, but it would have been chaos trying to get that many kids to follow all the instructions, so we nixed that and went straight to the cake. Amazingly, the wind died down enough that we were actually able to light a candle for Milly to blow out.

The kids kind of scattered after that. Some left, some played at the playground. A bunch went to the baseball field we were next to and hung out on the bleachers with a few venturing into the field. I had told several parents to bring bathing suits for the splash pad there, but it really wasn’t hot at all for one thing and the splash pad was packed for another, so none of our group ended up there.

Milly rode back with Torrie, Johnny, and Sebastian because Milly had gone off to the playground with Johnny and Sebastian for a minute. Tristen drove the boys in Nikki (the Sorento) while I drove Dorothy (her C-Max). She was right behind me the whole way and told me when she got out of the car that Fawkes had cried inconsolably the whole way home, so we took care of them pretty much immediately. I got in the shower with Phoenix while Tristen got Fawkes settled, then we switched babies. Milly was home by the time I got out of the shower so she read to the boys as we fed them.

Milly had brought all her presents in already and she helped me bring the rest of the stuff from the party inside while Tristen washed bottles and tended to dinner. Milly opened all of her presents then we ate.

Tristen went to bed right after that while Milly and I played Dr. Eureka, a game Torrie gave her. You have these test tubes filled with colored “molecules” (balls). You flip cards over and the first person to get the pattern 9without using their hands or spilling any molecules) wins that card. The first person with five cards wins. I won a few cards before I started slowing down, but then Milly started legit beating me. It was a pretty fun game.

After that she got ready for bed and I read some Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to her.