Raiders of the Lost Park

This good-looking fellow just turned nine years-old.  If you think he looks charming in his pictures, you should see him in action.  Spencer is outgoing, cheerful, and highly charismatic. These qualities naturally draw others to him, and he is happy to assume a role of leadership among his peers.  He has demonstrated an increased measure of maturity at home as well.  Now, don't get me wrong.  He can still be quite spastic and silly at times.  I do not think he will ever outgrow his tendency to be an attention commanding personality, but he has developed an increased responsible and thoughtful nature, too.  He's bright and talented, with a wide range of interests in academics, sports, and the arts.  While he has gotten much better about finishing books that he has started reading, creative writing still remains to be one of his greatest strengths. He is quite the storyteller and writes with fantastic expression.

I could go on and on (it's easy to get carried away when you're a mother), and it would be extremely difficult to pinpoint just what I love most about Spencer.  I can say I really enjoy that he still consistently requests that I sing him a song every night at bedtime.  For all his growing and maturing, that is the thing he does that reminds me that he truly is, and always will be, my little boy.  Watching his year-in-review birthday video, however, reminds me how quickly that "little boy" is growing up.  See what I mean:

An Indiana Jones Water Party

I decided to allow the boys to do friend birthday parties this year, and Spencer requested an Indiana Jones themed water party.  I had found some great ideas via Pinterest and especially loved the invitations described on this post.  I ordered the suggested book from Amazon, but while awaiting the  delivery, I made some "save the date" movie posters (thanks to the magic of Photoshop) to give to each of the party guests.  The posters were really fun, and could have stood alone, but I was absolutely giddy at how cool the lost journal invitations turned out.

Party favors consisted of a hat for each child and a felt satchel. I found the hats at Deseret Book.  I admit I felt a little obnoxious wiping out the store's complete inventory of pioneer trek hats, but at $4.95 a piece, I couldn't pass them up.  The satchels were made of felt and I sewed them the night before the party using the pattern idea I found on this website.  Inside the satchel, there was a prescription bottle filled with M&Ms and labeled as a poison antidote, to be consumed after one of the party games.

Once the guests arrived, Spencer opened his gifts before we played water games.  I love how excited he was about receiving this box of Reese's Pieces candies.

We headed outside to play a number of games that included water balloon grenades and water blow darts (wet Q-tips shot through straws).  I got the ideas from this other party, including the idea for the poison antidote.  The children were then given an "archaeological challenge" to see who could find and collect the most darts and grenade "shrapnel."  Once that task was accomplished, they were allowed to slip 'n slide away from the giant boulder.

The water games were so simple, yet they turned out to be so much fun.  Even Jason got involved and quickly became the target for all the blow darts and water grenades.

When the lawn was sufficiently saturated and the grass completely matted down, we all came in for cake and ice-cream.  Spencer had an Indiana Jones birthday cake some years ago, but this time he really wanted a giant boulder for a cake.  A boulder?  Really?  That's it?  I tried to make it a little more interesting by adding a fondant figured Indiana Jones, but I laugh when I see the attempt.  It turned out looking a little less like Harrison Ford and a little more like George Lucas, in my opinion. It must be the hair.

Well, as most parties tend to do , this one turned out to be a really great time.  It was quite a treat to entertain this cute group of children for an hour and a half.

Spencer's Birthday Breakfast at Home

Spencer's party was nearly a week before his actual birthday, and we were going to be at a family reunion on that day, too, so we let him have his breakfast of choice on the morning before we left for our trip.  He wanted french toast on homemade bread.  He got it.  After he ate, we let him open his gifts from our family.

 Spencer's Birthday Breakfast at Red Cedar Lodge

On Spencer's birthday, we were in southern Utah staying in a cabin with extended family.  My brother Lance made a Mickey Mouse shaped pancake just for Spencer for his breakfast.  Wasn't that so sweet!  Unfortunately, Spencer became sick and had some awful-looking sores quickly develop on his legs, accompanied by a spotty rash that had cropped up all over.  He was running a fever as well, so Jason and I decided to "medically evacuate" him in attempts to make the three and a half-hour drive back to Springville to catch our pediatrician before the clinic closed for the weekend.  It turned out he had impetigo and hand, foot, and mouth disease.  What a wonderful birthday surprise (drip sarcasm)!

