Brayden's Birthday Party

We thought it would be fun to have Brayden's birthday party in Utah while we were visiting. Brayden wanted an Army themed birthday party, and I have been putting together ideas for a few weeks now. We spent most of the day Friday getting ready for the party, buying all the decorations, and making the cake. Since it was an Army themed party and Brayden loves Army tanks that is went I went for. The only thing I knew for sure was it had to have a "shooter gun" on it. So I went to the internet to get some ideas. I had my sister-in-law Amy help me with the cake and between the two of us we put together a great cake.

Here is the final product.

The tank was so fun to make.

We were both so excited for Brayden to see it. While Amy put the finishing touches on the cake we took Brayden to have a special lunch at Chick-Fil-A. This is his favorite place to eat because he loves loves loves their chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce. We don’t have any Chick-fil-A’s in Washington so we try to eat at one when we visit Utah or Boise. About the time we finished eating it was time for the party to start. I had dog tags for the kids to wear and Jared assigned them all ranks. The kids got hats and then camouflaged their faces if they wanted to. Brayden also had his Army shirt on of course. He wanted to wear his Army shoes, but it was too cold to have flip flops on. 

Marec is ready!

Sam is ready.

Reagan would rather play on the iPad.

Brayden was ready! (This is his serious face.)

Once all the kids were ready we headed outside for our Army boot camp. Jared was the drill sergeant and we played Drill Sergeant says, and minefield. I was Brayden’s partner and he was so worried he would step on a 'minefield' he walked on his tip toes most of the time; it was so cute. 

We also played a game where each team had to wrap a member of their team in crate paper and then carry them to the medic station. We wrapped Brayden, but our team didn’t win. After that we had an obstacle course and while you went through the course some of the adults were throwing incoming water balloon grenades. Of course, the obstacle course ended in a water balloon fight; which Brayden got in on the action, but only got himself wet in the process. 

After games we went inside and Brayden wanted to open presents first; since it is his party he gets to do what he wants. He got several nerf guns, a camouflaged blanket, and building block set, and a gift card. 

After presents we headed into the kitchen for the cake. He was pretty excited about the cake and he loved the shooter gun on the tank. 

Brayden adoring his Army cake.

We put a sparkler candle into the gun so it looked like it was shooting while we sang happy birthday. That made Brayden a little nervous, but loved it. 

He licked every bit of frosting off his cake and Reagan somehow managed to have two cupcakes. They were totally wired on sugar. Reagan had a great time and was just one of the kids trying to get in on all the action. 

Brayden got a lot of his energy out playing with his new guns downstairs. He had a great birthday and I hope he knows how much we love him. He is such a special boy, he can make so many people gravitate to him and his fun personality. After the party was over we had a little down time and then had dinner. It was nice to have everyone at the house for a while. Brayden had a great time playing with Adam’s girls and of course Chase, Rachael, and Maddie. It was a wonderful day.

Spring time

We have been really busy getting ready for our upcoming events. After Grandpa's visit we saw the end of Preschool. Brayden has LOVED preschool. I love that he loves to learn, and he is so excited about learning new things. He also loves that his friends join him at preschool too. Brayden has gotten really good at writing some of his letters especially his letter "B". 

 Reagan and Brayden also love to talk on the phone. They usual argue about who gets to talk first. Reagan still doesn't make a whole lot of sense when she is talking, but that doesn't stop her. Brayden just sits back and talks, and talks, and talks. This is him talking to Grandma Chris.

We also had fun going to a magic show at the library. Brayden was a volunteer and got to say "hee haa" when he put his scarf into the hat. The magic show created many questions that I had to try to answer.

I have been packing and getting ready for our trip to Utah to meet Marec. Here is the baby quilt I made for baby Marec; I think it turned out really cute. I hope he likes it.

Grandpa's Visit

The morning after my dad arrived Brayden woke up early and came into by bed, I asked him what he wanted to do and he gave me his standard answer, “play all day”. I Asked him who he wanted to play with and I saw his face as he realized that Grandpa was here. He jumped off the bed and ran into my dad’s room. He was so excited to have Grandpa here. Reagan was excited to see him too. The weather was not too bad so we headed up to Point Defiance park to have a picnic lunch and show my dad around. We walked along the rocks and the kids had fun throwing in rocks. Reagan would walk right in if we let her. Brayden had a blast too and wanted to have Grandpa right by his side. We walked up to the play area and had our lunch and let the kids play for a bit. The play area is a lot of fun, but it was pretty busy. When it isn’t raining the play areas are always super packed.

We spent the rest of the evening at the house and the kids had a blast playing with Grandpa, I don’t think Jared and I were even acknowledged the rest of the evening.  Saturday we went to watch the Daffodil parade in Puyallup. There were so many people that we didn’t have great seats, but it was still fun to see the parade. We saw pirates, a float for about every fruit festival you could imagine, dancing grandmas, and a band from every high school and middle school around. We stayed for over an hour and the kids started melting down so we decided to head out. 

We decided to head up north for a drive of the area. We drove up to Lake Tapps; which is really pretty, but it was super windy and cold. We went over to Federal Way and had dinner at Ivar’s; it was some yummy fish. Then we headed out to Browns Point lighthouse. It was pretty windy, but Brayden loved being able to throw sticks into the water and also being able to see a light house. We weren’t able to stay too long because it was so cold, but on our way home we drove by the shipping yards in Tacoma.  I am always grateful when we have visitors, because we get out and see the area. We need to start doing more of that on our own.

Sunday we went to church and let the kids play with Grandpa on his last day here.

It has been a great visit with my dad. The kids have absolutely loved having him. Reagan was a crazy brave girl and Brayden loved to hear stories about Excalibur from my dad.

Surprise...it's Grandpa!

My dad drove up and surprised Brayden. I think he was in shock and in true Brayden fashion had a million questions.