Scenes from a birthday

Yesterday was Willow's second birthday and so I invited a small group of friends over to celebrate. That meant she got extra play time which saw her leaping and grabbing and scurrying around with abandon. She just loves her tube and wand toys.

I bought her a can of special Asian fusion tuna chow which she, of course, didn't eat. Oh well. Instead she got extra Churu which she licked right up before going back to playtime.

For the humans I grilled some kabobs but we started with apple cheddar scones that I baked (gotta use up those apples) and some rye pretzel thins & garlic cheddar schmear. I'd been looking for the rye variety for a few weeks but had no luck until a few days ago when I spied them at the Willy Street Coop. For dessert I made a blackberry clafoutis.

That photo of the clafoutis looks like it was made by the Scarlett Johansson alien lady from Under the Skin with that impenetrable black background.

Both tasted good but the scones weren't as thick as I'd hoped. I am unsure if the baking powder didn't do its job for some reason or if I simply rolled the dough out too thinly. Probably the latter.

Look at my sweetpea! Such a princess enjoying all of the attention and posing for the camera.

Here she is when her uncle left.

Willow enjoyed all the extra play and attention while I appreciated being able to celebrate her birthday with friends. I think for Piper's last 2 or 3 birthdays it was just me and her so it was wonderful to be able to make the occasion a communal affair.