 Spencer's Birthday Dinner

When the illness was finally "at bay" we took Spencer out to his favorite restaurant for his annual birthday dinner.  He chose Pizza Pie Cafe.  I think that is three years running, now.  That Oreo pizza must be something!

Happy 9th Birthday, Spencer!

This post authored by Amber

Shiver Me Timbers! Garrett is Five!

This is my third son, Garrett.  He is one of those people who does not require any introduction, however.  His dynamic personality has allowed him to develop quite a reputation 'round these parts.  People know him to be spunky, animated, energetic, and feisty.  I get to witness first-hand his intrepid, fearless nature as I try to keep him relatively "reigned in," a task that requires unusual amounts of energy on my part.  His conquests are not for the faint-of-heart-mother.  I have watched him scale perilous heights, jump over treacherous terrains, and forge on into the unknown without a thought of looking back.  He wants to explore the world, and he does it in his own high-spirited and self-determined way.  Garrett lives life on his own terms--he lives it.  I'm telling you, this kid lives life.   And we...well...we love it.  We love his passion, we love his exuberance, and we love his big, giant heart.  And let's face it. This kid is a total crack-up to be around. Don't believe me?  Just watch this:

Garrett's Pirate Party

I can't tell you how thrilled I was that Garrett wanted to have a pirate theme for his friend birthday party.  I'd already done one for Brevin, and I had all of the invitation designs, the treasure hunt clues prepared, the palm tree decorations, and I even saved the sails that I used on his pirate ship cake.  Recycled parties are the best.

The invitations were such a hit the first time around, there was no need to change them. The party information was made into an authentic-looking treasure map that was printed off on postal packaging paper that had been cut to fit through the printer, the map's edges were burned, and then it was rolled and placed into an empty IBC root beer bottle for delivery.

Having a second shot at making the cake proved to make a big difference in the end result.  I was able to find a really good tutorial online with detailed step-by-step instructions and photos.  As I was baking the cakes according instructions, I realized that the cake example I was following was intended to feed a massive group of people. I decided to cut the cakes in half and saved the left-over cake in the freezer for my next child's birthday, so no harm done.  Let the party begin.

Garrett oppened gifts just after guests arrived.

A quick game of Pass the Skull was played (similar to Hot Potato).

We went outside to participate in a number of tactile activities.

The last game we played was a treasure hunt that had clues

 leading everyone to the party favors and cake and ice-cream.

This picture makes me laugh because I realize that I don't 

look like a pirate quite as much as I look like Bret Michaels.

"Drink up, me hearties!  Yo ho!"

Each of the children got a handmade pirate hat, bandana, and eye 

patch in their favor bags. One of the girls didn't want to wear hers just yet.

For our final activity, we let each child take a whack at the pinata with a 

pirate sword.  When that didn't prove too successful, we switched over to a bat.

When the last buccaneer "shipped out" at the conclusion of the party, we were left with a sight that would have made someone think they were on location in the island of Tortuga.  I think that is a sign of a really good time, don't you?

Garrett's Birthday Dinner #1

Garrett had told us he wanted to have his birthday dinner at Sonic, and he wanted to eat outside on the restaurant grounds. We were confident that his reasoning had everything to do with the one airplane toy that was out on the grass in between the tables.  Our suspicions were confirmed when playing on the toy was about all he did while we were there. I did manage to get him to sit down for a bit of eating. When I asked him how his hamburger was, He gave me a thumbs up and flashed a food-filled smile for the camera. We took him on the night of his friend party so I wouldn't have to worry over dinner that night, and his request would be acknowledged.  Jason convinced him to have a second birthday meal on a different night at a slightly nicer location, and we'd invite Grandma and Grandpa Park to come along.

Garrett's Birthday Breakfast

It just so happened that Garrett's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year, so both of us were treated to breakfast in bed.  Jason made Belgian waffles, and Ella joined in on helping me eat mine. 

After breakfast, Garrett got to open his gifts, which included books, Hershey chocolate bars, Pringles chips, a fishing pole, a golf frisbee game, and a jumbo plastic blow-up ball that three small children could fit inside.

Garrett's Birthday Dinner #2

Pizza Pie Cafe has quickly become the restaurant of choice for my children on their birthday.  I think it might have something to do with the Oreo pizza.  Garrett's birthday dinner seemed to be a perfect Monday night activity, and it was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa along for the meal as well.  It was a delicious meal and a fitting conclusion to the week-long celebration of Garrett's birth.

Happy 5th Birthday, Gare-Bear!

This post authored by Amber