Birthday bunch

I have chugged down the month of September, and here we are, already feeling October air. And this was an important month for Kizawa household; it's me and Taiyo's birthday!

This year we had Taiyo's big party at the Children's Magical Garden at Norfolk and Stanton on Sunday 23rd. It was so perfect to be at this wonderful community garden Taiyo and I have been visiting all summer. Our friend Michelle opened the gate for us for our party, then later our party was crashed by another party: jazz festival celebrating John Coltrane's birthday. It was so perfect for music loving Taiyo, and they even played 'Happy Birthday' song. Taiyo carefully observed the musicians, especially the drummer. It was my birthday the day before, but ever since Taiyo has arrived, I had a privilege of forgetting my birthday. Ours are only two days apart. So yes, that's all I did on my birthday, preparing for Taiyo's party. That's fine with me---by not celebrating, I don't feel I'm another year older! I was baking his cake in the middle of the night- I hardly bake a cake and this was certainly the biggest cake I've ever done. And of course in the middle of finishing the cake, at 2:30am, I heard Taiyo wake up on the monitor, and he had to come downstairs to see the cake. I thought the cake was nowhere near perfect, but I got so much compliments. Phew. Everything paid off. But it was the most tiring day of the year, much more than Thanksgiving, and I'm glad there's only one birthday a year, and it's over, and I'm truly grateful of all the help from my staff and friends to have made this happen.