2021 Life Logs, Day 80: Happy Birthday to Ollie
Date: Sunday, March 21, 2021
Weather: Beautiful Day; High 56, Low, 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was Ollie’s 9th birthday and what a beautiful day for an outside birthday party. Last year for his birthday, we all went for a walk in a nearby conservation area. It was the first time I had seen Heather and family for over a week as we were all in lockdown due to the pandemic. But he had a great Zoom call with friends on his way home, driving by the homes of each of his friends so they could give him a birthday wave.
This year was a little better as he had four friends over, all masked, and playing yard games. They played Kubb, which is a Swedish game, and then croquet. They had cupcakes on the deck and played giant Jenga and giant dominoes. Then it was hide ‘n seek, a walk around the boardwalk nature trail in the neighborhood, and finally bocce ball. During the afternoon outside with the boys, Heather and Jed were able to get a little yard work done and I made a quick trip home to get a couple of bean towers so that Heather could plant snap peas in their front yard garden. All of the landscaping on their property is ornamental plants, not vegetables. But little by little I think Heather will find a way to change that.
After Ollie’s friends left, he opened presents from me and from Jed. He had opened presents from Grammy Goldstone and his big present from Heather and Jed in the morning. The big present was a huge, long bean bag seat. It is very versatile. You can lay it out flat and use it like a lounge chair or double it up into a seat with a back. And it is soooo comfortable. I melted right into. Then the problem was getting out of it!
I made another quick trip home to take Shadow for a walk and then went back for dinner. Ollie ‘ordered’ Korean ribs. Jed had never fixed them before, but he gave it a try and they were delicious. Heather stir-fried veggies and made rice to go with the ribs. All yummy. And then we had Boston Creme Cake. It was Heather’s first attempt at making this. She thought she had used too much vanilla and cooked the cake part too long. I disagreed.
I thought it was just perfect and so did Ollie. Before we ate dinner, we went around the table to share one story about Ollie. Heather shared the story of when Granddad and I brought Sam and Jonah to the hospital to first meet Ollie when he was only an hour old. What a beautiful memory that was. We were all totally fascinated by that little creature and still are. Happy Birthday, Ollie!
