Memorial Day weekend

As I start this post it is 9:00 p.m. My children were put to bed at 7:45 and 8:00. Approximately two minutes ago I heard peals of laughter coming out of their partially cracked (Little Man will not let us close it all the way) door. They have been doing this lately. Keeping each other up late. It can't decide if it is annoying (awake children means there are still plenty of calls for mom and Little Man comes out repeatedly) or endearing. There is something so sweet about listening to them interact and they do love each other so much. And they get along so well when one of them is confined behind the bars of a crib and they can't touch each other or any of the same toys.

Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for us with a friend's birthday party, a wedding reception, Little Man's birthday, and my triathlon.

We started the weekend by attending our good friend's little girls one year old birthday party Friday night. The kids had a blast running around outside in the yard, but we had to reign in some of their normal enthusiasm for dirt and such because they were wearing nice clothes for the wedding reception we attended later that evening. Mike's cousin married a girl from our old ward who is a member of one of my all time favorite babysitting families. It was a beautiful reception and the kids were wonderful. Little Man absolutely loved it. And why wouldn't he? There were desserts to be had, candy scattered on the tables (with nobody really monitoring his intake very well) and dancing. You should have seen this kid dance! He waited patiently through the first dance, the bride and father's dance, and the anniversary dance until at last the dance floor was open. Once he was let loose there was no reigning him in. There were times throughout the evening where there wasn't a lot of people on the dance floor. So while he bounced, shimmied, spun himself on the floor, waved his hands in the air, and at times just jumped up and down I kind of moved it side to side and tried to keep up (okay I didn't really try at all to keep up, but I did try to keep moving. My enthusiasm for dance which is present at home is curbed a little when I am surrounded by tables full of people.) Mike and Kiwi joined us for a while, but Kiwi didn't want anything to do with the dance floor. She was tired and also enjoyed the free candy on the tables. Eventually I went to sit down and Grandma and Grandpa took a turn with him, but he did not stop until we left at the very end. I wish I would have had my video camera. I wish I could bottle up this confidence in himself and give it to him when he's fourteen. It was really fun to watch him. On the way home he said, "I'm just going to take a little nap" and by the time I turned my head to look at him he was asleep in the car seat.

Saturday we had a little party for Little Man. We had given him the choice between inviting more friends to our houses or just doing a little thing at Chuck E Cheese (he had never been and had been asking about going). He said, "I've always wanted to go to that place!" and immediately choose Chuck E Cheese. Saturday morning found us piling in the van to go visit the Big Rat. We didn't pay the extra money to see Chuck E himself, but that was okay with me (I find him a little creepy). It actually wasn't that crowded at the kids had a great time.

The Birthday Boy had an absolute blast. Afterwards when asked what his favorite part was he said, "The rides!"

Here's Kiwi with Cousin E. She actually didn't need any tokens. She thought it was great to climb into every thing, but kind of freaked out when they started moving. This left more tokens for Birthday Boy and Mike.

I think Mike might have had as much fun as Little Man. He is a big kid at heart when it comes to video games.

Cupcakes with Lego candies on top. I thought I'd have to go on a search for Lego candy, but the store just down the road from us had some so I was pretty excited.

I think they were a hit. We had a lot of fun and were glad to be able to celebrate with some close friends and cousins.

Sunday was Little Man's actual fourth birthday.

Earlier in he week I had told him we would make him anything he wanted for breakfast. After thinking about it he decided he wanted eggs, orange juice, and he wanted to pick a special cereal. At first he said Mini Wheats and then Saturday he started asking for "Tigger cereal." We had no idea what "Tigger cereal" was, but he insisted he had seen it at the grocery store. Since it was his birthday and since we were going to the store anyways, we went and this is what he picked out. Unfortunately he "wasn't a big fan" (his latest expression) of it, so he didn't even finish his bowl, but the eggs and juice were a hit.

Sunday afternoon we had grandparents and aunts and uncles over for cake and ice cream. Little Man had wanted a lego party so I attempted to make lego building blocks. I won't be publishing in Martha Stewart anytime soon, but I was happy with them and Little Man thought they were great.

All day he insisted that he would not be four until everyone sang to him before his cake. In his mind that was the moment he transitioned from three to four. This is what he looked like when we were singing to him. He just kept looking around with this goofy grin on. He was loving it.

Little Man was so excited to have all his family over. He instructed everyone to sit in a circle and that birthday boys sat on the ground. He also insisted on personally serving everyone their cake. He got so excited about every present saying repeatedly, "I always wanted one of these!"

His last present was his old helmet wrapped up. He thought that was hilarious. We told him to go look on the porch where a brand new two wheeler was waiting (well brand new to him, we scored it at a garage sale...thanks again Angie!)

The bike came complete with custom license plate courtesy of Grandpa R.

Little Man was off right away, but needed a little work on using the brakes (or stops as he called them)

Here's Grandpa D running to keep up with Little Man and making sure he didn't collide into any people or cars.

It was a really enjoyable afternoon. Everyone just sat out on the grass while Little Man (and a grandpa or parent) practiced his skills on his new ride and hit baseballs with his uncles and Kiwi got rolled repeatedly down the hill by my brothers and then walked drunkenly up it asking to do it again. A good time was had by all.

It is now 10:05 and my children are sleeping soundly. I think it's about time to join them. I'll have to post the triathlon stuff tomorrow.