Birthday boy #1

The boys are two years and 12 days apart. PawPaw and Mikey's birthdays are two and three days, respectively, after William's. Needless to say, my head starts to spin in October (even though Mikey and Neil are perfectly content to let their birthdays pass without huge fanfare - thank goodness for that!). I just could not think of a birthday party theme/location/activity for William this year. I decided to do several smaller celebrations instead of a big party. It was kind of a cop out on my part, but he truly didn't know the difference, and he enjoyed everything we did. The schedule was as follows:

November 7 (his actual birthday) - Birthday playdate at our house with three neighbors and their kids.

November 9 - Mikey took a half-day off work, and the three of us spent the morning at the Children's Museum and then went to Pei Wei for lunch.

November 12 - The four of us joined Amy, Grammy, and Grandpa at the Oil Ranch. What fun! We came back to our house, ate a late lunch, sang "Happy Birthday," and opened presents.

November 15 - Brought cupcakes to school so they would make a little fuss over his birthday. Both of his teachers were out the week before, and I wanted them to be there for it.

All of that activity meant that a big fuss was made over him, and I do think he felt special. Of all the things I have done/will do to him, I don't think the lack of a proper birthday party will be what haunts him in therapy!


Sophie is digging in, while Jackson is making his plan of attack for the cupcake.


Caroline doesn't mess around when it comes to eating her cupcake. It's hard for me to believe that she is such a big girl now. I want to think of her as a baby, but that can't be because my baby is a toddler, and she is ten months older than he is!


William has never met a cupcake he didn't like. He has a sweet tooth just like me (mine was unleashed after I had him - before that I didn't crave sweets like I do now).


Audrey and Sophie were ready to perform for us.


That's right - I had a craft. I am the least crafty person you will meet, but this one was easy and fun. I bought some foam picture frames and a bunch of foam stickers to decorate them with. It was a blast seeing the kids' personalities come out in their frames.


Hard at work


Such a little lady


She is full of personality and spunk!


Caroline is destined to be a talented crafter like her mama.


It was so fun to have Emily there! I was glad I scheduled it for after she got home from school.


Taking a photo of eight kids is never easy. I took an insane number of pictures.


Every kid loves that car.


This thing is right up William's alley. Anything involving golf balls makes him happy.


Such concentration with his tongue sticking out of his mouth.


The grocery store is the BEST. I liked it just as much as I did when I was little - except it seemed so much bigger back then! I know the museum has been remodeled, but I suspect the room wasn't as huge as I remember.


William thought the pizza oven should belong to him. He got ticked off if anyone else tried to use it.


He could have stayed in the diner all day and not gotten bored.


How precious is that?! He lasted about four seconds with the chopsticks, but he gets an A for effort.


Our first stop at the Oil Ranch was the train ride. William isn't as hugely into trains as a lot of boys, but he definitely enjoyed this one.


The train ride is pretty short (great for a toddler). It was fun to ride through the area with all the animals.


"Here they come...walkin' down the street. They get the funniest looks from everyone they meet." Anyone else remember The Monkees? That song comes into my head whenever I look at this picture.


Several of us milked the cow. William had zero interest in that.


Happy kiddo, although he was a bit desperate to get that wristband off


Ryan was pretty OK with the idea of taking his first pony ride.


William is quite the little equestrian.


What a goofball!


This is where all the animals in the petting zoo hung out once they realized we had no food for them.


Grandpa was not satisfied with the lack of animals to pet out in the open, so he took matters into his own hands with the world's cutest baby goat.


So sweet! Ignore Grandpa's death grip on the goat. I'm sure it was so happy to be there and didn't at all want to escape.


Showdown


William loved this tractor.


A different family picture location for us!


Some paintball fun was in order.


"They don't call me Amy Oakley for nothing." Mikey said she really is an excellent shot.


We didn't bring a stroller because we figured there were enough arms to carry Ryan all over the place.


Busy boys mining for gold...well, they could have been mining for gold. They were just really playing with the water.


William waited patiently for us to play golf. He was elated when the time finally came.


The golfing trio had a lot of fun.


I have to include this video because William likes to watch it over and over again. He will appreciate having it on the computer (as opposed to just on my phone).


We loved these swings! They take a lot of manpower to get moving.


William wanted to try it but had no idea how to hold on himself. Solution: hitch a ride!


Mikey was exhausted after a couple of rounds.


Grammy wanted to try it out, too.


As we headed back to the car, we ran into the basketball court. Of course we had to stop and play for a bit.


Group picture!


We only thought our visit was over. William couldn't let a soccer goal be ignored.


Since we had cupcakes earlier in the week, William got a birthday key lime pie. It was a big hit.


Ryan is so over all this birthday hoopla!


The infamous birthday hat made an appearance.


It's not a birthday without a special hat that has your name written on it.


I made the Funfetti cupcakes that have the little sprinkles baked in. The teachers ask for light icing or none at all (since they have to deal with 16 kids), and I thought this was a good compromise.


William is a lucky guy to have so many friends at school.