Birthday Photos and Slideshow

Serena described Odessa’s birthday below, so I don’t have to do that. I do, however, have a few pictures from it that those who are interested can see below.

I have also uploaded her 5th slideshow to our Vimeo page. I do a slideshow every year. I realize that it is rather cheesy, and I kind of want to stop doing them. It started with her first birthday, and now it sort of seems like tradition. At first, I just slapped on some music and enabled random panning and zooming, but now I set each slide’s movement and such manually. I note this because of its ironic nature: each year I want to do the slideshow less, yet each year I end up working on them more.

They are not supposed to be a showcase of pretty pictures, though there are a few of those, too. It was intended to be a way to have us, Odessa included, remember what that particular year of her life was like. While I am tempted to just include a bunch of cute pictures, instead I try to find images specifically about the things she did that year, the people she did them with, while attempting to capture her personality to some extent.

Anyway, I have these intentions, but I always feel, well, cheesy, making it. I usually show the slideshow at the birthday party. None of you were able to see it this year, so I put it online.

The one thing is that I feel compelled to make this video password protected. It includes photos of other people, including other children, and I don’t feel comfortable putting their images online in this manner without permission. The password will be given out to pretty much anyone, however. I suspect some of you may be reluctant to ask us for the password, which is silly, but understandable in a way. Just send either of us an email, or contact Serena on Facebook. I promise you we’re not going to be like, “Ugh, that loser Gregor McBirmingham thinks that he should get to look at the slideshow. He clearly overestimates how much we like him.” Or her. Gregor McBirmingham could be a woman. I wasn’t insinuating anything. I was just making a point. Seriously, just ask us for the password and we’ll tell you.

So. Here are some pictures from her birthday:

 

Odessa’s Birthday and the Month of October

Our Odessa turned 5 years old last week.  After much deliberation, she decided to go with a mint cake.  As they have for the past several years, Odessa and Scott made her birthday cake together.  This year she will be happy to tell anyone who cares to listen how Daddy got more eggshells in the batter than she did.  To help celebrate her birthday, she was able to video chat with Grandma and Grandpa Sturm, Grandma and Grandpa Von Ruden, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Von Ruden, and Aunts Emily and Bonnie.  We went to Chuck E. Cheese and Scott and I finally understand why our parents used to hate going there so much.  Of course, Odessa and Leo had lots of fun.  Thank you to everyone who helped to make Odessa’s birthday so special!  Scott will be posting some pictures later this week.

As I’m sure everyone is well aware (based on my level of complaining), October held a 20 day work stretch for me.  Yesterday was my first day home with the family and we decided to go hiking.  Scott found two easy waterfall hikes on the Olympic Peninsula.  After eating a delicious home cooked breakfast, we drove about 90 minutes to get to the Falls View Falls Campground.  The actual Falls was a short (albeit steep) walk away from the parking area.  Odessa scampered up and down the trail with boundless energy while Leo hitchhiked on my back.  This first waterfall looked neat but was impossible to get very close to.  We spent some time around the water and tried (unsuccessfully) to find a Geocache before hiking back up.  We then attempted to drive to the Mount Walker Viewpoint but as we gained altitude, encountered dense fog instead of any views more than 10 feet in either direction.  Odessa thought it was crazy that we were actually in a cloud.   Next we went to the very impressive Rocky Brook Falls.  By this time the kids (specifically Leo) were getting kind of hungry and cranky so we had to cut our visit short.  I have uploaded some pictures from October including these most recent adventures.

 

Farewell

Farewell, playoff beard. You were a revered member of this family and it is disheartening to see you go. Please understand, I felt a twinge of pain and guilt as I severed each and every part of you, and then carelessly swept you down a drain. Subsequently, I sent out search parties to recover the bodies of those that missed the sink, collecting beard remains along the rim, on the shelf, and the fixtures. These, too, were disposed of in unremarkable fashion, bereft of celebration and ceremony. I am not too proud to admit it: you deserved better.

We had some good experiences together, you and I. Like, remember that time I had a playoff beard and I looked awesome? That was great.

Our mirthful days consisted of foolery, tomfoolery, and buffoonery. I often think about the time when we tried to cross into Tijuana, but I didn’t match the picture on my passport. Or when my wife said you were stupid and my daughter said she would be happier if you were gone. So many memories.

And it’s true, our relationship was tested at times. As when it felt like you were constantly stabbing my face with a million toothpicks, or when you made it hard to get comfortably situated on a pillow. And the crumbs. Oh, goodness, how you liked crumbs. But it always felt like together we could overcome anything.

Ultimately, and I think we all knew this day would come, the playoffs had to end. I wish we had more time to spend together. There were so many more things I wanted to try. We never got to gambol, or take part in hijinks. Perhaps next year, my friend.