Little dancer

Here are some belated pictures of Evie's second ever big dance performance.  It was two days of rehearsals on stage and two days of performance.  Lucky for me we have a friend who not only brought his camera to the Saturday night performance but took some pretty great pics of Evie too!!  The first is from her tap dance routine to rubber ducky and the second is from Swan Lake.  The whole dance studio participated in the Swan Lake portion of the ballet with the littlest ones starting out the dance with a little routine showing them waking to the new day and then periodically "leaping" across the stage at key moments.  It was really well done.  What wasn't so well done was my attempt at a ballerina bun, as evidenced by all of the hair of her's that you can see in these pictures :)  (For Sunday's performance Patrick just sent her into the dressing room and the head of the studio, a very seasoned maker of buns on difficult hair, made her look truly ballerina-esque)

Slip n' Slide

Its June and that means man is it hot.  We decided to break out the slip n slide on Sunday in an attempt to tire Evie out and get her to take an early nap before her dance recital (more on that to come...).  I'm not sure who had more fun, Evie or Patrick.  I too joined in on the fun.... in the form of sitting at the end of the slip n slide in the water pool.  (I tried to "slide" once or twice on my knees but it didn't work out too well for me.)  Regardless I think we all have found a new favorite backyard activity... at least until it gets below 100 degrees again.

Bodega Bay

Evie and I just got back from a fabulous little jaunt to northern California.  We went up to San Francisco and Bodega Bay.  It was a pretty short trip because Patrick couldn't come with us and because Evie has rehearsal for her big ballet/tap performance this weekend.  We went up to stay at a friend's place at Bodega Bay and traveled with other good friends from Tucson.  All in all there were four families and nine children, all under the age of 7.  Needless to say a goodly amount of chaos was involved but it was by in large excellent chaos.  Evie got to see her friend Maxine again and had a really great time with her in particular.  Yesterday on the plane flight home she told me that she already missed her and wanted to know when we could see her again... too sweet.

When we arrived on Sunday we went out to eat in San Francisco at the dim sum restaurant.  I had never eaten dim sum before and it was utterly delicious.  Unfortunately for me, at the almost 33 week point, I ate a bit too much and then paid for it in heartburn for the afternoon... even so it was sooo worth it.  We then decided because it was a beautiful day we would take highway 1 up the coast to our friend's place instead of the quicker route.  It should have been about an hour drive but ended up taking us close to 4 hours because of traffic and just a very windy narrow road.  It was beautiful though.

On Monday it was gorgeous out and we spent most of the day at the little beach near our friend's house.  The highlight for me were the afternoon tidal pools and all the cool stuff in them.  I think Evie's highlight was the "fairy kingdom" she discovered on the beach where a little waterfall came down the cliffs and onto the beach.  She and Maxine played there in the water for a good few hours.  On Tuesday we took another trek down highway 1 and then spent some time in Bodega Bay at the all important (and seemingly ubiquitous) shop that sells both kites and candy and then yesterday we headed into San Francisco to go to the Exploratorium and Chinatown.  The Exploratorium was great, it was waay crowded though because it just happened to be a free day, Evie had a blast with all the little exhibits.  Her favorites were the steam engine, bubbles and anything having to do with a pendulum.  (Afterward she asked me to define physics... I told her it was the study of how things move... I guess that was a satisfactory answer... certainly the best I could do...)  For lunch we went to Chinatown and then a quick wander to find pokemon cards for the boys and a jade Buddha necklace for me.  When I was about this pregnant with Evie we went to San Francisco and I bought a Buddha that I then wore until she was born and thought it would be cool to do the same again.  (I bought a lucky happy Buddah the first time and opted for a Guanyin one this time :)  Evie got very excited about it so I bought her a little jade Buddah to wear as well... she is very fond of it and it was the first thing she just had to show Patrick when he met us at the airport last night....

Culinary Milestone

And here I thought all the milestones would be from this point forward reserved for the soon-to-be Lacroix...  Evie had a rather exciting, and surely not on the developmental list, milestone this week.  She decided that it was high time she make her own dinner.  As I mentally sang a little hallelujah chorus, I outwardly, and rather calmly, said of course you can make your own dinner.  Foolishly I agreed before inquiring about what exactly the fare would be.  This could have turned out very badly for me if the chosen meal had involved fire, excessive amounts of sugar or some other sort of undesirable.  As it turns out she had a real hankering for a dinner of apples, peanut butter  and shredded cheese.  Mmm delicious.  So I dutifully cut some apples for her, put cheese in one bowl, peanut butter in another and gave her a knife and said go for it.  And she did.  She spread peanut butter on each apple, added shredded cheese and then gobbled it up... the whole apple and all the fixings.  All I have to say is that someone out there is looking out for me because not once did she ask me if I wanted to try this lovely dish...

