More Than Meets The Eye

Since Dylan's birthday is July 6th, our 4th of July now consists of mostly party prep. As usual, my parents (aka awesome grandparents) flew up for the occasion and helped us prepare. As the weather wasn't so hot, we mostly stuck to the house, cleaned, cooked, and decorated (and ran errands as party needs arose).

Also, it being the 4th and a time when lots of folks may have had long weekend plans, we decided to have the party on Sunday afternoon...which just happened to be Dylan's actual birthday. Pretty special to have a party on the date...doesn't happen every year. And since he was so aware and excited about it all, I really tried to lay on some extras to make the day super special for him.

For me, the day started at 6am. I wanted to get in a bit of exercise and go pick up some birthday breakfast for my oldest son. Before I left, I placed a stack of gifts outside of his door in case he woke up before I got back (which he didn't). I ran down to Dunkin' Donuts and ran back. By the time he woke up, birthday donuts were set up and ready to go! Then he got to open gifts from me and my parents.

Cade playing with Dylan's new Monster 500 cars.

While Dylan and Cade played with new toys, the adults all got to work. We had baking, decorating and cleaning to do. Why is it that no matter how much I try to get done in advance, there's still way too much to get done before the party? And I really tried to scale back\keep myself in check on this one. Always too much I want to do for these special days of course. Some of the things I did in advance was lots of planning (obviously), ordered and printed some special things from Etsy, played with my new Cricut machine and did some printing for decorations, party gifts and even had food catered so food prep would be minimal.

Sign That Greeted Guests at the Door

Special "Dylan is Turning 5" Water Bottle Labels

Balloons, Masks and New Sweatshirt for the Bumblebee Lovin' B'day Boy
(Even though it was really warm that day, we had a hard time getting him to take off that sweatshirt!)

Rock Candy Colored Centerpieces and AWESOME Cake by Mimaw

Close Up of Mimaw's Wonderful Creation
She really outdoes herself every year and this was no exception.
Dylan asked for Megatron and Bumblebee on his cake and that's what he got!

Cake and Ice Cream Table

Deceptacon and Autobot Cookies

Quick Picture with My B'day Boy Before the Guests Arrived

Transformer Taco Bar!

Energon Cubes (aka Jello)

I really had planned several games and activities and thought this party might be more structured then some of our others. But with not enough time to get them all together and a hot day, we fell back on our usual hang out, have food, splash in the pool and run around.

Matt, Ethan, Isabella and Caroline

Ethan Hamming It Up

Molly

Oh, and we also had "Megatron's Maze" which was a huge, inflatable obstacle course. Way more fun than a bouncy house for the kids of all ages at the party.

B'day Boy and Wyatt

Reagan and Alicia

There was a point in the party where it seemed like everyone was falling apart. One child crying started a domino effect and I thought we were going to lose half our guests prematurely. So, Mom to the rescue! I sent everyone outside for the one big surprise I had gotten together for the party. A silly string battle! All the kids shook their cans, the adults help me take off the stickers sealing the tops on, rules were laid down and practice squirts were done.

Layin' Down the Law

Ready for Battle!

And GO! It was a blast. Even though some of the younger kids weren't quite able to manage spraying by themselves, the adults ran by and helped. The older kids and adults (older, older kids) had a blast too. In fact, the only 2 people that didn't seem to love it were my kids! Stinkers. Dylan did enjoy watching the battle from his post on the swing set. Cade tolerated the battle after I picked him up to carry him around and promptly removed any string that got stuck on him (he has a thing with hair and other stuff being on him....really hates it).

See - Dylan is smiling! (Thanks Auntie Maureen and Emily!)

I think my friend Eleni was the one with the camera. She got some great shots - thanks, Eleni!

Dylan's friend Libby came up to me as the battle was winding down to show my her silly string ball. Now, I knew the silly string would be a hit and decided to suck it up and just deal with the major mess it would cause. However, after Libby showed me that, I had the lightbulb moment and declared a "who can make the largest silly string ball" contest. All the kids circled the yard, picking up tons of silly string and smooshing it together for silly string balls. I will forever be thankful to Libby for that idea (and for the parents that also chipped in to help with clean up) because there really wasn't much left in the yard for us to pick up the following day.

