Dino Mite 6th Birthday Party Part 1

Bryce's birthday party was yesterday.  When we started planning this party I was so nervous that nobody would come.  We have only lived here for two months and I had no idea what is normal for kids birthday parties around here.  But we have always done a nice party for the kids and Bryce had been looking forward to and planning his 6th party since last March so I knew we had to do something fun!  It worked out perfectly that Jude is on Spring Break this week so my parents drove to Huntsville and picked up Blakeley and the Js and they got here about an hour before party time.  My awesome super sweet Aunt Sandra also came for the party.  How great is that?  I thought that once we moved this far away she wouldn't come anymore, but she did!!  She has a great friend that traveled with her and they are making the most out of their time in Savannah! I decided that if we decorate enough and have enough fun dino things to do then even if it was just the cousins and family then the party could still be great.  Well....I was so surprised at the turnout we had....13 kids! The weather was beautiful which made it even better. 

The spread and the excited birthday boy

 Dino cupcakes (strawberry of course!)

 Volcano brownie pops

 The volcano we made (pictures of it errupting later) and triceratops pinata that Bryce and I made



Dino relay race

 Dinosaur egg hunt

Stay tuned for party part 2

Last Basketball Game

Last night Bryce had his last basketball game of the season.  He is pretty sad that it is over!  He played great again last night.  He made one basket and tried for 3 more.  He went after the ball agressively a couple of times and on defense he stayed with his player as she moved across the court.  This was the first team that we've played that had girls on it, and wouldn't you know they were the best team we've played all season!  They were all so tall! 

His trophy

His team with their coach.  We are going to request to be on her team again next year.  She is so great with the kids. 

And next up.....Tball!! 

The Puddle

When it rains alot a small puddle forms in our driveway.  CeCe is in love with the puddle (or peddle as she sometimes calls it!).  It has only rained enough to fill the puddle twice but both times CeCe gets so excited and talks about playing in it all day.  When Bryce gets home from school they put on their rain boots and jump and run and splash and play away!  Such fun!  When the puddle disappeared the first time she cried,  I guess she thought it was there forever! 

Kiki and Papaw Duke

Kiki and Papaw Duke came back to visit us!  We have been scared that the drive might scare some people away, but luckily they seem to think we are worth it!  They got here on Thursday afternoon so they got to see Bryce play in his basketball game.  He was so happy they were there to watch him.  The weather Friday was hot, windy and rainy so we didn't do much.  Bryce got out of school at 12:30 which was nice, I'm still not sure why!  Maybe teacher work afternoon?  We stayed in that afternoon and Anthony and Papaw Duke did some fix-it jobs around the house.  Saturday was our explore day.  Kiki and Papaw Duke were here for almost a week in Jan and we never went downtown or really did any sightseeing at all!  We were so busy with the move we just didn't have time.  This time we knew we had to show them how awesome Savannah is.  We hit Forsyth park first.  It is a huge park in downtown that has fountains, playgrounds and beautiful trees and walking trails.  We stayed there longer than we meant to because we were all having such a good time. 

After Forsyth we drove to the underground parking garage (which Bryce thinks is so cool!) and walked on the Riverwalk.  Unfortunately it was pretty cold Saturday and a little windy so the riverwalk wasn't very pleasant.  We had a delicious lunch at Vics, and  Papaw Duke finally got to see one of the huge container ships we've been telling him about.  After lunch we decided to drive over the Talmadge bridge so we could all say we had been to South Carolina! 

Sunday it was cold and rainy so we needed an indoor activity.  Papaw Duke had seen signs for the 8th Airforce Museum so we decided to check that out.  It was a nice museum (can't really compare to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola though) with a lot of history and info mainly about WWII.  Bryce really got into it and was asking a lot of questions about it.  I would LOVE for my Grandfathers to be around so they could tell Bryce about it from experience.  And Kiki's dad too, he was killed in the war when she was only 6 mos old.  He never got to see her.  I think when I told Bryce that story he realized that the war was a real thing and affected people he knows so it made it more interesting to him. 

We had a great weekend with Kiki and Papaw Duke, we hope ya'll like Savannah enough to come back soon!!!  