Fun filled weekend!

This weekend was a blast! As the first weekend where I had absolutely nothing else to do but play I made sure that play we did. On Saturday Patrick and Evie went to her ballet and I went to yoga. On the way home the hit a garage sale and then collected me so that they could actually buy something at the garage sale... dangerous because we went back to pay $3.00 for a fabulous vest for Evie I found a fabulous handmade copper necklace too. Then a fine nap was had by all and a trip out to play goofy golf, a very important first in Evie's life. (Alas I did not bring a camera...pregnancy brain... and therefore this important milestone will go unrecorded) We didn't make it through all 18 holes but Patrick discovered my secret talent... yesss I am a goofy golf master, almost went pro in my younger days but then decided to go to college instead.



Today we took a trip out the the Pima Air and Space Museum, another one of those things we have been meaning to go see but never have. It was pretty spectacular, over 80 acres of planes. My favorite was a helicopter that reminded me of a flying insect. Then this afternoon my friend hosted a baby shower for another friend who is due three days after me and myself. It was quite the gathering, lots of fabulous food and some cutie, cute little baby stuff, including a new quilt made by my mom for the new babe and nifty plates that everyone signed! Whew I think I am going to bed early tonight...

End of the School Year

So it is official. I have now made it through my first year as a PhD student. Concurrently Evie has made it through her first year as a full time preschooler. All very exciting. I think both of the Lacroix girls have learned a lot this year! Last night was Genevieve's last exhibition night for the year and she did such a great job. For the first time ever she got right up there and sang all the songs and really participated. It was really neat to see. (Maybe she actually preformed this time because I didn't bring the video camera... hmmm)

This summer she is going to do a brief foray into Chinese (at her request) and then take the rest of the summer (July) off with me. I think we are both pretty excited about it!

Happy (early) Mother's Day

We just got home from school and I was letting Evie play with the doodle application on my ipad (she is incredibly adept at using the thing already... it is really remarkable and not just a little scary). She just came in and showed/"gave" me this picture and told me it was a Mother's Day present.... She was so excited about the picture she insisted that I print it out for her so she can make it "even more pretty" Should I be concerned?

Bye-bye Blankie Sweater

An old friend has been bid a (mostly) fond adieu this week. Blankie sweater (aka my sweater) first became the lovey of choice for Evie round about June 2009. Since then she has gone just about everywhere with us. Many a car has been turned around when her absence was discovered. She successfully helped Genevieve get to sleep every night and make the transition from home to preschool. She was such an essential part of our family that I purchased an (almost) twin for her so that no terrible crises would befall us. She has been chewed and unraveled, washed and dirtied and, above all loved. At some times her stench was more than even I could take... Regardless, the relationship between Genevieve and Blankie sweater is coming to an end in part because Evie is a big four year old but mostly because the chewing and rubbing of said sweater on Evie's mouth has caused her poor sensitive skin to have near constant eczema that try as I might I have not been able to treat any other way. She is not ready to abandon the thumb just yet and I am OK with that. Besides Patrick and I are both all about anti-hypocrisy in parenting and both are guilty of thumb sucking beyond the age of four...and look how well we turned out :)

Patrick's Vacation

For the past two weeks Patrick has been on "vacation". I place this time off in quotes because by most people's standards it probably does not fit their definition of vacation. He pretty much spent his first week working... finishing a pro-bono case, going out to business lunches, talking about being a lawyer to high school kids... you get the idea. Evie and I whisked him away at the end of that first week to Disneyland, which probably wasn't the most relaxing time either (especially because he had a cold...) but it certainly was fun.

