One final birthday post!

The day after the birthday party was Ryan's second birthday. It's a marathon not a sprint around here, people!

William had the day off from school, so we went to the boys' favorite local park with some friends. We had great weather and enjoyed our time playing till we dropped.

After naps, we did something that is very unlike us. We went to opening night of Zoo Lights. Rarely would we brave Houston rush hour traffic to go to a busy event at the zoo. But I wanted to do something special for Ryan's birthday! It can be tough for me to keep up the birthday energy through his big day, but I don't want him to know that! We had fun, but I would never go on opening night again. The place was a total zoo (ha ha). And I was a little disappointed that so many exhibits were unavailable. I get that they can't light the entire zoo. I just hadn't really thought about it. Now we would know to go for the experience and to see all the pretty lights, but it isn't a good time to view all the animals or anything.

So proud of my cutie patootie.

Brothers gotta hug! 

Park fun with Carter 

Mason went everywhere with us.

Weird but kinda cool 

This was beautiful, and it changed constantly. All of the trees are lit, and they take turns flashing.  

I love giraffes, even the fake ones.

See, fake giraffes are cool! We had to wait FOREVER to get this picture because so many people wanted to do the same thing, but I wanted it for our scrapbook page about our week with Mason.

Somehow we had never been in the Natural Encounters area. This was one of the few open exhibits, and it was a huge hit. They loved going through the tunnel of fish. We lost William briefly, got a good scare, and found him nearby. 

Birthday boys

There are so many things I love about having two boys, but when I had Ryan, I didn't really consider that we could easily knock out two birthdays with one party! These guys pretty much have the same friends, and at least in the fall, William wasn't insistent on inviting kids from school. I think at this point in the year, after having gone to so many parties of classmates, he would have wanted them to come. But he was totally happy with a party that included our neighborhood buddies and kids of our friends. 

We did the party at a place called Great Play. It's an indoor wonderland that they can turn into almost anything. They have stuff to climb, swing on, play with, run after, etc. They let the kids start with free time, which is good because it gets them acquainted with the environment. Then they introduce each kid and have them run through a little pathway and give high fives. It was a little intimidating for a few of our guests plus William, but I still think it's a fabulous place for a party, and I would do it again. 

After the intros, they pick up most of the equipment that's on the floor and start playing all different games to get the kids moving. Honestly, the best part is the staff! They are so enthusiastic and friendly. They take time to remember the kids' names so they can make them feel special. The guy who was in charge of our party was crazy sweaty by the end because he was running around with the kids. 

This big screen greets guests when they walk in. 

Free time gets the kids running around. 

This was about the only thing Ben did before retreating to the safety of his mom. But he had a smile on his face while he watched everyone participate.  

Rollin', rollin', rollin'

Emily is a legend in our house. She lives down the street and is the big sister of Jackson, who is William's oldest friend. She really tried to get William up and moving, but it was a little overwhelming for him. What's interesting is that we did a class at Great Play before the party, and W participated in almost every activity. There must have been something different about having strangers there vs. friends and being the guest of honor. But he still says he loved it and that he had fun. And he did participate more toward the end.  

Oh how I love this picture of Grayson and his dad, Brandon. It cracks me up.

Such simple games bring so much joy to the kids. This one required nothing but foam rackets and balloons.

This activity is by far William's favorite. That video wall is interactive., so when you hit something in the picture, that thing changes. For instance, you can break the flower pots in the window sill or change the background from day to night. Such a neat idea!

They must be getting instructions for the next game. It looks like Ben, William, and Macey are hiding elsewhere. 

Cleaning up is fun when it's a treasure hunt from the big parachute boat on the right. These people get so creative!

All the kids got gold medals in the award ceremony. William decided it would be best to lay on the platform. Whatever floats your boat.  

I hope my kids like cookie cakes as much as I do. This was probably the last party that they won't care and will let me pick!

Did you know that you can get cookie cakes in all different flavors? We had one traditional chocolate chip and one oatmeal raisin. Mmmmmm cookies. 

I wonder what they are thinking. 

We did the best we could with a group shot! William is holding his class monkey, Mason, who we happened to have that weekend. 

Happy boys after the party. I declare it a success!

Mikey's birthday

We had a very busy day planned for Mikey's birthday! It started with donuts AND kolaches from Shipley's, which is pretty much how all special days start in this house. And then Mikey won the award for the best sport on his birthday once again (we had a very annoying experience on his 29th birthday - we were supposed to come home from the hospital with William at about 8 am, and we didn't get home until about 9 pm due to a series of circumstances no thanks to my ex-OB). 

Anyway, my MOPS group decided to take part in the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk the morning of Mikey's birthday. It was held on the grounds of Minute Maid Park. It was a bit of an ordeal to get there and herd two kids through the crowd, but we all ended up having a great time. I was so grateful that Mikey was a good sport about it. His laid-back, easygoing nature is one of the many reasons I keep him around. :) 

Then the real fun started. A&M played #1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Johnny Manziel had started his rise to fame, but he had a long way to go to win the Heisman...and that game was as exciting as they come when your team is on the winning end of it. We went over to Mikey's fraternity brother's house out in the Woodlands to watch the game. I actually took the boys to my friend Jennifer's house for a couple of hours, and then we joined back up with the game-watching crew for the end of the game. I don't think it would have mattered if Mikey had been locked in a box underground for his entire birthday. As long as he got to see his Aggies beat Alabama, he was going to look back on it as one amazing day. 

The only way to beat Shipley's is to go to the Shipley's by our old house in the Heights. Oh my gosh their stuff was to die for. I was skeptical that I would notice the difference, but it is even better than every other Shipley's out there.  

You know he was in heaven here. And they even gave us four passes for free bowling, including shoes. Score! 

After the Buddy Walk, we now know that Ryan does NOT, I repeat, NOT, like people dressed up in character costumes. He may claim afterward that he saw/liked them, but in fact they freak him out. I am confident that he will chill out about this soon, but boy he would not even look at that giant bowling pin.  

Golf too? Could it get any better for our sports-loving guys? 

Good thing this was not crowded. 

This blow-up thing was made for us. It had baseball, basketball, soccer, and a dart-tossing section.  

William was determined to get a train ride in before the actual walk. 

This is almost everyone who came along for the walk with us. I considered it a huge success for something we have never done before! If we decide to do it next year, we will know better what to expect and can really explain the event to everyone. 

Such sweetness. 

Some of our friends walking the walk. 

More than likely a score check for all the football games that had started. 

Three out of Jennifer's four kids were out of town, so Ellen was our little hostess. She was excellent at providing snacks. Olivia had fun checking out all the big kids. 

I have no pics from the game-watching party. There was too much yelling, high-fiving, and jumping up and down. The pictures would have been all blurry anyway. 

I'd say Mikey's birthday was a lot of fun and a great success! We had a ton of family fun, and he got to enjoy a big game with friends. Hard to beat that.