Eleven ... when did that happen?

While I was pretty certain that Ethan just turned four the other day, I find that he is now ... eleven. He requested a turtle cake, although thanks to some miscommunication he got a regular turtle and not the sea turtle he had envisioned.

We took his cake to Grandma and Grandpa's to share the celebration with Avy, and Grandma knows how to throw a party! Hats and noisemakers are not optional for a good party.

And neither are gifts, obviously! 

Happy Birthday, Ethan! We love you so much!

 Alex is five! (Okay, he has been for over a month ... his mother may be a wee bit behind in her blogging.) We celebrated in our usual way. Grandma and Grandpa came over the weekend before for presents and dinner - there's something to be said about summer birthdays and opening gifts in your swim trunks!

Presents! The best part of a birthday when you're five!

He wanted a cake that looked like his two bunnies - Mama Bun-bun and Baby Bun-bun. I have a couple of pictures that show his stuffed animals and the cake, but I love his face in this one! Grandpa suggested that perhaps the Baby Bun-bun that he was holding ... um, tooted in his face. Alex thought that was funny ...

Very, very funny.

As a side note, these two pictures are good representations of Alex's sense of humor and personality. They may explain why I never quite know what to say when people (like Awanas leaders) tell me what a good, quiet boy he is.

On the morning of his birthday, he went with Dad to get donuts and a birthday balloon. There may have been other boys anxiously awaiting their return. Or the arrival of the donuts. Whichever.

Happy birthday, Alex! You are a joy to us, and we love you very much!

Spring Celebration

We did something a little different for our Easter activities this year. After reading this blog post, I decided to try celebrating spring the way she described. So on the first day of spring, we had our first "Spring Day"!

We started the day with bunny-shaped pancakes.


Then we took a short break to play with the Striking Venom. Because, you know, nothing says "spring" like robots fighting humans with laser guns.


Next we dyed eggs. Ethan was looking forward to this!




It was Alex's first time, of course, so he wasn't anticipating quite as much.




He really enjoyed it though.


And Alex found out what happens when you drop an egg on the floor.



That was so much fun I had to take the eggs away because he started spiking them like they were footballs.

Later we had a scavenger hunt (I forgot to take pictures during that). They found candy at a couple of the clue stops, and the big prize was a Hungry Hippo Game.



Adult supervision required, of course, until Alex is a little older.