Carter's 4th Birthday Party

We had Carter's birthday party on Sunday at Glow Galaxy.

We've had a handful of parties at our house, and while they can be a little cheaper, it is so nice not having to clean the house and decorate.  I always try to do a theme and all the little details take a lot of time.  I like doing it (mostly) but sometimes it really is nice to have a party somewhere else and also get to just enjoy the party with the kids!

Carter still loves Spiderman so we went with that theme for the cupcakes and goodie bags (the only things we had to worry about for the party).

I forgot to take a picture of the goodie bags but they were white bags with a tag on each with a name and picture of Spiderman.  Inside there were lots of spider things for the boys (mostly because I found a bunch of spider Halloween stuff on clearance) and the girls got plastic jewelry.  And they all got Spiderman tattoos.

When we arrived at Glow Galaxy, Carter was given a special shirt that glows in the black lights.

While we waited for some more kids to arrive, the Party Pro played games with the kids that were there (Campbell, Madeline, Carson, Carter, & Sophie).

When it was time to go in, the kids and some parents make a tunnel for Carter to walk through.  Look how happy he is!!!

All the pictures are a little rough due to how dark it is, but I still tried to capture a picture of most of the kids and the fun stuff they have at Glow Galaxy!

Mini golf is the first thing the kids see when they enter the black light area so most of them tried that out first.

There are several fun inflatables to jump on and slide down.

Sophie after going down the big slide ...

There is a light up dance floor too.  The Party Pro set up a game where the kids had to try not to let the moving white light touch them.

Carter, Will, Dowden, and Hannah ...

Hannah and Campbell ...

Chase played basketball for the longest time ...

All the kids climbed into the game so they could reach the baskets (Missy is helping Chase, Will, and Riley) ...

Carter at the top of a medium-sized slide ...

The football and soccer area is fun too!

Rylan enjoying golfing ...

Rylan and Sophie jumping ...

Carter and Sophie jumping ...

More dance floor time (Riley, Rylan, Carter, Carson, and Hannah) ...

The dance floor is Luke's favorite thing ...

Our smallest guest was Hutch (10 1/2 months) - he's just starting to walk and this is right before he took several steps to Suzy ...

The kids got to play for 1 hour and 15 minutes before going into the party room.  There are a max of two parties going on at a time but somehow we lucked out and were the only party during our slot!

Before cupcakes, we took a group photo!

Front Row: Dowden, Carter, Sophie, Will, Carson, Charlie, Luke, & Chase
Back Row: Riley, Hannah, Chase, & Madeline
Missing: Campbell & Hutch (and 2 more had to cancel last minute because they were sick)

They didn't set the tables up around the throne (which Carter had been talking about and I thought he'd be upset about but didn't even seem to notice), but Carter did get a crown to wear!

Before going into the party room, the Party Pro asked if Carter would be okay if he got squirted in the face with water with a trick lighter when lighting his candles.  I said no.

So they decided to call over "the Dad" and squirt him instead.  I really should have warned Brian but never got the chance!

Family photo with the birthday boy!

Singing "Happy Birthday" ...

The kids enjoyed their cupcakes and then we said our good-byes!

Carter w/ Madeline (one of two kids from his class that were able to come) ...

Carter had a blast and I'm really glad we ended up having the party at Glow Galaxy.

When we got home, Carter opened his presents from the party.

He was most excited to open the one from Madeline because it was wrapped in Spiderman paper!

Carter got lots of great gifts from all his friends!

Of course, his favorite though was a Lego set from Sarah Kate (whose mom dropped off her present before the party because Sarah Kate was sick and couldn't come).

Sophie's Birthday Party

Carter's friend Sophie had a "Brave" party tonight for her 4th birthday.  Her mom is a part-time photographer and made super cute invitations!

Sophie dressed as Merida and had a Merida cake.

I didn't take many pictures at the party but the kids all had a lot of fun running around and playing inside and out (it got up to 70F today!).

All the kids that attended the party got a bear paw cookie and a bow and arrow set.  It took us a little bit to teach Carter to use it (and a little bit of modifying the arrows so they's stay on the string) but Carter seems to have it now!

