I'd never seen Atticus have more fun at the zoo! We visited last Monday, when the weather was halfway decent, but the line to get in was long. No matter -- I think many in that line were actually heading to the waterpark, and the zoo wasn't too crowded.
Everywhere we looked, Atticus asked me to take a photo. (I didn't grab a good one of the new baby elephant, however.) But Atticus especially loved the fish and manatees, as well as the reptile house. He even got to pet a snake!
I had birthday parties from ages 1 to 16. Another one at a bar in college when I turned 21. At age 30 I spent the evening with Paul and friends at the Shake Shack in Manhattan's Madison Square Park. My 40th birthday wouldn't be held at a bar or a restaurant in a park in the middle of New York, but I was determined to make it special.
Of course, Covid almost ruined those plans. I had been thinking about my own party since we held Paul's 40th at Old North Arcade a couple of years ago, long before "pandemic" was a daily word in our vocabulary. But as cases went down and things got a little more back to normal, I finally allowed myself to get excited about it a couple of months ago and sent out the invitations: a backyard bash with some of my favorite things (in no particular order!) -- pizza, donuts, drinks, family and friends.
Last Saturday's forecast looked iffy all week long, and it rained all morning. But a couple of hours before the festivities were to start, it cleared up. A few gray clouds, sure, but no rain. It even got hot! So many of my favorite people came -- I think I counted around 60 adults and kids, so we were wise to get 7 dozen donuts (from my favorite shop, Buckeye Donuts, of course!). Paul even stuck four candles in a vanilla cream donut and led the crowd in "Happy Birthday."
The kids too had a great time and were so worn out that they finally came inside to go to bed on their own volition. Many, many thanks to my parents, who not only made the trip to Columbus for the party but made sure the kids went safely to sleep while Paul and I were chatting with friends. All in all, we had guests from 4 p.m. to midnight. It was quite a way to ring in the next decade of my life, and to remember all of the good things -- and good people -- that I'm surrounded by.
I turn 40 on Thursday.
The weirdest part of the whole thing is that I remember when my dad turned 40, and all of the good-natured jokes we made at the time. Mom gave him a folding chair that rocked, perfect for the old folk. I was almost 11. Now we've all skipped to the next generation. How did that happen?
I don't really feel older. In some ways, I think turning 30 was a bigger mental adjustment -- 20-somethings are young, but once you hit your 30s you're supposed to be mature. The 40s really aren't that different, I guess. (Right?)
I'm throwing myself a backyard birthday party this weekend (more on that next week), asking my friends and neighbors to both celebrate and commiserate. Pizza, donuts and drinks take the edge off growing older. At least that's what I'm hoping.
It was a holiday weekend that felt normal for once. We visited my hometown for the first time in a whole year — the longest I’ve ever been away. (I think the previous record was 9 months, when we lived in New York. The difference is, though, that my parents visited us several times in Columbus over the last year, but we had no visits during those 9 months in Brooklyn.)
My nephew’s sixth birthday party was Saturday — which also happened to be my dad’s birthday — and then my sister and her family held their annual holiday party. It was a beautiful day and evening, particularly since it didn’t get crazy hot til the next day. I actually could have used a jacket!
The next day we visited a splash pad for the kids, and my dad took us all on trips on his new gator. He and a neighbor have carved out pathways in the land they own, outlining the cornfields, abutting the river and traipsing through the woods. Maybe a mile or more of trails? I don’t really know, but it seemed pretty extensive. It was fun, and I saw parts of the woods I hadn’t visited in years, maybe decades — or maybe ever.
We came home today, after a lazy day of visiting. The kids were exhausted from the late nights, but boy was it nice to see some extended family this weekend after so many months apart.
