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Last weekend, we celebrated my sister’s 40th birthday. We deliberately postponed the grand party from month, thinking that April 20 would for sure have nice weather so we could send the kids out to the playground.

It was freezing. With snow.

We stayed inside and a grand time was had by all.

Naturally, the Birthday Goddess was issued a boa to accentuate her fabulousness

And serenaded as befits the guest of honour

She also had a special seat with her very own balloon (here Janne’s caught in a brief moment of not speaking. Andersen women talk a lot, but maybe that’s not a surprise to you?)

Aryka liked the balloons, too. She grabbed hold of one the minute she entered the room and didn’t let go. I suspect that evening, she fell asleep holding it. For all I know, she might still have it trailing behind her.

Marilynn, Aryka’s mom gets more beautiful every time I see her

As do her siblings, Nick and Kirsten. Claire’s very much present in all of them

At the other end of the room, kindred spirits found each other and disappeared into playing games

Morgan found a new biggest fan

We didn’t set out to bring a magician to the party, it just sort of happened.

Liam, a bit of an amateur magician himself, was fascinated 

Morgan helped Janne open her present — we’d all chipped in to get her a really good camera

and then Liam helped Janne blow out her candles before the room caught on fire (yes, we did use 40 candles on the cake)

 During cleanup, Scott acquired a new dog  when Liam temporarily transformed

and Ken acquired a growth that made it difficult to walk

At the very end, everyone wanted a photo of three generations of the Andersen family and we briefly knew what it’s like to be in front of a herd of paparazzi.