Then it was time for cake. Dylan, being the little planner that he is, told me how the cake thing was going to go down. Pretty much every year at this point in the party, he tries to hide under the table and I have to struggle to keep him up. And though he's still not exactly the center of attention kind of guy, this aspect of his birthday definitely saw improvement. During the singing, he just looked down, then slowly started leaning in to me and hugging me. He then opted to not blow out his candles and asked his brother to do it for him. Cade was ever so happy to step in to help.

Deep Breath....

Love this picture of that lower lip out...the end of his blow out.

Then it was time to eat the cake. That, Dylan was totally into!

Then it was more play and fun. The kids were inside, outside, dipping in the pool, and climbing through the maze. The adults were spread throughout watching over the kiddos and out on the deck enjoying the day.

Cade (with the ever so popular gift, Zoom Zombie) and Isabella

Cade and His Good Bud Caroline

Bob, Kate, Matt, Ethan, Eleni, Chloe (at table)
Clara, Papaw and Dan (behind)

The Deck Crew
Maureen, Joe, Jim and Kristina

Jacob and Dylan Inside, Corwin Outside

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee
(Wyatt and Dylan)

After most of our friends were pooped out, packed up and out, Dylan decided he would like to open presents outside. So we moved it out where family and best friend Isabella helped him open his gifts. Lots of Monster 500 (spooky racing guys\cars) and Transformers. He loved it all!

Opening Presents

Cute Emily Driving Around Cute Cade

Love this picture of Uncle Joe playing with Dylan (taken through the window)

With the kids out of the way, I mean, er, gone, the adults took over the party. The biggest hit for us was definitely Megatron's Maze. It got a little silly, a lot crazy, and downright competitive.

Mimaw Attacked the Maze and Survived....Barely

Maureen and I started to race through the maze.
She got so damned serious, that I started laughing hysterically and just watched her
blaze through the maze without even noticing I had stopped.

Then Mike and Joe took a turn. Those big boys practically killed themselves trying to win.

They may still be in these same positions in the yard.

Mom Optimus and Bday Boy Bumblebee

Joe Racing Emily
Emily won by a long shot...as you can see, she literally flew through!

All of the kid guests got to leave with a goodie bag filled with some Transformer stuff - little tidbits like stickers, pencils, temporary tattoos and the like. The special addition was a crystal (what gives Transformers their energy). Also included...candy!

Bags Decorated with Cricut Machine

Gum Balls - Autobots Roll Out!

Chocolate with a Special Thank you Wrapper

Dylan had a ton of fun and I think (hope) the rest of the guests did as well. I counted it a successful party on my part. Now, I only have 6 months to work on Cade's birthday party. Back to the drawing board!

Dylan is 5!!!

On July 6th, Dylan turned 5! Seems like yesterday (well maybe not quite yesterday but certainly not 5 years ago) that we brought this little smooch home from the hospital. I can't even believe my baby boy is 5 years old. Yes, I know it's totally cliche to say but cliche's are around for a reason.

Leading up to Dylan's birthday, there was lots of excitement surrounding turning 5 and his big birthday bash. He understood it like never before and the anticipation definitely got to him. One morning he asked me, "Mom, why is it taking so long for my birthday to get here?!?" We really played up doing things the last time as a 4 year old, talking about all the things he's learned as a 4 year old and discussing things he'll learn\do as a 5 year old. He was pretty into the whole thing.

Dylan's Last Picture as a 4 Year Old

He is such an awesome kid and I am one lucky mom. At 5 years old, Dylan is so many wonderful things. To Cade, he is a caring big brother who enjoys teaching and helping. Sure there are the occasional toy spats, but for the most part, they are amazing good friends and Dylan loves him so. To me, he is a sweet, sweet boy. He enjoys snuggling with me in bed in the morning and sitting in my lap watching tv at night. Those are 2 of my favorite times of the day. He's certainly becoming more independent and having trouble listening\obeying more frequently, but all in all he's a pretty obedient kid. He likes knowing the rules and letting the rest of us know them as well. 

