Summer is Flying By!

I can't believe it's already the 3rd week of summer vacation! We have been so busy since school ended. Here's a bit to catch you up! {be prepared for a LONG post with A LOT of pictures!!!!}

• We celebrated Brendan's graduation from Kindergarten. We can't believe he's off to 1st grade in Sept!! As our tradition we had a little grad cake to end our year! He was most excited with his new Leapster 2!!
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• Our first week off Brendan went to Lacrosse camp- he enjoyed not having to "play" real games but rather do practice drills & just have fun.

• Then we spent a few days in PA. We went to Hershey, PA & stayed at the Hershey Lodge. We went to Hershey Park (on a day of nearly 100 degrees!!) and spent most of the day in the water park. Both the boys had a fun time playing in the water. Brendan went on his first roller coaster- but decided they weren't for him!!

Too tired to play anymore!!

The next day we drove to spend the day at Dutch Wonderland & nearby Kitchen Kettle Village. Brendan had a lot of fun on the rides. Christian loved the carousel ride!

• This past week seemed to be filled with many library activities. Our library offers many programs over the summer and even opened a new outdoor exploration play area. Brendan is enjoying a sign language class, many reading/craft classes & has joined the reading club. HE has to read 6 books & report on them to attend the end of summer party. Christian is also enjoying some singing & dancing classes. He is in the Read to Me club & must have 20 books read to him to attend the end of summer party! Reading will certainly keep us busy!!




• Brendan also started swimming lessons again this summer. We hope to toss the swimmies by the end of this summer!!




• Christian has become such a big boy! He is eating up a storm and following Brendan everywhere {still crawling - thank goodness!!} They especially love to eat lunch together!!

• I've been busy with my garden. Loving my herbs this year {basil, parsley, rosemary, sage & thyme}

Happy Summer All!!

Christian's First Birthday Celebration{s}

On Christian's actual birthday {May 29th} we celebrated with cake and had just the grandparents over. The tradition is that the house is decorated birthday theme! I have cup cake place settings, chair covers, banners, signs etc.

Then we celebrated {again} with family and friends on June 5th. We had a Western themed party. Here are a few {more} pictures from both parties! (And yes, everyone dressed the theme! And we had animals too!) Happy Birthday to our sweet little boy!

YeeHaw! Yippy Yeah! A Western First Birthday Celebration! Part I

For Christian's First Birthday we decided to go with a "Western" theme. Complete with cowboy attire, BBQ, and animals!

The Decor/Theme ideas:

Oriental Trading is a "gold mine" for theme supplies. I also found items at Birthday in a Box and Party City.

Kid attire were coyboy hats, bandanas, sherriff badges. We served BBQ- Hamburgers, hotdogs, Pulled pork, brisket, ribs, beans, cole slaw, mac salad, potato salad, "wagon wheel" mac n' cheese. I found western plates & bowls. We rang a "triangle" to call everyone for "chow time"! The craft was a horse door hanger from OT. There were coloring pages for the kids to color. The goody bags were red bags with bandana baggies inside. The "loot" was western themed goodies. I also made candy bar "wrappers" with 1st information and chocolate dipped pretzels. I then hired a "petting zoo" from Lollipop Ponies which came to the house with a llama, goats, chickens, bunnies, & ducks. They were set up in pens on my side lawn & the kids could feed them. It was so cute! Then I had a Western cake made by JamieCakes.

Look Who's Turning "ONE!!"

It's hard to believe but time really does fly...We are so excited to celebrate Christian's 1st Birthday today! We can't believe how much our little angel has grown!!!Feel free to reminisce here He's FINALLY Here!

Favorites: cars, anything that belongs to his Big Brother, clapping his hands, looking in the freezer, FOOD(!!) especially yogurt & puff treats, he loves to play with his toys, he crawls EVERYWHERE, touches EVERYTHING, loves baths, kids & people, screaming, and hugs and kisses!! He is still so relaxed, quiet & laid back - after 12 months!

Next week's post: Christian's big WESTERN COWBOY 1st Birthday celebration!