Happy 4th Birthday, Puck!
Monday, April 18, 2011
In which Puck turns four and there is much jubilation…
The Puckster was officially four years old, early that morning, as of 3:56.
He woke shortly after seven to OLeif preparing made-from-scratch waffles with made-from-scratch whipped cream and fresh strawberries with tea-light candle on top of the whole pile, birthday cards, an email from his Grandma and Grandpa in ‘jolly old England’, another email from his Nana, and a day set for fun in the fresh, cool, gray of the mid-April morning.
First stop.
Trader Joe’s.
Puck happily escorted his ‘baby cart’ around the store, adding items for lunch as he went. Baby bels (OLeif added Brie), honied ham (OLeif added salami), tiny bagels, raspberries, cashews, and tea tree oil (not part of lunch). At the check-out, Puck was rewarded for finding the stuffed pig, with a swirly sucker from the cashier.
Second stop.
The bank.
OLeif checked out the pending transaction to purchase his motorcycle.
A call from Carrie and Rose to sing Puck a happy birthday.
Third stop.
“The St. Louis Arch!” Puck cried.
It had been his express wish to summit that sparkling silver megalith ever since he had first seen it, and today, his wish was coming true.
A walk through the grounds, uniform greenery, a lake in creation… the impressive tower of the structure soaring up above them.
“It’s like it should be on another planet…” Collette thought.
“It’s so big!” Puck declared. “It’s… It’s twenty thousand feets tall, Daddy!”
A call from Francis following classes to wish Puck a happy birthday.
Inside was about an hour wait for the tram, so it was to the Mercantile to look around. Boxed honeycomb, maple syrup, cookbooks featuring pumpkins, persimmons, pies, tomatoes, apples, and muffins, the McGuffy readers, boxed fudge, old-time candies, vintage garden seeds, Indian blankets, Spanish peanuts, kerosene lamps 1800’s style ground coffee…
Then the museum for Puck to inspect the animatronic Chief Red Cloud, Civil War soldier, William Clark, etc. The teepee, in honor of his late great-great grandmother, the stuffed horse, buffalo, etc.
Over to the Arch Gift Shop to look around. Everything from small bags of Doritos and baked potato chips to reproductions of famous American speeches in colored envelopes…
A little people watching: Catholic school groups, a French family, a few of the British, many Asian and Hispanic families, even some of the thought-to-be-nearly-extinct breed of home schoolers resplendent in denim skirts and braided buns. Collette had truly thought that age to have died a lingering death in the early 2000’s.
And back to the Mercantile for a quick rock candy on a stick, finished shortly before their call to ride to the top. OLeif and Puck only. Collette had had her share of swaying from side to side at the top of 630 feet several times in her past already.
They returned an hour later. Puck had stayed as long as he was able and pointed out the tiny people and the tiny cars to his dad, including a girl sitting on a pink blanket on the grass below.
Forest Park was calling next, as the West filled in with gray and cool breezes. A picnic up by the World’s Fair Pavilion, which included the double layer red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting with tea-light candle. Puck raced off the sugar by running up and down the stairs more than a few times.
A quick drop-off of the motorcycle cash to Williamwallace via Strawberry, to ferry out to the fellow who owned the motorcycle, as OLeif did not yet have a permit to pick it up himself…
And a brief drop-by the house where a new addition, for minimal cost, had been introduced to the family. A ten-week-old baby bunny. Soft, black: Dr. Earnest T. Praetorius.
“It’s a tradition when Mom and Dad are out of the country,” Carrie had said with a mile. “And the ‘T’ stands for ‘tea’.”
Puck was in love.
Then the kids chowed down on some more of the red cake before Joe took off for his last class of the day, but not before he and Francis had discussed the exciting possibility of big storms the following evening, including a visit to St. Louis by Reed Timmer, who was interested in catching a Tornado if possible… right about the time that Mom and Dad were due in from London, after a lay-over in Chicago.
And in further exciting news of the day… for Rose: she was first-choice for a position at Tapestry Solutions, a subsidiary of Boeing. She would know more the next day if all went well…
They left as Francis started up a roaring bonfire in the backyard to burn off some spare cardboard, as requested by Carrie. Francis needed little encouragement.
The evening ended with a run by Shop ‘n Save on the way home. Before entering, Puck saw the big Easter bunny walking around in front of Hallmark.
“I want to give him a hug!” he cried, hurrying over.
The Easter bunny gave him a hug and Puck picked out a hard candy from the bucket in his fuzzy white paws.
“I think the Easter bunny is a robot, Daddy,” he said seriously as he walked away.
Inside for a silver-pillowy popcorn popper to use over the gas stove, a Starbuck’s for OLeif, and Toy Story 3 from Redbox.
After Puck’s bedtime had been officially bumped up to 7:00, he still remained up late to take a peak of his Daddy out the open window as he zoomed through the neighborhood with Williamwallace on a test run of the 1981 Honda CB 900c Custom bike in the cooling gray dim of a green April evening.