Happy 5th Birthday Wesley!

April Fools

I began today by teaching the boys about April Fools Day. My mom was famous for waking us up really early with some outrageous claim of snow fall or a hot air balloon landing in our back yard.  It was often too early to think logically and by the time we were peering out the back door, we knew we'd been had.  Wes and Nate are little enough still that they will believe just about anything and quickly fell for my stories.  Soon enough they caught on to the fun of this day and started making up stories of their own.  All day Wes was yelling things like, "Watch out Mommy, there's a dinosaur/monster/giant baby, behind you!" and would exclaim, "April Fools!" when I acted scared.  Nate followed right along and would exclaim just what he had heard his brother yell moments before.  My favorite of the day was, "Look out Mommy, there's an army of dancing koala bears coming!".  I didn't know if I should be scared or get up and dance along.

Pumping!

We went to the park today and Wes surprised me by pumping his legs and swinging all by himself!  Such a big boy!

Wesley's 5th Birthday Paaarrrrrty

Wes requested a pirate theme for his 5th birthday party.

Ok...requested is a bit of an understatement.  Wesley, PLANNED his 5th birthday pirate party.

He had quite a few ideas, which included him dressing up in costume, me making a pirate ship cake, kids going on a treasure hunt (he even drew a map), a pinata, and Grandma "sewing a costume" for his play structure to make it into a pirate ship.

I tried to make most of his hopes and plans come true, but I had to draw the line when I saw my mom out at the play structure with plans and a tape measure.  We settled on using our imaginations to make the play structure into a pirate ship...with the help of a pirate flag.

The kids did get to walk the plank...

...as part of an obstacle course centered around the "pirate ship".

All his best buds were there.

There was indeed a treasure hunt where the kids had to hunt for pieces to a map and put it together like a puzzle.

The map led them to the front yard, where there was...

TREASURE, of course!

A treasure chest pinata.

To break open with a sword,

...and loot the booty inside.

Pirate Wes with the requested pirate ship cake.

Ellie the party pooper.

Captain Wesley's loyal shipmates look on as opens the REAL treasure chest of the day.  I hope your party was all that you hoped for Wesley!

1st Swim Lesson

We've been out of the pool all winter, so it's time to get everyone ready for the swim season.  It's the boy's first lesson back after a long break, but it's Ellie's first lesson ever!  Wes and Ellie go first, while Grandma watches Nate play, then I get in the pool with Nate while Wes plays and Ellie usually falls asleep.  Everyone needs a good nap after swim practice, me and Grandma included!  All the kids are doing great, and check out the cute little girl swim suit!  I just couldn't wait any longer to get her in a swim suit.

Holding Court

She doesn't have to do much...and her brother's are mesmerized.

Regression?

Silly boy!

Boots Cuts

On The Electric Company the other day they were teaching kids how to beatbox. You say "boots cuts" over and over, then you take out the vowels and say "bts cts". Then you can do double and triple time.
There's been lots of beatboxing going on at our house. Wes is getting pretty good and Nate is very cute going around saying "boots cuts" all the time with his hand cupped around his mouth like a pro.

Meeting Thomas!!

So, we had a little snafu on the way to meet Thomas, Wes threw up all over himself and the car.  Not sure if it was the car ride, the excitement, or what, but we had a slight detour as we depuked the car and car seat.  He rode the rest of the way to Globe with no shirt on and we stopped in Globe to get him a pair of shorts and a shirt...then, I promised him a brand new Thomas shirt when we got to the event.

Chris, Liz, Jack and Lucy joined us on our Thomas adventure!

First on our agenda was a train ride, pulled by Thomas himself!

There was a rickety bridge and tight spot that Thomas had to get through.  We had to cheer him on, "Pull, Thomas, pull!  Pull, Thomas, pull!".  Then, "Push, Thomas, push! Push, Thomas, push!"  Thank goodness we were there to get him through the rough spots.

Then the boys got to have their picture taken with the REAL Thomas!
  The excitement was just too much!

Then, we all enjoyed all the fun and games.

While Ellie took a little nap.

Look at the smile on this kid's face!  When Wes was 18 months old he saw a Thomas t-shirt, grabbed it off the shelf and hugged it.  It's been a love affair ever since.  Thomas has always been "his thing".  He memorized all the train names as soon as he could talk.  Thomas trains taught him colors and numbers.  If given a train's face, with no other information, he could tell you the train's name.  He knows who is cheeky and who is cross and he can sing Thomas songs with a great British accent.  I had heard about this "Day out with Thomas" event a few years ago, right after it left Arizona and every year I checked and it didn't come back.  I am so glad we got the chance to take Wes to this.  It was truly magical for him.  He has decided that he wants to be Thomas's engineer when he grows up...when Thomas's current engineer retires.  You should have seen him eyeing the guy at the event who was Thomas's "engineer".  He better watch his back or he might find himself headed for early retirement.  I love you so much Wesley.  I'm so happy you were able to meet Thomas.