Well, sort of :)

Lego Master

The boys still play with their Duplo Legos almost everyday.  But we also have a few sets of the smaller Legos.  We try not to get them out too often yet because we lose a piece or two almost everytime we build them.  The boys don't get that they can't play with them rough like other toys or that they can't just destroy them and leave the pieces scattered all over the house.

Last night Carter found this Creator 3-in-1 set and decided he wanted to build the airplane.

And he did.  95% on his own.  I only helped him a few times when he put a piece slightly off or tried to skip a step.

Carter had amazing patience.  He would look in the corner of each page and figure out what pieces he needed first.  Then he'd look at the drawing and immediately knew where to put the new pieces.  I was EXTREMELY impressed!

Carter was so proud when he finished!

He has since built the helicopter and boat too!

While Carter was building, Rylan was watching a cartoon dressed like this.  Hhhmmmmm.

Batman

I really don't know how the kids know of Batman and Spiderman, but they do.  And they love them.

I got that cheap fake Batman costume at Target on Wednesday and there was a lot of fighting over it by the end of the day.  I had also gotten fake Green Lantern and Flash costumes (which were the exact same except green and red instead of black), but the boys could care less about them.  So on Thursday when I was unable to come home all day because they were paving our street (I was planning on sleeping for a few hours to finally kick this cold), I stopped by Target and they thankfully had another fake Batman.

So on Friday both boys had to be Batman ALL DAY LONG.  I finally got the costumes off of them when it was time for their bath.

We had a playdate with Missy and Suzy and their kids at Crockett Park on Friday.  We got there a little early and Claire (who was in Carter's class last year) was there with her mom and little sister.

Rylan showing off his Batman muscles :)

Carter and Will said they needed a nap!

Today there was no mention of Batman.  It's funny how obsessed the boys will be about something but how short that obsession usually lasts!

Thanksgiving Program Preview

The preschool classes at the boys' school do a Thanksgiving performance next week.  Last week Carter brought home a CD with 5 songs on it for him to practice for the performance.  We try to listen to it at least once everyday in the car.  This morning Carter "performed" one of the songs for me without any music.  I can't wait to see the real performance next week!!!

Paving, Costumes, & Movie Quotes

Now that the damaged curbs in our neighbor have been replaced, road repair has begun.  New sod was put down on Monday too.  It doesn't look great, but at lease it's something we can work with.  Today they tore up damaged sections of pavement and repaved those areas.  There was a large section right in front of our house that the boys and I got to watch get paved this afternoon.

A lot of the equipment is parked tonight near our house.  I'm not sure if they are doing the final overall paving tomorrow or not but we're hoping not to get stuck in our driveway tomorrow when it's time to go to work and school!  I'm also hoping the trash truck can make it to our house.  Our garage can is completely full and we definitely can't make it another week!

While Carter was at school today, Rylan and I stopped by Target.  They had just marked all their Halloween stuff to 90% off so I picked up a handful of costumes for the boys to use for dressup.  Most of the costumes I got cost $1 with one being $3.  The boys had a blast this afternoon changing characters every few minutes (which wasn't as much fun for me since they need help).

Dark Avenger (otherwise known as the unlicensed Batman) ...

Buzz Lightyear ...

Skeleton (the x-ray version) ...

Two Buzz Lightyears!  I couldn't believe they still had these!

There are more but I got tired of taking pictures :)

I'm still not feeling great so before I had the energy to get out the costumes this afternoon, we watched Madagascar 3.  While it was loading I asked Carter to tell me the 2 lines from the movie he's been saying constantly since seeing the movie a couple of weeks ago.

In case you are wondering what he's saying, here it is (these aren't 100% right):

"Afro circus, afro circus, polka dot, polka dot, polka dot."

and

"My tummy is speaking to me [insert throwing up sound]."

2012 Election

Woohoo!!!  Go, Obama!!! I didn't expect the news stations to be calling the election so early, but I'll take it.  We can go to bed now since I'll probably have to get up at 4:30 am again with our unadjusted-to-the-time-change-early-risers!

And the Senate is looking good too!

I feel like we can breathe a sigh of relief.