Big Brother and Little Brother Helping Dad Take the Wagon to the Town Beach

One of the reasons he's had a harder time listening in recent months is due to him finally dropping his afternoon nap. I know, kind of insane that he's kept it around this long but he's just functioned better with it. The rare times he misbehaves, fatigue is usually to blame. We had mostly dropped his nap in January, but a nasty cold upon our return from our California vacation brought it back. They've been less frequent since then but not dropped altogether until really a couple of months ago. There were days he was such a wreck that we had him take one, only to watch him toss and turn in his monitor for up to 2 hours at night. He just can't do it anymore. Hence, late afternoon and evenings can often be tough for him (and us!). 

Dylan has quite the imagination. He loves to play on and around our fireplace hearth (walking through our living room can often be quite dangerous). He'll set up figures, duplo\lego blocks and other toys and play elaborate "games" or "levels" to defeat which will entertain him for hours. As a mostly introverted guy, it's surprising that his favorite things (still) are usually of the spooky variety. He loves pretending to be a mummy in a coffin or a zombie. I know, totally sound morbid, but it's actually pretty cute through the play of an innocent 5 year old. Not surprisingly, Scooby Doo is one of his favorite shows. He also recently got into Transformers (which became his birthday party theme...post to come). Like his Dad, he's a movie nut and often asks to watch one of the many from our large collection of DVD's.  Also on the electronic front, he's become a video game lover. He very much enjoys playing Skylanders, Disney Infinity on the PS3 and has several favorites on the iPad - Monster 500, Plants Vs Zombies as well as several interactive books and learning games. For his birthday, he got an I Spy video game that he also really enjoys. 

Wearing His "Silly" Glasses for His Vision Test

One of the things we played up that he learned as a 4 year old was singing. He was never a big singer but preschool helped make him in to more of one (preschool performances excluded). He very often makes up his own songs and now has a lot more confidence to join in and sing along with me at night during his bed time routine or when familiar songs are on tv or the radio. His growing independence has also given him the desire and skills to dress himself. It just wasn't something he was interested in. Now, we're pushing him to dress himself in the morning and get his pajamas on by himself at night. He's really funny in the morning sometimes when he hides behind the bed to dress without our peering eyes and then claims that Cici (our cat) dressed him. Silly boy!

About a week after his birthday, I took him in for his 5 year check up. He really is a growing boy! At 44.75 pounds (85%), giving him piggy back rides is becoming a hard workout and 45.5 inches tall makes him eligible for almost every Disneyworld ride he'll want to go on in September. Maybe we'll get him some thick soled shoes to bump him up to 46" for that one ride.

We just love our big boy to pieces!

Believe It Or Not

Believe it or not, this was to be our last day of vacation. We decided to take a tour of Williamsburg Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. It was (mostly) a big hit with the boys. We bought our tickets and decided to go with the package that included two 4D movies. Since one was about to start, we hung around the entrance and wait for it.

See this moment right here........

What you are seeing is the birth of Dylan's new obsession, Transformers. After this, he discovered the animated series on Netflix and then got a Bumblebee toy for his trip to Dallas just two weeks after our return from Virginia. He's hooked. Then we went to the 4D movie. It started out well...boys had fun with the 3D glasses and were excited for the start. Then it began and the dinosaurs started thrashing out of the screen at us and we got the occasional spray of water. Neither of the boys appreciated the water and Cade sat in my lap shivering with fright at the dinosaurs. So, that ended up being our only movie of the day. We skipped the 2nd one we had bought tickets for.

Then it was on to the exhibits and everyone was happy again. Being a museum of weird and spooky stuff, Dylan was in his element. Cade loved it too. Here are some of the highlights.

