Party with Chuck E- It's a Blast!

I had a Chuck E Cheese party this year. It was awesome. I got to see so many of my friends and play lots of games. I was so busy I didn't cash in my tickets until the next day. I'm proud to report I got a huge blue gel ball that actually has not broken yet!
Party favor bags were filled with candy, water bottle and a bouncy ball. I helped Mommy make and fill the bags. I'm getting to be a pretty big help.
My cake. Mommy ordered it from Randalls and then felt guilty so she made me a baseball glove cake for my real birthday the next day!
What? I'm out of tokens already?
Lots of pals came to my party. Pals from school, the neighborhood and all around. This is my friend Micaela from school.
Even cousin Mary came to celebrate.
Buddy and Mimi were playing games too. Check out Davis in the background! He had a great time, I promise.
Keegan was a skeeball maniac. I think he has pretty good form.
Conner played lots of games. He was good!
Here I am with my best bud Travis. We played lots of games together.
Mr. Tre was trying to dominate this game.
Lynsey gave Daddy a pretty smile. She had a great time riding all of the rides.
Check out my crew. We were so hungry after playing all those games. Pizza was the perfect fix.
Family cake picture!
Brother pic complete with token crown. You can borrow my crown if you need to but please note I spent all the tokens already!
A little birthday song dance. I wasn't sure what to make of this but my friend Daniella from school got up and made me feel right at home!
I wasn't sure about a pic with Chuck E by myself either. Daddy and Jackson tried to make it more bearable.
By far the coolest part of a Chuck E Cheese party is the ticket blaster. I was a little overwhelmed by the speed of the tickets at first but I raked it in by the time I got out of the booth. I highly recommend a party at Chuck E Cheese so you can try this out!
Sweet. I got Pokemon toys! I also got lots of legos, walkie talkies and spy gear.
It was a great birthday (check out my cool outdoor rocker too). Peace out! Gig 'Em and whatever that other hand sign is (remember Mommy types my posts out :)).

60 Months -- That is 5 years old!!

I get two pictures for my 5th birthday. That is right, I am 5. Turning 5 is big. It means you are big. You can do stuff by yourself when you are 5 like shower, brush your teeth, get dressed (most of the time). I love being five. We have been having a great summer. I've been to camps, on trips and visited with lots of friends. I absolutely love swimming. Pools, lakes, bath tubs - you name it. If it has water, I will swim! I'm a pretty strong swimmer and I am also very adventurous in the water. I'm keeping up my gymnastics this summer and getting stronger and stronger every day. My back rolls are good and my strength on the rings is better every class. I'm starting to read chapter books with my parents at night. Well, they read and I listen. My reading comprehension is awesome but I have no outwardly expressed desire to read on my own yet. I am Obsessed with my legos. I got new sets for my birthday and I have put them all together and have them currently displayed on my dresser for anyone who would like to see them. I'm pushing limits as a 5 year old. I like to push buttons too. My brother's buttons and my parents' buttons. This works better for me than the violence my brother uses. I'm sleeping later and later everyday and enjoying some time of my own sometimes now. I like to help Mommy around the house but I'm not too interested in culling through the random momentos I save in my room. I look like a pack rat but I like my stuff. It makes me happy! I loved my Chuck E Cheese party and think being 5 is going to be awesome.

Catch up with you soon,

Luke

38 Months Old

Howdy,

We have had such a busy month. Camps, traveling, national holiday! I've been hanging out with my friends and neighbors and getting good family time too. It is hot and dry this summer so we have been swimming LOTS. I've really improved. I can swim across pools and hold my breath for hours. I did give everyone a scare while dog paddling the other day and Daddy had to get in the pool with his boots and jeans on. All was good though. I like to jump into the water, collect dive sticks and even practice back flips. Really! While I have taken a little break from star wars my obsession is back in full force. I'm quoting lines, humming the theme music, and reenacting scenes all the time. I'm also always equipped with at least one light saber. You don't want to be caught unprepared! I'm still pretty opinionated and strong willed. And I do not go easy on Luke. We spar often and I'm normally the winner of those matches even though Daddy has given Luke permission to hit back! I still prefer sleeping in Mom and Dad's bed but now I creep downstairs quietly with hopes they will not hear me. I'm successful most nights. I guess they are too tired to notice. I'm really enjoying having my cousin Veronica stay at our house this summer while she babysits our neighbors. She makes me cinnamon rolls in the morning and lets me rest in the afternoons while she watches kids shows. She has even let me go babysit with her a time or two. I think I will like babysitting one day too. Looking forward to a few more weeks of a fun summer. Talk soon.

D (now known as D, Davis on a stick, Davis on a bun, and just Davis)

Austin and Marshall too, Oh My!

We told you we were busy. After Luke and I finished VBS we packed up and headed to Austin to hang out with Tia and Nash and PacMan. While we were there we went to another natural spring pool and had a picnic. We even did a slip and slide. We played with Nash a lot and hung out with Mommy's friend Daniel Orlaska and his fiance Linaya. He is a fire fighter so we took a tour of his firehouse. Of course we had to try on the suits too!
These are heavy suits. Daniel had to lift us into the boots and hold the hats on our heads. Can't imagine wearing that into a burning building.
I'm super strong but not strong enough to wear that hat!
Watch out!
We spent two days at home and then headed to East Texas for six days. We had so much fun. We swam in Aunt Sally's pool and the lake almost every day.
Is my belly flop graceful, or what? PS, I normally wear a life jacket and probably got in trouble right after this picture was taken. Life jackets are the rule in the lake.
When we were not swimming (which was not often) I took a little time to fish. We caught lots of fish and kept a few for Pappy to take out to his farm. Aunt Marsha helped me get my fish off the hook. She's cool like that!
We tubed. Let's just say one of us likes to go a little faster than his older brother and that did not go over well!
While we were there we did a mini celebration for Luke's birthday. That coincided with the 4th of July and fireworks later that night. It was a great day.
While we were in Marshall we also got to meet Mommy and Daddy's friends' kids, Jake and Josh. We all needed a little interaction with someone other than our brothers! This was a perfect match up. We swam, fished and had Popsicles. It was super fun to hang out with these boys! We had a great time in Marshall and Austin!

June Camps and VBS

June was super busy with activities! After we went to Alpine we had a week of Kid Venture camp. We loved it. It was pirate themed. We went to a new location this year and it had a super cool splash pad. We got to swim 3 times. We were there with our neighbors and friends. We got the "Captain" and "Freeze Dancer" awards. The next week we started Vacation Bible School at our school. Mom was even a teacher. The theme was Shake It Up and it was based on cooking. There were so many cool songs and dances. We are happy to reenact them if you would like to see it. We can even sing you the songs over the phone! Davis liked VBS so much he asked Mommy to sign him up again right away. He was not happy to hear he would have to wait until next year. The pics above are from our family night presentation. We were so excited to get to act out all the songs and dances we had been learning.