Beck Family Blessings: Our Oregon Vacation Post #3

Most of the reason we come to Eugene at this time of year is for Sadie's cousin, Attilie's, birthday. Her birthday is July 1 and it just provides us the perfect excuse to get out of the heat in Phoenix, as well as see some fireworks with friends! This year Attilie's birthday was on a Friday, but we celebrated from Thursday - Saturday!!

I had this idea to take Attilie to Build-A-Bear for her birthday (I had never been, and I think it would have been more fun for a 5-year-old than a 2-year-old, but oh well). Thursday afternoon we all met at the mall. By all I mean, Sadie, me, Grammy, my brother (Attilie's dad), my sister-in-law, Attilie, and her new baby brother, Theo who is barely 6 weeks old. Lucky for us, we know the manager at Build-A-Bear, so we got special treatment!

First, Attilie got to pick out whatever animal she wanted. We purposefully steered her toward the cheaper models (even though it didn't matter) and she immediately fell in love with the Kitty. First, Attilie and her Papa picked out a saying, they chose the one that says "I love you" when you squeeze the kitty's paw. Then, we all picked out a heart and put it inside this kitty (there were 7 of us, so this kitty was filled with a lot of love), then Sue (our manager friend) proceeded to put a pipe up the kitty's backside and blow a bunch of fluff into her. Then we sewed her up, gave her a (air) bath, and proceeded to the station to make her a birth certificate. Attilie decided to name her Julie, after many many names that her Papa gave her from which to choose. It was really apparent that Attilie loved Julie, and that made me happy...I love making that little girl happy!

choosing her kitty

choosing what she wanted her kitty to say

adding all our love via little stuffed hearts

sewing up the kitty after being stuffed

giving the kitty a "bath" to get all the extra fuzz off

saying thank you to Aunt Christie for the birthday present

Attilie loves her kitty

Naming the kitty Julie and making her a birth certificate

The best part about Julie the kitty was later when we were all back at Grammy's house. Attilie would squeeze Julie's hand and she'd say, "I love you I love you," then Attilie would look at someone and go, "I love you." So precious. My brother says that days later after they were home in Portland, Attilie still cuddles with Julie.

The next day, Friday, which was Attilie's actual birthday, we geared up for a family swimming event. At the outdoor public pool, they have toddler swim time from 11:30-1:00 (the big kids come from 2:00-5:00), so we all met there. It was the same crowd as before, plus Attilie's other cousins, Maddie, Louisa, their mom, Brianne, and Attilie's Gaga (her other grandma). Attilie was tired, and cold, and after about 20 minutes fell asleep in Gaga's arms. Everybody else had a great time swimming, even Sadie! Even though Attilie never actually got in the water, it was her birthday and we let her do what she wanted to. After all, you can reason with a 2-year-old!!

I think this is as close as Attilie ever got to the water

this is how she wanted to spend her birthday!

the rest of us enjoyed the sunshine!

Sadie swimming

Sadie and me coming down the waterslide!

ready to do the slide again!

Saturday was Attilie's birthday party at the park. It was also strictly a family affair, but even more were added. This time we celebrated with Attilie's Aunt Melissa and Uncle Juan, who flew from California with their baby, Isaac. And of course her Poppy joined us, as well as Uncle Cameron. We ate a wonderful vegan cake with real raspberries in the middle, and beautiful flowers on top! Then Attilie opened presents. She got some really neat stuff like a tunnel to climb through, a tea set made from BPA-free recycled plastic, and her first necklace from her Papa (Hello Kitty, of course). After presents, we swang, we blew bubbles, we played with balloons, and we ran around and got dirty. Everyone was tired and hot by the end of that party...except for Sadie who took a nap as soon as we got there, then laid on the blanket and kicked and kicked and kicked with excitement, especially when we gave her a balloon!