Then last week he took it upon himself to completely redo our Arizona room and convert it into a space that we pretty literally never went inside of into a new playroom/living space. This was no easy feat. First he had to bring wiring from another part of the house and install a new breaker so that we could have light and air in the room. (My dad, who is pretty darn good with electricity helped him with this part) He then built a box and installed a ceiling fan in the room as well as added a light and hung my Guadalajara star (which now you can get everywhere but 12 years ago when I brought it back from Guadalajara in the strangest looking box you have ever seen, it was quite the novelty). Once the place was wired and lighted he set about sanding down and disassembling the frames for the screen and then painting them all yellow (same yellow as the living room... finally found a use for the uber eco yellow paint we accidentally bought en masse) He then hung all of the screen and put up a door and gave it a new handle. It kind of exhausts me just writing about it!


Anyway the end result is a fabulous new space that we have been taking full advantage of. We will buy a futon for it soon but in the meantime we pulled a mattress out there so we could sleep in the nice cool air. (Did I mention that ceiling fan came from our bedroom and has not yet been replaced... details, details) His level of productivity was so high there is part of me that hopes now he'll decided to change jobs every few years or so, so "we" can get another big project done :)

Disneyland!

A little over 8 years ago I told Patrick that the only thing I wanted for my birthday was a trip to Disneyland. He had never been and being the indulgent spouse he is we took off for the magical kingdom. So it should come as no surprise to you that taking my child to Disneyland has been one of those (ahem) selfish things I have been waiting to do as a parent. The time finally came this past weekend. About a month ago when Patrick decided to take some time off between his old job and new job and I had a Friday where my class was going to be canceled we decided what they heck, lets just go to Disneyland for a long weekend. Hotel rooms were booked and plans were made. Last Thursday at 7 pm we took off for California and made it as far as the state line before deciding we'd better find a place to sleep. All night driving and sunrise breakfast had been suggested but, alas, both Patrick and I must be too old, or practical... or something, for such craziness, so we settled for a Motel 8 in Quartzite AZ and a late breakfast at McDonald's.


On Friday we made it to Anaheim by noon and set out directly for Huntington Beach. A month ago I decided I needed a new "pregnancy" (aka larger) bathing suit and thought, hey, I'll more likely than not only be large and rather pregnant during swimsuit season once in my life, I mine as well get an offensively inappropriate orange string bikini... and so I did. The weather was warm enough to hang out in said suit but not nearly warm enough to swim in it so it only had a partial christening on this trip. We spent a few hours playing in the sand and watching the waves and then headed to our hotel.


We spent all day Saturday and Sunday at Disneyland with nice long breaks in the afternoon for Evie and Patrick to nap and for me to study (I am getting pretty behind and the end of the semester is nigh... so there may be a blog drought on the horizon). On Saturday Evie got dressed up in her princess dress and we headed out. We were there early enough so there weren't many people and so I proposed we check out Pirates of the Caribbean as our first ride, a personal favorite of mine that I could still go on "in my condition" This turned out to be a poor parenting choice on my part as (duh) Genevieve deemed it too scary about 1/4 way through and proceeded to talk about how much she disliked the pirates off and on for the rest of the trip... oh well. We then spent a good part of the morning with Evie playing on Tom Sawyer's island, hit the carousel then home for a long nap. In the evening we came back for more rides (including another personal favorite, the Jungle Cruise... which wasn't too scary) and a trip in to meet Mickey Mouse. We even made it until the fireworks show at 9:30. In the past 8 years Disneyland has really stepped it up a notch and the fireworks were about the most amazing I have ever seen and, personally, the highlight of my trip. As it turned out the first day of our Disneyland adventure was all about boat rides, all but one ride we went on involved a boat of some sort... Oh and a ridiculously awesome Snow White dress for Evie was purchased at the end of the day (I'm a total sucker... I know)


At the recommendation of some Aussies we chatted with while Evie played on Tom Sawyer's island we booked early morning reservations at the park for breakfast with Minnie... a breakfast where an array of characters come over and visit with you while you eat. This turned out to be a really great tip and was a lot of fun for all of us (as you can see from the pictures of Patrick) Evie prepped for the day by getting all dressed up in her new costume and just looked too cute. Her favorite visitor was definitely the penguin from Mary Poppins who she hugged with a never before seen gusto. Patrick seemed to really dig the Winnie the Pooh characters....


