Play At The Pump

On Saturday Elijah and Aryeh--the twin sons of our beloved pals Katie and Aaron--celebrated their fourth birthday, and we were lucky enough to join in the festivities. I've mentioned it here before, but it's such a great story that it's worth repeating: Eli and Aryeh were surprise twins to the fullest extent. Katie and Aaron were expecting one baby and didn't learn of their second son's existence until his head--not a placenta!--began to crown, five minutes after his brother was born. As a mother of twins myself, I can imagine few other surprises as significant as the surprise arrival of a second baby. Celebrating Eli and Aryeh's birthday is always especially fun since it's just such a wondrous and crazy birth story to remember. I've so enjoyed getting to watch the boys grow over the past four years, as well as witnessing their friendship with Luke and Jaz really blossom. Luke said, while contemplating the boys' fourth birthday: "Wow, Eli and Aryeh are, like, almost as old as us now!" As their difference in age becomes less significant, their play becomes more and more elaborate and entertaining for all. It's hard to recall the time when our twins used to refer to Katie and Aaron's twins as "the babies."

Last year I made the boys personalized bean bags for their birthday, but this year I was hoping to make them something not-with-fabric. Katie and Aaron are gifting their four-year-olds each with a pedal car (so much fun!), and I wanted to think up a gift that would go along with the cars. A couple weeks ago I thought of making a gas pump of some kind for the boys to use to "fill up" their cars, and spent some time lying in bed at night, trying to figure out how best to construct it. Of course, as of Saturday morning--the boys' actual birthday and the day of the party--I had done nothing (a classic example of me and the progress I make towards most of my ideas, but also a reflection of how busy we are right now). Lena suggested that perhaps I abandon the plan. But, no. I was determined to at least try.

I took a tour through my mom's basement (where we keep a lot of stuff--much to my mom's chagrin--since our house has no closets), looking for anything that might be willing to re-purpose itself into a toy gas pump. After a few minutes, I emerged with five shelves from our Swedish shelving (3 apartments ago, we lived in a wide-open studio/loft and put up a TON of Swedish shelving to make a mud-room of sorts . . . thus we have more Swedish shelving than we could ever possibly use (in our current house we have two rooms full, and still there was more in the basement)). The shelves were constructed very simply, each consisting of three narrow boards nailed into a small piece of wood at each end of the shelf. I took apart two shelves completely, and put them back together with the small joining piece of wood in a slightly different place so that I could puzzle (and screw) four shelves together into a rectangle. The fifth shelf became the stand. I wish I had taken more (any!) pictures of the process, but I was in hardcore production mode (party started at 4:00, I started working on the gift at 1:00).

Once the rectangle was constructed, I rummaged around for pieces and parts that I could use to turn it into a gas pump. A broken bicycle air pump was dismantled and I added the hose and gauge to one side of the wooden rectangle. I glued a (solar-powered) calculator to a second side (for the pay station), and a third side became the actual fuel dispenser, with the help of a garden hose nozzle, some old climbing rope, a towel hook, and a door stop (for the on/off lever). The last step was to add some signage and a place to swipe a debit card.

It's $4.00/gallon in honor of the FOURTH birthday,
but I think also not an unrealistic price for the next couple years.

So glad that broken bike pump didn't simply end up in a landfill!

I think all of my kids knew how to swipe a credit card from the time
they were 12 months old. I am not proud.

The on/off lever for the fuel pump is one of my most favorite parts. Very satisfying "click."

I was a bit (or more than a bit) rushed at the end (we were two hours late to the party, but it was OK since it was just us and one other family, who was even later than we were and our hosts were incredibly forgiving) so I didn't get to do my most careful work (especially evident in the lettering on the signs), but I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. My kids were impressed, and I figure that's a fine enough standard. Eli and Aryeh liked it too, and since their pedal cars had yet to arrive, they got right to work "filling up" their balance bikes instead.

Lukas paying before he pumps.

Jasper filling his tank
(this pump requires the user to make his/her own sound effects).

Aryeh making sure his tires are nice and full.

Once the bikes were properly fueled and the wheels were full of air and everything had been paid for, the kids were off! Katie and Aaron live at the end of a wonderful cul-de-sac, and it makes for the perfect biking (or pedaling) loop.

Three boys in tie-dye: Lukas, Aryeh and Elijah

The Four-Year-Olds!
(Eli on the left, Aryeh on the right)

While they were bike-run-balancing around, Lukas told me that, "this is the best party ever!" But there was still lots more fun in store for our 5-pack of boys (plus two baby boys who were too little to participate in full). There was a yummy dinner followed by a treasure hunt (we love treasure hunts!) and then, of course, birthday cake (x2).

Elijah
(The Firstborn)

Aryeh
(NOT a placenta!)

We had a truly fabulous time and are so glad that we were able to take part in celebrating two of our most favorite kids on the planet. Happy Birthday Elijah and Aryeh!