A Fun Surprise

  This past weekend my parents were scheduled to watch Jude and Jasper for Blakeley and Hunter to do something one night.  I realized about 2 weeks ago that Bryce had a holiday on President's Day Monday....hmm....how to make it work that we could see Cappy and Papaw Ruff that weekend?? The lakehouse!!  My parents picked up the J's from Huntsville on Friday, I checked Bryce out of school at 12:45 and we all drove and met up at the lake.  It was so fun getting to surprise Bryce and CeCe with this trip!  They've been missing all 4 grandparents since we've seen them last and it's going to be about 3 more weeks until we see Cappy and Papaw Ruff (Kiki and Papaw Duke are coming this Thursday!!) I told them right before school on Friday and then CeCe and I raced home to pack and get ready for the 6.5 hour drive.  Thankfully my kids are ROCK STARS in the car and never complained!  

 

We thought the whole weekend would end up being wet and nasty, but luckily we had about 4 hours of dryness on Saturday.  We stayed out in the mud that whole time knowing the rain was coming. 

That afternoon my Aunt, Uncle, cousin and her two kids came up to the lake to eat supper and celebrate my dad's birthday

Unfortunately the rain set in Saturday around lunchtime and didn't stop until after lunch on Sunday.  That made for lots of inside time for this group.  Here are Bryce and Jude snuggling with Cappy watching Tom and Jerry one night.  

Sunday morning we decided to drive into Montgomery and try bowling.  The kids loved it!!  They also had an arcade that was perfect for the kids to run around in. 



Little J-man was the winner!  He scored at least 25 points higher than everyone else! 

All four loved bowling and have already asked to go back next time we are at the lake.  We all left yesterday morning and we drove the 6.5hrs back home, again the kids were great!  They were both coughing in the car but slept good last night.  I thought we were over the worst of it but this is how Bryce and I spent our morning :(   He gets in the horrible coughing fits where he gags and gags but luckily the breathing treatment worked today pretty quickly.  I did take him to the Dr. and he said what I expected....a virus, and just to keep doing the albuterol.  He's doing so much better this afternoon I'm hopeful he can go back to school tomorrow.  I did find out that everytime he misses school for illness (and this happens to him everytime he gets a little cold) that I will have to take him in to the Dr. to get an excuse note.  Not cool!  I usually know when something is just a virus and I hate to have to take them into the dr. office for that.  Oh well, at least I know now.  And I LOVED the new pediatrician we chose!!  I'm glad I decided to make the switch from that first practice we tried here. 

These boots are made for

Exploring

Watching

egg Hunting

Cheesing

Cheering

Painting

Playing

Hiking

Climbing

Swinging

Catching

I am so sad to say that we are retiring the super cute yellow polka dot boots.  They have been worn so much there are holes in each boot but it took me not being able to shove her feet in them today to finally put them away (notice I didn't say throw them away, I'm not one to hold onto things we can't use, but I have a thing about my kids rain boots!!).  We have a new pair of pink polka dot boots, but they are not nearly as cute as these yellow ones. 

Our weekend

I don't think this was from Friday, but I found it on my camera.  Anthony must have taken it.  Love the way it captures both of the kids!!  CeCe and her babies and Bryce being a super hero. 

This picture will make Cappy so happy...Bryce asked me for a pencil and then walked to his room.  I was curious so I followed him.  He was writing down everyone's birthdays on his calendar!  

Saturday morning CeCe and I made a special breakfast for Bryce and Daddy.  We made french toast and bacon.  We never cook breakfast around here.  None of my people really enjoy breakfast foods so we typically do bananas, cereal bars or yogurt but CeCe loves to help me cook so I thought we'd give it a try.  Bryce loved the bacon and ate all his french toast with peanut butter, CeCe ate a few bites of the french toast.  Anthony enjoyed it all!  

Yesterday we had a very laid back day.  We stayed here most of the day except for a Target and Home Depot run.  Bryce has a lot of money saved up and wanted to buy some lego sets.  He ended up with a police set and a dinosaur set.  I thought that would keep him busy for a few weeks here and there.  Well.....that is ALL HE DID.  He stopped to go on two bike rides, eat dinner and sleep.  But other than that he worked on those lego sets from 1:30p yesterday-11:00a today.  Both sets are totally complete now.  He gets so focused on something and totally loses track of the rest of the world! 

I'm not feeling good today (stupid cold that after a week seems to be getting worse!) so we skipped church and have been pretty lazy again.  We did get out to go to lunch but came home after for me to rest.  CeCe has been so sweet and taking care of me all afternoon!  She didn't know what to think of seeing me laying down during the day!

She stayed in with me while the boys were outside building this for Bryce's upcoming 6th birthday party!!!