From breakfast we went to ride on the tea-cups for the first of what would be three times that day and then to wait in line and meet with the princesses figuring earlier would be better. There are always three to meet with but you don't know which you will have but Genevieve lucked out and got to see what she deemed her favorite that morning... Ariel. It was really sweet the way they interacted with her and was another really special thing that I (no great surprise) had never experienced at Disneyland. After an extra long afternoon break we went back for one last romp, beginning with the Haunted Mansion. After the Pirates problem I wasn't too sure about it, but made Evie fully aware of what she was getting herself into, and she informed me that she was "Not afraid of ghosts Mommy, I have one in my classroom, I know that ghosties are nice." (A long story...of which I don't quite know all of the details) Anyway, indeed she is not afraid of ghosties, and in fact once we were done proclaimed the Haunted Mansion to be her favorite ride.... Pirates bad, ghosts good.. I guess you just never know. The evening culminated with the fancy Fantasmic show and then back to the room and off to the land of nod...at oh around 11 pm. This morning we packed it up and made the long trek back to AZ, hearts full of happiest place on earth. (Almost full enough to still be joyous after 8+ hours of driving and multiple almost accidents with crazy CA drivers who seem to think it is OK to change lanes 2 or more at a time and not look where they are going)

4th Birthday Party

As Evie was going to bed last night she said to me, "Mommy, I think it is really great to be 4." She is just a few days into fourdom but I imagine that her birthday party certainly contributes to the continuing greatness of four. We decided to have the shindig in our backyard again, and really lucked out this year. On Saturday it was raining all day and very cold (last weekend it was in the 90s, this weekend in the 50-60s). Sunday the sun came out and it warmed up to the low 70s... just perfect for an outdoor fairytale birthday party! We rented a jumping castle again and of course did the whole pinata thing (obligatory in my world). I bought crowns for the kids to make and they loved playing both in the jumping castle and in Evie's room on her castle bed... but the best part for me was the cake.

Four years after Evie's birth I have finally managed to make a cake I am proud of. (See previous attempts here and here... and last year I didn't even try...) That's not to say that I think I have arrived at my cake apex... oh no I am just getting my feet wet in this world o' cakes my friends, but it is to say that I finally managed to make one that a) didn't have lumpy or crunchy frosting and b) wasn't gray (although I planned for that possibility by making a castle) As you can see I wasn't setting the bar very high. Regardless, the cake was a hit and the towers proved to have many uses, including enabling Evie to eat her piece like a Renaissance-fair style turkey leg... awesome.


The invitation asked the invitees to dress up so Patrick and I figured we had better dress up too. (I of course only managed to score these costumes on Sunday at 1 pm... but better late than never...) So we both ran around as almost (my Mom and Claudia joined in) the only adults dressed up. I looked pretty silly in my costume and think I may need to wear it again and then get Patrick to dress in black with a black flat hat and recreate my favorite Van Eyck painting, which is all I could think of every time I looked at myself in the mirror.

In the end we must have had 20 kids at the house and at least as many adults. It was quite the crowd, and I must admit by the end of the day I was feeling like maybe 25 week pregnant ladies should not spend so much time on their feet (not to mention miss my Sunday nap...) but all in all a great party is worth it!

Happy Birthday Genevieve!

Four years ago today Genevieve Marie Lacroix first made her appearance on this world stage. A brief rundown as told (mostly) by her of her favorites at the ripe young age of four (I interviewed her as we went to bed last night).

Favorite color: "purple and green, all mixed up together" (umm I think that makes black of some sort... but it does definitely seem to be her favorite way to paint... all mixed up together)
What do you want to be when you grow up? "A doctor" (when I asked her what kind of doctor she replied "a doctor of people")
Favorite food(s): mac and cheese and noodle salad (a Vietnamese salad I make with carrots, cucumbers, rice noodles and fancy tofu... the fancy tofu is her favorite)
Favorite drink: Juice
Favorite book: Tintin
Favorite thing to do on the weekend: "Go to birthdays"
Best friends: Lydia, Garbriel, Alexandra, Nanan, Daddy and Scarlett (after I asked if I was her friend she said "oh of course and don't forget Mommy")
Favorite animal: Anteater
Favorite song: Allouetta
Favorite movie: "The one where flies go into space." (aka Fly Me to the Moon, I'd also like to note for the record that we watch a whole lot of Mary Poppins and Hans Christian Anderson by her request)
Favorite toy: Bunny (aka the bunny Patrick fetched for her with the claw machine last Saturday)
If the baby is a boy we should name him: Alexander
If the baby is a girl we should name her: Ixandra (she also suggested the baby, boy or girl, could be named "french fry, because that would be silly")

Birthday week

Genevieve's 4th birthday week officially began on Friday with a surprise birthday party at her school for her and her friend Lydia (whose birthday was this weekend). Evie's birthday turns into a week because this week is spring break for her school so her "school birthday" had to be celebrated ahead of time and her real birthday is on a Wednesday this year making it impossible to have the main event on her birthday proper.


