Jacob's Birthday Extravaganza

For Jacob's 7th birthday party, he wanted to have a pool party.  

We held the party at the local indoor pool  We invited several of Jacob's friends.

I made some sponge balls for the kids to play with in the pool.  They were a big hit. At first the kids were playing catch with them, then tag. Then they played a game where they would stand on the edge of the pool, then as they jumped in, Kelly would throw a sponge ball at them and they would try to catch it while in the air.

After we got out of the pool, we had some yummy shark-themed cupcakes and other goodies.

Then we went outside for some party games.  The weather was perfect.

We started with a pinata, which has become an annual tradition.

No, these aren't party hats.  They're parts of the pinata.

Next, we played Balloon-Pop Survivor.

Then Kelly taught the kids how to make paper airplanes and we had a contest to see whose airplane would  fly the farthest.

I made cloth goody bags for each of the kids filled with treats and a squirt gun.

The kids all seemed to have a great time.  We're glad Jacob has so many good friends.

After the party, we came home and continued the party with just our family.

We sang Happy Birthday to Jacob again and he opened his gifts.

Andrew got Jacob a LEGO Star Wars set.  I don't know who liked it more--Jacob or Andrew.

It was a fun day full of birthday celebrations.  We love Jacob and are glad he's part of our family.  --emily

Andrew's 1st Day of School

Andrew started his second year of pre-school and is super excited to be with some of his same friends from last year. We are lucky to have such a great pre-school so near to our home. --emily

Jacob's 1st Day of School

Jacob is in first grade now.  He's growing up so fast.  He was excited for his first day of school.  We all walked with him together as a family to drop him off at the back gate. We are so lucky to live in walking distance to school. 

P.S. It has been a few months since school has started and he is loving his teacher and he has made lots of new friends. 

Labor day not camping

We had planned on going camping with some friends over Labor Day, but we all decided to cancel the trip because we were all just too busy with school starting and everything else going on.

So instead of camping, we all met at our friend's house for a nice pot-luck dinner and some marshmallow roasting over a fire pit.  It was the best of both worlds.  We had fun with our friends and made yummy s'mores, but we got to sleep in our own comfortable beds.  We had a great time.  It was a good way to end the summer. --emily