Jacob’s 6th Birthday

The weekend before last we celebrated Jacob’s 6th birthday.  On Saturday we had a birthday party for him at Shankz Blacklight mini golf. 
Past experience has taught me that out of a class of 20+ kids not everyone will be able to make it, so we also invited a few friends from daycare and from church. We wound up with 15 kids at the party – it was a big group but everyone had fun.
Here are the kids sitting on the bench waiting to get their clubs and balls.  The kids were also excited because they all got glow necklaces.
 

I was really impressed with the place where we had the party, the host really interacted with the kids and kept them moving through the course and kept it safe and fun.  I also really liked that you got your party room right away, so there was a place to put all your stuff and even a cabinet for purses.
The party rooms all have different themes, we were in the Dino room, which had huge scenes of dinosaurs painted all over.  If you haven’t been to a blacklight place, the pictures don’t do it justice, it is really pretty neat but of course the 3D and blacklight doesn’t show up in the pictures.

   
Frankly I was sort of amazed that the kids did such a good job taking turns and putting. There was some pushing and fussing, but more or less things went very smoothly.  We did have one injury where a kid swung his club and clocked another kid, but an ice pack and some cake and it was all better.  Naturally some of the younger ones just kind of ran around and climbed on stuff which is also fun. I really enjoyed chatting with the other parents.
  
neat dinosuar arch

Grandma gives Bella a little help

Lisa and Anna

After the golf we had pizza and capri suns. At one point there were kids that wanted cheese pizza and all that was left was pepperoni so the party host tells the kids - “OK kids, we are going to make our own cheese pizza, everyone take off the pepperoni and put it on this plate”  And they did it and were happy. I think that is why I liked the host, he was funny and thought like a Mom!
Love this shot of Seth!

Next came the cake – I really worked hard to make it exactly as Jacob asked me to make it. The design was a little different than what I maybe would have done but Jacob was VERY specific about what he wanted and I love how it turned out.
 
The above picture shows how it looked finished off with the two candles but the below picture shows the colors better – the trim icing was the purple and green colors from Buzz Lightyear’s uniform.  I tried to replicate the Toy Story 3 logo, I was really pleased how it all came together.  I have NEVER worked with fondant before so it was a whole new thing for me. I like my cakes to be iced with icing, but I love the crisp clean lines of fondant, so this cake uses fondant for the logo but the rest is all icing. 
The “JACOB” letters I cut out with my alphabet cookie cutters , the 6 I did freehand. 
The “birthday” letters I printed out on my computers using a free Disney-like font called Mickey. It doesn’t exactly match the real Toy Story one but that real one is a font that costs like $30, so whatever. Those letters were hardest because I sort of outlined them through the paper onto the fondant and then had to figure out how to cut them out.  It really made me wish my tiny carving tools for Halloween pumpkins weren’t in the attic. But at the time I was doing it, it was like 11 PM so I just cut them all out with the tip of a knife.  This year, I will buy another pumpkin carving set and keep it specifically for fondant work with my cake stuff.

Anyway I got that “Oh wow” moment from the kids when I put the cake down and we all know as Moms we live for that moment! Ha!
 

After the party we went home and my in laws came over and we ate spaghetti and watched the UT game. The kids went nuts with all the presents and we charged up Jacob’s big big present from his grandparents – a Nintendo DS.
The next day was Sunday and Jacob’s actual real birthday.  In the service we sang “Come Now is the Time to Worship” which made me tear up because it was a song we listened to when I was in labor the day he was born.  After church I tried to get some nice photos since the church has such pretty places to take pictures.
Jacob decided he wanted to wink in these pictures. He does this big ol' super exaggerated wink.
 

This one ended up being my favorite of the bunch.

After church we let Jacob pick a restaurant, he chose Sharkey’s.
  
I do have to say I think Bella was uber cute this day with her pony tails and her new kicks from Old Navy.

I told him to stand straight and not to wink, this is what I got…

They do this whole thing where they all come sing and put a shark mask/hat thing on you and serve you a big bowl of ice cream and snap your picture. It happened so fast I didn’t get a picture of it and Jacob wasn’t altogether pleased with the sparkler that they had lit in the ice cream and so we were kind of in a rush to blow it out. But anyway they took a picture so if you live around here look for it up on the birthday wall at Sharkey’s.
So that was Jacob’s big birthday weekend. We love him so much and he is such a fun kid.  He loves to build with blocks (his big present from us was an extension set for his wooden blocks) and sing and dance around.  I see him stretched out on the couch with his DS (he likes pac man!) and I simply can’t believe he is SO tall and grown up. He is doing great in Kindergarten, he comes home everyday bursting with new things to tell us (he tells us about wedgies, and mushy kisses, and which part of the tongue we use to taste sweet things, and the proper way to do jumping jacks and a million other things.)  I love it that he is so independent but yet still very sweet and cuddly, he is quick to give out kisses and hugs and shows concern for others. Jacob still thrives on structure and knowing what to expect but he has begun to really open up to new experiences as well. A Mom at his party that has known him for a while from Kids R Kids, could NOT believe how much he has changed in just a year.  She still remembers him being so reserved and shy and when she looked over and saw him dancing and laughing in a circle of friends she couldn’t believe the transformation. Me either! God is so good and it is a blessing to see his goodness in our children!
Coming up – Bella starts ballet and both kids attend their first Astros game.