Her teacher has been planning the event for a few weeks now and I came over too for the festivities (and brought some party hats and skirts for the girls to enliven the festivities a bit). Evie's teacher Isabelle decorated the tables put out glitter, brought cookies and even painted their faces like kitties and Lydia's parents sent in some tie-dyed cupcakes for everyone. The preschool is a pretty small crowd on Friday so after the initial surprise the kindergarten French class came to join in on the fun too. When I came early for the surprise she practically pushed me back out the door saying "No Mommy you can't pick me up yet, there is going to be a surprise!" When I explained that I was part of the surprise she got really excited, it was too cute. I am so lucky to have such a flexible schedule these days that I can just take off and go over to her class for a birthday party (it was also very fortuitous that my 12:30-3:00 class was canceled for the day.)

Language Fair

Saturday was Evie's first Southern Arizona Language Fair, a major annual event for the kids at her school because it is all about kids reciting poems/preforming songs in languages other than English. For the past few months she has been working on a song to sing with her class up on the big stage and a poem to recite by herself in front of judges. She worked really hard and had them both memorized really well. On Thursday at her school exhibition though she refused to sing or recite either one for the parent attendees. Patrick and I really wanted her to give it a try on Saturday, seeing how she had worked so hard on both. We decided that we would give her a little incentive in the form of a trip to Chuy's afterward if she gave, particularly the poem, a try. We sweetened the deal by saying if she tried we'd go to Chuy's but if she did really well we'd go to Chuy's and we'd give her a dollar for games and/or the toy machines. I came well prepared with plenty of snacks (a hungry Evie is a totally unwilling/uncooperative Evie) and she went dressed in her nicest uniform (the only one without copious amounts of stains saved just for such an occasion). The first event was the song. She and her classmates waited patiently for about a half hour while all the other kids at her school performed their songs. This one I caught on tape:



She thought it was pretty cool to go up on stage and was then excited for the solo poem performance. We went to a classroom and then had to sit quietly while another 10 kids before her recited or tried to recite their poems. Most of the kids in her class got too scared but her teacher is so great, she got right up with them and helped them recite it and in the end I think just about all of them made it through at least a little of the poem. Evie was getting antsy and finally, second to last and almost 45 minutes later, her turn was called. I didn't realize how nervous I was about the whole thing until she got up, stood in front of the judges said her name, her school and then recited her poem with a nice big voice and a pretty little accent. The whole thing made me cry (it must be the pregnancy hormones... right?!) We were both so proud of her and it was great to see the look on her face of sheer delight when she was finished for actually accomplishing it. I didn't take a video of the poem, I didn't want to distract her and honestly just wanted to watch her do it more than preserve it for posterity per se.

We of course took her to Chuy's for the full treatment, quesadilla and dollar for games and all. Lucky for Evie her Dad is a savant when it comes to the claw machine and needed only 50 cents to not only get her a stuffed animal but exactly the one she wanted. She is still carrying around that 50 cent bunny and I have a suspicion it will be a favorite for a very long time.

Festival and more

Another fabulously beautiful Saturday in springy Tucson! Evie had the uber kid day: in the morning she went to ballet and then out for a pastry with Patrick and the obligatory stop at a great garage sale to get an entire playmobile collesium for $10, a quick nap with me, trip to Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party and then straight to the Festival in the Barrio Viejo for some great music. Patrick was the porter for most of the day's activities. I went along for the best part, the festival. (I think Patrick will not volunteer so willingly for the next Chuck E. Cheese b-day, he didn't realize the extent of the garish kidness he was in for.) The festival was great fun, we didn't make it for the full 6+ hours but 3 hours was enough to get in a little chess playing (on a pink board nonetheless), jumping castling (in earshot of the great music), a little disappointment when U of A didn't beat U Conn, some fine hula hooping and of course a bit of dancing to the music. I tried my hand at the hula hooping too thinking the belly would give me an advantage... I was totally wrong.

