After a fun weekend, Paul had a great official birthday celebration! Daddy, Paul and Lillie spent the day at the park and then having a picnic....I left work a bit early so we could head to dinner. Paul got to pick the location and he wanted hibachi.....to Tokyo Steakhouse we went! Edamame to start....boy loves his soybeans.
Little ladybug has some chopstick skills.....
And then figured out that a spoon was just easier....
They brought Paul some yummy ice cream and sang happy birthday to him.
Think he enjoyed it?
The kids got to beat the drum and bang the gong.
We headed home to open his presents. Auntie Jen wanted to Skype so we dialed her up so she could participate in the fun. First up was a Pokemon stuffie. I don't think he liked it at all.
His friend Kingston picked out a fun new game....
Cool greenhouse dome from Auntie Jen.
Magnatiles from Mimi.....once again, no excitement here.
Underwear on the head....good stuff.
And then it was time for more cupcakes....and more singing. Too much fun to have Auntie Jen on Skype for this part too!
And in the middle, Paul got a call from Uncle Dan. Lots of electronic activity!
The empty stare of a kid that maybe had too much sugar.
Skyping with Uncle Dan and Jake.....
Playing with his new magnatiles.
A retro throwback toy from GranJo....Bill Dings. A big mess usually means he enjoyed the toy!
Paul had a great birthday celebration. I can't wrap my head around the fact the he is 5 years old. He is really turning into such a young man and while I am thrilled, I am also sad to see his little boy stuff starting to disappear. I am so glad he is still willing to cuddle on occasion and tells us that he loves us several times a day. He is already talking about his 6th birthday....let's not get ahead of ourselves!
After we arrived home from the big party, we decided to go ahead and let Paul "open" his big present from us. He was such a good sport about the donating of presents that we wanted to make sure he had some fun presents today too. We played the Hot and Cold game for him to find it in the guest room closet....unfortunately, we didn't pick up the house before filming this! Don't judge.
And of course he wanted to ride his shiny new bike as soon as possible! We got his helmet on and then Lillie demanded to wear hers too. She rode in the wagon while Paul broke in his new bike.....he picked out a bright red one!
Helmet twins....
Little miss me too....grabbed rocks after watching Paul do it last weekend. Hilarious.
Check out the size difference between the new 16 inch bike compared to his old 12 incher. Sniff, sniff....my boy is definitely growing up!
Good thing she had her helmet on to try out the Spiderman big wheel.
And you always have to be safe when mowing the lawn with the bubble mower.
Definitely safe in her helmet while blowing bubbles. Those lips!
And then it was on to sidewalk chalk....Lillie's first time and she loved it.
This boy is SOOOO my son....check out the look on his face over his messy hands.
Teamwork!
We look forward to celebrating Paul's actual 5th birthday tomorrow night with his choice of dinner out and then opening the rest of his presents...and more cupcakes!
Hard to believe that our little man is turning 5 years old! This is the first year for him to have a "friends" birthday party....and he was super pumped about it! After a lot of waffling including what we thought was going to end up being a Star Wars party, he landed on Transformers theme. We bought LOTS of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee party items, ordered yummy cupcakes and bought some punch and ice cream...and called it good! We arranged to hold the party at Happy Feet's indoor training facility. Since he loves Happy Feet so much, it seemed like a great place to hold the festivities - especially since I would NEVER invite all of those 5 year olds in my house. We invited all of the boys from Paul's pre-K class....yes, all 17 of them. Only 6 of the moms responded to the invitation (gotta love it when people don't RSVP) and 5 of Paul's friends were able to make it. A perfect sized group for the occasion. The only girl invited to the party....his goofy little sister. Here are our cutie pies before we headed out for the fun.
Hanging in the play area before the party started.....
Paul was "patiently" waiting for his friends at the door.
Lillie had lots of fun and kept right up with the boys. Nothing seemed to slow her down today!
Coach Nancy getting the boys (and Lillie) all ready for the fun.
Some of the boys learning how to "Stop Bob".
