Happy Birthday Milo! One, Two, Three candles for his third birthday (yesterday), and plenty of energy and hot air which which to blow them out!  We had his birthday bash on Saturday with cake etc, hence the candles in the non-cake (cornbread) for his birthday dinner. 

For Milo’s party we invited three other families to join us for a beach barbeque at Rapaki beach on the Banks Peninsula.  While we were waiting for them to arrive we were digging around in a little fresh-water seep on the rocky beach. Despite the overcast day the puddle felt comfortably warm, and it finally dawned on me that it was a thermal spring! I’ve always wanted to swim in a natural hot spring!

Here our friends Audrey and Noah are enjoying the thermal pools before the tide comes in and swamps them. We were busy doing birthday prep and the tide was coming in fast so I didn’t get to sit in the pools, but I’ll be back!

Plink, Plank, Plunk! Nothing occupies kids as simply as throwing rocks into water.

I guess dirt cake is an American thing–our English friends had never heard of it. Its unveiling was greeted with much skepticism from the kids and British acclamations from the adults (“Oh, that’s Fab, that’s Brilliant!”). All the recipes involve cool whip, which is non-existent in New Zealand. After two attempts to make it from scratch failed miserably, I’m happy to report that the dirt cake turned out just fine without it. At least we can still purchase Oreos here.

The kids aren’t quite sure about this cake-in-a-bucket thing, but the prospect of dessert was enough to lure them in.  Plus, trying to light candles in the wind is rather amusing.

The excited babbling turned into silent absorption as the cake was doled out. It was met with approval, after all.

Milo sure thought it was “Fab!” Lick those fingers, don’t miss a scrap!

Here we’re actually at an outdoor concert the evening of his birthday party, but tackling the girls was what Milo had been doing all day, too. Not that he’s partial to girls yet….it’s just that among families we’re friends with, they’re readily available. It’s a predictable pattern: they start with a game of chase, then Milo catches, then the girl screeches, then Milo gets told off. He tried it with Amelie, Ella, and Audrey, repeatedly.  Poor kid, he’s just being a normal puppy, but he needs to learn to pick his subjects better.

Yup, Naomi is the next chase partner. Even though she can’t really move away yet Milo still tries tackling her, but instead of screeching, she actually smiles! Hope that attitude lasts!

There’s my boy, complete with a cheeky grin and an enormous birthday cookie! The three-year-old era has begun.