This was really Evie's first concert (at least the first one we paid to go to where she came too) I think she enjoyed herself.

Zingers: Breastfeeding

The other day Evie asked me "Mommy, why do babies eat boobies?" I repressed a chuckle and explained to her that they aren't eating so much as drinking (although I suppose a good chomp is why many a child is weaned, but I didn't think she needed to know that nuance)

Best Tuesday Ever

I think Evie just had her best Tuesday ever. Tonight my aunt, uncle and youngest cousin came by to pass on the Mott family heirloom... The Castle Bed. This bed was purchased for my little brother when he was about 5 (I think). Here we are over 20 years later and it is still bringing joy to small kids. It has been passed down through many a cousin of mine and now is entering its next life as the prized possession of a Lacroix kid. I am afraid trying to get Evie to sleep tonight may be a lost cause (for many reasons, not the least of which being we don't currently have any mattresses for it :)

Spring Weekend

Hooray for Spring! We are doggedly determined to celebrate all 2 weeks of lovely spring that we will have in Tucson. (Summer, temperatures at least, generally come around mid-April)


This weekend we went out to a great new (to us) nursery called desert survivors and picked up some new plants for the front yard. Patrick has been mulling over/planning what he would do with the front area for a good long time now and I think he was pretty excited to see it start to take shape. Evie was happy to help, especially when she was informed that mud would be involved.


Other spring-like activities involved getting new chickens. All 10 of our chickens were taken in a midnight coyote raid about 3 weeks ago. It was pretty tragic but really they weren't laying much anyway so it was probably about time for them to go. Regardless the new plan is for each neighbor in the coop co-op to pick up three new chicks and sometime in the next few months, when they need more space, we'll expand their coop and make more "indoor" space for them to keep them safe from marauding carnivores. Evie came with me to the feed store to pick out the Lacroix three. We got a leghorn (not so pretty but big layers and I am all about an abundance of eggs), an ameraucana (because blue eggs are just too cool) and a barred-rock (I let Evie pick one and this was her choice, I learned afterward that apparently this breed is the most friendly). Their names are, in order of introduction, Little Crown, Little Polly and Little Fuzz. Evie named them all (I guess she has finally gotten over her obsession with naming all pets Oliver) and informed me that once they are big chickens we can remove the "little" from their names. With the exception of Little Fuzz they are all pretty scared right now and spend most of their time, especially when a human is in the coop all jumbled up behind the roost like this (I can't tell you the names of the other 6...):


I am already looking forward to their laying days... I have become quite an egg snob :)

Invitation

Since oh just about April 7th last year Evie has been looking forward to her birthday this year. Her ultimate compliment or insult, which we hear about at least once a day, is to invite or uninvite you to her birthday party. I can always tell when she is displeased with me because I will be unceremoniously uninvited to the great event. (I once tried to explain to her that if I didn't come there would be likely no cake or jumping castle but my rationality fell on deaf ears) Well now the day is approaching again and so the threats/offers for her birthday are realistic :) The theme this year is going to be fairytale and all are asked to come to our house and the party dressed as their favorite fairytale character... it is a slight stray from the requested princess theme but I just couldn't do it three years in a row. We were in target yesterday picking out a birthday present for Patrick (she bought him the movie Book of Kells... totally random but he was very excited about it... go figure) and she picked out her birthday/easter/daddy's birthday dress too. Now lets just see if I can keep it white until April 10th when we have her party!

International Day

Yesterday was our second official International Day at Evie's school representing Belgium. Last year my waffles, which I tried to cook on the go, didn't work out so well on account of the lack of electricity (or rather reliable electricity). This year I made them all (all 100 of them) last weekend, froze them and then toasted them as needed. Granted I spent a pretty ridiculous amount of time making waffles last weekend but it did make the house smell pretty darn good and by the fourth batch I had the whole recipe and time for the dough to rise down pat. (I would have only had to make 3 batches if it hadn't been for Evie and Patrick constantly dipping into the kitchen and sneaking off with my fresh-made waffles.)


Anyway the waffles were a success and the new game I made, a card guess the Belgian icon game, while not as flashy as the spinning board last year, certainly worked well and didn't fly off in the spring winds. Evie must have spent 2 hours in the jumping castle and really enjoyed running around with all of her class friends. A pretty good way to spend my birthday if I do say so myself!