Check out Lillie doing the same thing at the big boys.....
Completely out of focus.....but hilarious to see the kids race and run.
Racing around the indoor soccer field.
Paul loves the game Hey Mr. Wolf (check out the previous Tae Kwon Do post) and Coach Nancy switched it up so they played Hey Bumblebee and Hey Optimus Prime...cause you know everything has to be Transformers themed! The first video is Coach Nancy as Bumblebee and then in the second one, Paul got to be Optimus Prime. He LOVED it!
Lots of intensity!
We requested no gifts for Paul and instead provided a wish list from Blank Children's Hospital. We gave Paul the choice between Blank or the Animal Rescue League and he wanted to help the kids at the hospital. Paul and I bought lots of great stuff and his friends brought some more cool stuff for the kids. Here they are in front of the table of donations. We will schedule a time with the head of the children's hospital for Paul to bring the donations in person.
It was time for cupcakes and ice cream....and singing....
Paul picked red velvet for his cupcake. Everyone else picked from mini chocolate chip, chocolate strawberry and wedding cake.
All the kids got Optimus Prime masks.....and my kids was the cutest!
You think Lillie liked the cupcakes?!?
Check out ALL of our Optimus Primes today.....
The infamous Happy Feet stamps! Sometimes Paul comes home with 3 or 4 of them up and down his legs....loves him some stamps!
The birthday boy and Coach Nancy. Unfortunately Coach Sara (who Paul has known for a few years and LOVES) couldn't make it due to a death in the family. Coach Nancy did a great job filling in.
Post party balloon freakout.
And the little ladybug crashed out on the way home. Paul stayed awake until 5 minutes before we got home.....quick cat nap and then he was up and ready to roll.
I would say his first big party was quite a success. Paul had plenty of fun and his friends did too.
The end of Paul's second session of Tae Kwon Do arrived. He's had such a great time taking the classes but I think a break won't be a bad thing either! The kids had fun practicing their moves and then playing a few rounds of Hey Mr. Wolf (one of Paul's favorites)! Clearly Paul is still one of the shortest in the class....he is 4th from the left (gray shirt with navy shorts).
And for those of you not familiar with the thrilling game of Hey Mr. Wolf...here's a video showing you how it is done. Based on the level of screaming and excitement, I think it was a hit with all the kids. And of course, the Lil Dragons creed at the end. You can't end class with that!
Lillie's ability to communicate continues to blast forward. She is picking up more and more each week. Some she says once and then we don't hear them again for a while, but some are really sticking with her. She was evaluated by a speech pathologist about a month ago and she didn't qualify for services. That means she is delayed but not delayed enough to warrant assistance. We were given some tips and told to keep working with her....and then the speech pathologist said she would plan to come back in May to check in with us. I appreciate that since she didn't have to offer that up since Lillie doesn't technically qualify. I must admit, it is fun to see what might be the next word to come out of her little mouth! Just in the last day or two, she has started saying "OKAY" to just about any request. Doesn't sound like much, but it is really cute. So, here is a video of some fun we had the other night. First with lots of giggles and then with a little miss someone showing off her new words.
The local Science Center held a cute event called Dinos Under the Dome. They showed the first Land Before Time movie on the star theater. I reserved our tickets months ago and the day finally arrived. The movie was at 4pm so we arrived a little early to grab some snacks and some prime spots under the dome. Paul was excited about his Skittles but didn't care for the flash on my camera!
He had a great time watching the movie (one of his faves) on the dome and then was thrilled that he got to pick dinner. He chose Zombie Burger....and off we went for the second phase of date night. Shakes are a MUST at Zombie Burger but he surprisingly chose a very simple strawberry shake.
Evidently a full stomach and fun memories of Little Foot and his friends makes a little man tired....he crashed out in the car on the way home. He didn't even want to take his clothes off when we got home so he slept in his clothes!
So much fun to spend some time alone with my favorite little guy. As we prepare for his upcoming 5th birthday, I still find it hard to believe that he is growing so fast.
