Octo-Birthday Party!

Last Saturday we threw Colin and Gillian their FIRST "friend party." We decided to have the party at our favorite play center, The See Saw Center! I thought it was perfect because it was big, full of toys, and not at our house! We had the place all to ourselves for a 1-3 pm party! We invited the five other girls in Gillian's class, the five other boys in Colin's class, and three friends from outside of school! We had a great turn out...11 kids plus our own! And two siblings that came along! Colin and Gillian easily settled on Octonauts as their party theme!

I decided to NOT plan any party games. It's too hard for that many kids to play organized games and they are more of the age to just want to play anyway. I did print some Octonaut coloring sheets and Grammy painted faces for us (and her painting was EXCELLENT!). Otherwise, it was play, cupcakes, and presents! HOORAY!

Some pictures from the big day!

Getting warmed up for party time...


Papa Frank warmed up the gear table.






Grammy doing some great paint work!





Mr. Kenny came with Ian and Julia!


Time to sing and EAT! Gillian had picked out her cupcake at home, but Colin waited until party time.


First we sang to Colin (he WAS born first).


Then Gillian!


After snacks, we had some more playtime!


Then we opened A LOT of presents (seriously, very generous friends).





Look at that swarm of boys all over that helicopter. It was HIT. J.D. got it for Colin and Colin was immediately smitten. He told us "It is the most awesome present ever."


Both Colin and Gillian were very sweet when they were opening their presents. They were very appreciative and gracious. Gillian even gave out a few hugs as she opened presents. It was very nice to see.

Friend love.


What a fun, fun party! We hope our guests had as much fun as we did. The kids are already planning their next party!

***I know it looks like the only kids at the party were Colin, Gillian, Ian, and Julia. BUT, I hate to use pictures of other people's kids on my blog. I know Ian and Julia's mom and dad are okay with it! I protected everyone else!***

Sick Days

We've been QUITE busy around here the past week or so! Well, really last week we started off SICK. Boo. I was concerned, not because this was a nasty illness, but because we were throwing a birthday party with 11 three year old guests last weekend! I really didn't want two sick birthday kids! Both kids stayed home sick from school on Tuesday and we played and crafted!


(G had to wear her Purple Outfit even though we stayed home, just because her class did!)

Gillian's Sick Day Parrot!


And Colin's cow! With mustache. And shoes.


By Thursday Colin was feeling better so he went back to school. Gillian still hadn't kicked her low-grade fever, so she stuck with me. Poor kiddo; I had so many errands to run pre-party that she had to go to three stores and work the book fair with me! Thankfully she was a good helper.

She didn't really kick this until Saturday morning. But she managed to party hearty anyway.

Oh, mid-week bird nesting. Always help defeat germs, right?

This is What Fall is For

This is so many pictures....but we had SO much fun!

Fun on Grammy's Birthday!

One of our last adventures with our friend Parker was a fun Sunday birthday party with Grammy! Initially Grammy had requested a Leaf Picnic birthday party. Sadly our October weather didn't cooperate. It was quite chilly and, eventually, WET on Sunday. So, Plan B was Mexican. And we threw in a Fire Station Open House for good measure!

(These are all iPhone pictures, so not spectacular)

These three certainly enjoy each other!


We had a nice lunch, topped off with fried ice cream for the adults. And churros for the little people. Parker tired to have a flipper full of guacamole even.

After lunch we decided to hit up the Open House at the Bethel fire station. Sadly it started to rain on the way there, so it was kind of miserable. We tried to make the best of it. Colin really seemed to enjoy it anyway.


I think Grammy enjoyed her birthday. I know we did!

Parker Penguin Comes Homes

Last week we had a super special guest staying with us!!! Gillian had the privilege of bringing home her classroom's mascot, Parker Penguin, for a week of adventures! Gillian was beyond excited to bring Parker home with her. Her grin was ear to ear last Tuesday when she got him!

Mr. Parker came with a journal with a bit of his backstory in it, written by Mrs. Koehler, G's teacher. Turns out Parker was "born" in 1996 and has visited 195 families through the years. He's had quite a few adventures in his time. So, absolutely NO PRESSURE to keep the penguin whole and clean and not lost, RIGHT?

We had some fun times with Parker though. Gillian first introduced him to our own penguins, Dewey and Della (of beach boardwalk fame). She also make him a bed on the floor of her bedroom with his own pillow and blanket. And she made sure she fed him a bowl of fish at most meals. We took him quite a few places during the week, the Farmer's Market, See Saw Center, back yard play time, and two birthday parties! Oh, and dance class too!

Some photo evidence!




And on our way to our friend Vinny's birthday party!



Colin enjoyed Parker too. And Gillian was pretty good about sharing him a little.


As our week with Parker drew to a close, Gillian started getting kind of antsy about returning him. She just did NOT want to share him. She kept telling me that Parker didn't want the other kids and he wanted to stay with her. On Tuesday, when we had to return him, she tried to convince me that we should "forget him at home" so he could just stay with us. Oh, that GIRL! We DID return Parker and once all the other kids get a turn, we will get another week with Parker later in the school year.

Can't wait!