Iron Man Statue

Falcon Mummy

Skull Bowl

After the museum, we went across the street to the 1 of a kind, unique to Williamsburg restaurant called Chili's. OK, not exactly exotic, but kid friendly and close. Next door to it was a general store we wandered around before sitting down to our meal. The kids each got a souvenir that entertained them during our meal.

The rest of the day was spend napping and exploring the grounds of our condo complex. Can you stand the excitement?

Feeding the Geese

Walked Through the Georgian Plantation Mansion on the Grounds

Baby Ducks!
I can't remember exactly what was happening in this picture,
but doesn't it look like Cade is going to scoop them up and hug them?

They were so cute!

Turns out we got to see lots of wildlife on the condo grounds. In addition to the ducks and geese we fed almost everyday, this little nature walk also included swan and turtle sightings.

Turtles

Swan

It was a pretty hot day. So, when we got around to some shaded picnic tables, the boys and I sat to cool off while Mike went to the store across the road to get us some cool water. While there, we could see the pool and Dylan decided that's what we should do that night.

Fuzzy Geese Babies

So that's what we did. We went back to the room, changed into our suits and spent some time at the kiddie pool. Then dinner, packing and sleep. The next morning, we made the 1 hour drive into Richmond and had a pretty uneventful trip home.

It was a slow paced vacation for us. Nothing too exciting but we spent some quality time together and got to see a part of the country none of us had been to before. When Cade gets to be a bit older, we will start doing some travel that includes some longer flights and distances. Until then, we're going to do our best to stick closer to home (ie short flights).

Tunnels, Flowers and Kid Craziness=Day 4 of Vacation

On our 3rd day of our trip in Virginia, we set off again for an hour drive to the Norfolk area. The plan was to find something to do in the morning. At lunch, we were meeting up with our friend Kari and her 3 kids who were making the drive up from the Raleigh, NC area to meet us for the afternoon.

For our morning activity, we chose to go to the Norfolk Botanical Garden. This area is choked full of toll tunnels and we experienced several on the way but no toll booths. Apparently, they bill by license plate. Seeing as how we were in a rental car, we didn't really know how that bill would get to us. Apparently they have the system pretty well worked out because I saw the charges come through from the rental company on our last credit card bill.

When we got to the botanical gardens, we realized we forgot the sunscreen. Us being the pasty family that we are, we can't really go about so first thing was hunting some down. We found a gift shop that did have small tubes to sell so we slathered it on and head out. The botanical gardens were huge and Cade wanted to explore by foot rather than by stroller. So we made pretty slow progress. That means by the time we wandered for only about 45 minutes, we got the call that Kari was close and packed it up and headed towards her. With passes good for the day, we thought we might return for a bit that evening. Yeah, after a full day of craziness that didn't happen. But we enjoyed what we did get to see, even though it was only a small fraction of the gardens.

These were the roses that my grandmother used to grow in her back yard.
The scent took me right back to her yard. Serious nostalgia going on.

We grabbed some sandwiches, found a courtyard to eat and waited for Kari and her gang to find us. We all had lunch together then headed for our next stop, The Children's Museum of VA in Portsmouth. With 3 adults and 5 kids, it was a little nutty. The kids wanted to constantly go in different directions and the adults had very little time to actually be in the same room, let alone chat. Dylan and Luke were great friends in Boston and they picked up where they left off and had a great time playing together. Cade and Ryan pretty much wanted to do their own things at all times and little baby Erin was happy to be along for the ride.

Riding the Fake Bus
Dylan, Cade, Ryan (Behind), Me, Erin and Kari

Sweet Erin and Kari

Kari was the only one that got this body bubble thing to work.

Bubbles

Kari and Mike

We explored all the exhibits, watched the planetarium movie (Erin and Ryan snuck in a nap during it) and enjoyed seeing each other, even if we didn't get a lot of chatting time. Other than a lost backpack and kid (both retrieved), we survived the day. And bonus for me, I get to see Kari this upcoming weekend on a girls only (no kids) weekend. We'll actually get some time to catch up!

After the chaos of the museum, we were all pooped. We parted ways, each heading in a different direction for our drives home. Then, it was dinner and a mellow night at the condo.