Vegas Part 2

Saturday we were up early to drive out to a nearby National Conservation Area called Red Rocks Canyon.  The visitor facility was brand new and just beautiful.  They had an activity where the kids could go on a scavenger hunt and if they checked off everything they were supposed to find then they got a ranger badge.  We all got into it and had a fun time finding all the dessert animals.

 

This was an exhibit where you could handle all the different kinds of rocks.

Outdoors there was an entire display which discussed the wildlife, environment, ancient peoples, climate etc. in the Canyon.

In here is a “cave” where the kids can explore.

 

 

 

 

After earning our badges we made the 13 mile scenic drive to see the canyon. It was breathtaking!

 

 

 

We got out of the car and explored one of the trail heads down a little ways. By this time it was nearly noon and probably 112 degrees out in the rocks. We saw people hiking but I think I would have wanted to wait until some other time than noon in August to try that myself.

 

There’s something about seeing your children walking in the dessert, they suddenly seem so small and vulnerable in such a majestic landscape. It was really awe inspiring to see this canyon and to understand how so many animals can live in such a rugged landscape. I was struck by the juxtaposition of all the manmade “wonders” of the Las Vegas strip the day before compared to those that are God-made. Simply no comparison!

  

The rest of the day was spent enjoying family back at the house. There was a pool and we ate BBQ and looked at old family photos and listened to stories. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because I was busy visiting!

All in all it was wonderful trip.  We saw the sights, had great food and fellowship, swam in the pool, played ping pong and laughed and had a great time.

Viva Las Vegas

Our family recently attended a family reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Will’s father has cousins and family that live in Western states like Colorado, Wyoming,  and California and we are all in Texas, so it made sense to pick Las Vegas as sort of a central place to meet up for a long weekend.  It was such a fun trip.  The focus on this trip was definitely all about kids and family.  I did play one dollar in the slot machines just for grins, and promptly lost!

This was Jacob’s third plane trip and Bella’s second. They did great. Thank goodness  for portable DVD players, plus they had backpacks full of activities.

Do you see this smile Will is doing? He has this little grin he makes just for pictures…

First off we picked up our rental cars. We had a huge land yacht – um, like a Buick or something, I’ll have to ask Will. The trunk was HUGE.  We laughed the whole time because that car was huge and we felt about 95 driving around in it.  The trunk was more than big enough for two children!

  

It was sooooo hot there. Here you can see the temperature was 108. This was in the shade inside the parking garage. I saw that thing go up to 110. Craziness. But it was dry, totally no humidity. My hair looked great but all of us had really chapped lips by the end of the trip.

Our first night there Will and his brother and my sister in law and I all went out to dinner at Tom Calicchio’s restaurant Craftsteak. If any readers watch the show Top Chef, Tom Calicchio is the head judge on the show. This was our big splurge item on this trip, oh my goodness it was the most incredible meal I have ever had. I will never forget how awesome it was. We had cocktails, steak, roasted corn, mushroom risotto, hen of the woods mushrooms, a couple different salads,  a plate of heirloom tomatoes, bottle of wine – all of it was wonderful. I know my mother in law took pictures of the four of us all dressed up to go on her camera.  I took pictures of the food but it was so dark in the restaurant that they aren’t great pictures. Just trust me, if you are ever in Vegas… you have got to try this restaurant!

  

On Friday we spent the day down on the strip – first stop was the Paris hotel. There we met up with all of the family and had lunch and visited. I didn’t take pictures except this one of the Eiffel Tower. Jacob wasn’t impressed, having seen the real one in France but I think it’s fun.

Next we drove over to Mandalay Bay resort to take the kids to the aquarium. Here are the sights we saw on the way -

The Luxor (Pyramid and Sphinx. Bella calls the Sphinx “The Great Stinks” which I find utterly hilarious. We try to get her to say it over and over.) Sorry about the glare, this was through the car window.

Bella also loved the castle turrets at the Excalibur. 

More than anything Jacob wanted to ride the roller coaster at New York New York. But he is a few inches too short.

We arrived at Mandalay Bay resort to go to the Aquarium. This is a big big resort. We had to walk a long way to get back where the aquarium part is, on the way we saw the pool;  there are slides and a wave pool, it is like a beach and looked REALLY fun.

Here is everyone taking a much needed rest from all that walking:

Jacob by the Shark Reef sign.

  

This was a really neat interactive image projected onto the wall, when you touch the wall the image ripples like real water – very cool.

At the aquarium, they had those audio tour phone things. Will and I are both the kind of people who love to actually read the  kiosks and hear all the facts about what we are seeing but I was surprised that both our little kids were really into listening as well. Aren’t they cute listening all about the aquarium animals?

 

There were a lot of really cool things at the aquarium but it was a hard place to take a lot of pictures because of being dark and all the glass. In the center of the exhibit is a section where you can pet stingrays. Jacob really enjoyed that part, Bella, normally my adventurous one, wanted nothing to do with it.

 

The best part for me? Sharks!

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we went to Circus Circus. (Can you tell this was a LONG day????)  Circus Circus has a huge pink tent that contains a children’s amusement park. There are all kinds of family rides, booths and activities. Sadly Jacob was still ONE INCH too short to ride the roller coaster. But he found plenty else to do.

 

The next day, was Saturday. On this day we spent the morning exploring a nearby canyon called Red Rocks Canyon and then returned to the rented vacation house for the big family reunion part of the trip. More to come!