the last of the balloons

and thus concludes the journey of the deflating birthday balloons.

we hope you have enjoyed this presentation.

stay tuned for more lilahtime news and updates.

respectfully,

the management

more balloons

these wouldn't upload before

so i'm trying them again

for julie

lilah rides in circles

it's long because i couldn't stop filming.

the cuteness was overwhelming.

post-party balloons

the balloons were waltzing around our living room all evening.

makes for not-so-interesting viewing,

best with the sound off.

opening presents from Heebs

lilah is getting quite good at opening the presents

thanks, heebs!

thanks lamya and kate!

Lilah wears:

Granny Libby and Papa Brian's winter coat birthday present

Mum's wellies and a spring dress from Nonnie

time warp

same girl

same doorway...

three years later.

whoa.

the day after lilah's party...

weather was back to normal

coming down in buckets

still a happy camper!

walking in glasgow eventually leads to scenes like this

not uncommon

in fact, quite normal

scottish flowers in september

more "on the day" birthday shots

who is this big girl?

being picked up from nursery

dress off, back to normal

(those hands went straight to her hips.. doesn't attitude come with adolescence?)

best face paint goes to: Kahlil

with that bow tie?

absolute genius.

butterfly girl

your face matches your dress!

wait a minute...

this looks familiar

Nonnie, where's that picture of my butterfly halloween costume from way back when?

beautiful Amy and Theia

and Lilah and Katja, face painting

almost everybody

and a nice view of most of the garden

may i please bring your attention to Steven and Rob in the background, here? nevermind the beautiful face-painting going on... those two are playing frisbee through a tunnel.

and who is having the most fun?

flowers in the garden

one of the reasons to enjoy the rainy season in scotland

some food and cake

lilah requested strawberry cake with pink icing for her birthday

and Grace the baker kindly obliged with vegan treats for all to enjoy

1/3 of the catering done by good ol' il cappuccino.

wee Scott is a very fine caterer, indeed.

p.s. photographs were not taken of the zucchini (courgette) and apple mini-muffins that Katja made for the party, because they were finished by the kids in less than 10 minutes.

thank you everyone for sharing your fine culinary skills!!!

the Parker-Dixons, officially

that's Amy, Theia, Jude, and Martin (Rupert to us)...

and that's poor Drew's face cut off because of my lack in photography skills

(sorry, Drew!)

and Lilah loves baby Jack

big cuddles

you'll not get away that easy, Jack Hammond

this fairy toadstool house was a winner

baby Jack is a fan

Theia is so happy she's sleeping

happy birthday, Lilah!

Theia does love you.

but she does need her sleep, too.

more pictures coming

batteries have died on the camera

and are being recharged

p.s. birthday party pictures sunday.

while at the computer

Lilah asked for Guminola so she could dance.

as it was her birthday, i didn't refuse.

but this is more of a document of a moment. not a dance, per se.

in the middle of the extravagance, Lilah goes to the cutlery drawer to get a straw for her tea (rooibosh, honey, milk). for the record, the straws are kept wrapped in a rubber band, and are not easy to extract.

now i'm just being a mum...

birthday morning!

although generally very happy in the morning, on this particular morning, lilah was closer to enthusiastically ecstatic than just plain ol' happy.

hooray! Lilah is 3 today!

smiling for the camera while talking to Nonnie and Papa Jon (7:15am glasgow time = 11:15pm california time) to say

Happy Birthday to Lilah,

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birrrrthdaaaaay!

You're getting older every year.