April 29th

April 29th, 2010 - Hobart, Australia. 

April 29th, 2011 - Half Moon Bay, California.

April 29th, 2012 - Hobart, Tasmania.

So the little fellow turned two yesterday.  

We had the perfect celebration - a family swim at the aquatic centre in the morning, then meat pies for lunch back on board.  We didn't really plan a party, but spontaneity came to the rescue and we had four kids besides Eric and Elias on board to help eat cake when the moment came.

Alisa took the sheet cake to the next level - that's an airplane.

We think that Eric got it - all day we would ask him, "Whose birthday is today?" and he would raise one hand in the air and answer, "me!"

After cake and presents the kids and adults all went to the park for a impromptu game of cricket.

And then we retired to the boat for a few more pressies.

It was the perfect two year old's birthday party - very low key, and very fun.  And, as a bonus, there was only one two-year-old there!

Now we get a year of living on a boat with a two-year-old.  Poor Elias bears the brunt of it - Eric is a thrower of surprisingly heavy objects, and a wrecker of five-year-old's art projects.  

This too will pass, of course.  And in spite of the fact that our boat is generally a complete madhouse when all four of us are on board, I've got to admit that I am LOVING having such a young kid in the family - it's just so damn nice to be around someone who has everything ahead of him.  

And so nice for us to still be so close to the beginning of our life as a family, which of course is much more of an adventure than sailing the world.