SIX!

Caleb's 6th birthday was full of celebrations. There was the actual birthday, then a party with friends, then a dinner with family. His birthday party was at a local arcade and Caleb chose an Angry Birds Space theme. Considering the party was in the middle of the summer and on a Friday evening a lot of kids from school were able to attend. The venue makes it easy by passing out cups with tokens and bags to hold their tickets. I ordered pizza and got an ice cream birthday cake. I put together a candy bar and let the kids fill their own goody bags. It seemed like the party went by really fast. The dinner with family turned into a pool party with burgers and spaghetti for dinner (Caleb's favorites) and a bowl of ice cream instead of cake. It was a very fun filled weekend.

Love this guy!

4 year old Lucas

Lucas has been a handful/challenge since the day he was born. As a newborn he wouldn't nap unless I held him. Once he took to a binky he slept/napped well but only after he figured out how to put a binky back into his mouth when it fell out. As a toddler he had no fear and would run away from me or worse run/jump into water. He loved saying no and still does. Practicality is not his strong suit and thus can't be forced into doing anything ie. go to the bathroom before leaving the house.

One thing about Lucas that I love (and sometimes dislike) is how expressive he is. Out of nowhere he asks for hugs and says "I love you." He has a bit of a temper and can go from 0-60 in a second. When he's frustrated he'll yell. When he likes a song he'll get up and dance or sing out loud. (He'll also shut me up if I try to sing along). When he falls asleep in the car I'll ask him how his nap was and he'll grumpily state that he did NOT take a nap. He snacks all day long on applesauce, yogurt, fruit and pirates booty. But when it comes to meal times I have a hard time getting him to eat meat. Eggs and smoothies with tofu save me. He will copy what Caleb does or want the same thing. A lot of nights Lucas wants to sleep with Caleb in his bed. It's really cute. Jamie and I have talked about getting bunk beds or at the very least move Lucas out of the toddler bed.

Lately he's talking more about what he does at preschool. In the beginning he would say "I forgot" but just the other day before I even asked how his day was, he said "Tucker brought in his new puppy." He is a little guy (he can still fit some 3T pants!) with a lot of spunk and life is a lot more fun and unpredictable with him around.

I was able to get him to sit down for the birthday interview but he was pretty restless.

Here is some of the questions with my commentary.
What is your favorite song? I'm a Bell
What is your favorite book? Press Here
What is your favorite movie? I think it was the first movie that popped into his head. He can't really sit still and focus for the whole length of a movie.

Use the FOUR-ce

Lucas (and Caleb) are currently obsessed with Star Wars. Being that he turned 4 and I feel that Lucas is a force to reckon with, I dubbed it a "Use the FOUR-ce" birthday party.

I made tunics for the kids but not many ended up wearing them

We chose a local play space and got a Jedi trainer as an entertainer. The first hour was free play and snacks. I also brought in a paper craft. It was an outline of R2D2. I cut up circles and rectangles for kids to glue onto him. It wasn't a big hit but still cute. The entertainer ran a little late but was worth it. Jedi Andrew was really good. I was really impressed at how he was able to engage fifteen 3-6 year olds. They all had smiles and waited patiently for their turn at trying out their Jedi moves (it's just like the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland).

Found this on etsy and had to get it

Made a Jedi robe for my little Jedi

My happy sweet baby

Jedi Training

The awesome Jedi Trainer entertainer

R2D2 paper craft sample

Photo props of Star Wars famous lines and masks of major characters. The only one missing was Han Solo

Cousins!

Cupcakes from Studio Cake

Food table

Pinterest has tons of ideas for fun Star Wars food labels - Light Sabers, Wookie Cookies, Vader Veggies, Obi-Wan Kabobies (fruit kebabs), 7 Leia Dip, Storm Trooper Scoopers (scoop tortilla chips), Jedi Juice, Luke Skywater, and Vader Ade.

Snack time. I think most kids played with the candied pretzel light sabers than eat them

I bought bubble wands and spray painted the handle black to make them look like light sabers. They came out better looking than I thought. One person even thought I bought them that way. I also got Star Wars cups and Play Packs.

Goody cups

Family picture!

The 40 Club

And just like that I'm 40. I still feel way younger than forty sounds. I normally don't like being in the spotlight but since it was such a big milestone I wanted to do something special. I reserved a room at The Sea in Palo Alto and invited close friends and family. As a friend put it... it was like a mini wedding. I had a fantastic time celebrating with people near and dear to my heart.

Appropriate bottle to share with fellow middle sisters as we got ready for the evening. Thanks J!

"mom" friends

The best picture I have of the whole room

Parents, sisters, and bro-in-laws

cousins and high school friends

Father-in-law and his girlfriend

  

The Chais

The Arbolantes

The Millers

The MacLennans

This is 40

I had a great birthday. I slept in, got a massage, received numerous birthday wishes, did some retail therapy, and had a yummy dinner in the city with my three favorite boys. I was feeling very blessed and loved throughout the day. Looking forward to my fabulous forties!

Jamie's 40th

Back in January Jamie decided he wanted to go on a Disney Cruise. Having grown up in LA he spent many birthdays celebrating at Disney and went regularly. Either you're a Disney person or you're not and he falls in the former. His actual birthday was spent traveling together from SFO to LAX to Orlando. But the night before the boys and I gave him a birthday shirt and his presents.

I thought it would be kind of cute to get T-shirts for the boys saying "it's my dad's birthday" hoping random strangers would read it and wish Jamie a happy birthday. We were going to be at 3 different airports and so I thought my chances were good. In the end a few strangers wished Jamie a happy birthday and the flight attendant on our flight to LA even announced it at the end of the flight. I know deep down he secretly loved the attention.

We arrived in Orlando early evening and had time to walk around Universal City Walk. We decided to make it an early night since we wanted to wake up really early and take advantage of our early access to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

Caleb's BIG 5 Birthday

Caleb chose to have his party at Safari Run and so it seemed appropriate to have a BIG 5 wild animal party. This place is all the rage. Including his, this is the fourth birthday party we've been to at Safari Run. We also decided to have a special entertainer Jungle James. He brought various amphibians and reptiles. Caleb was okay with touching the smaller animals but when it got to the bigger ones he shied away. I think Lucas might've licked the python.

1st of 3 family photos of the day. It's a record!

Good friends and family

 

Snack time

Blowing out his candle

Jungle James and a scorpion

Salamander

Bearded dragon

Mexican Rosy Boa

Red-Tailed Boa

Just a bit scared to have a boa around him

More than happy to hold the big snake

Breslows and Burmese Python

Staring contest

Big Bob

Cute and yummy cupcakes made by Auntie Caitlin's Creations

Cute cookie favors made by Auntie Caitlin's Creations

Pencil case/goody bag contained a pencil, sharpener, sticker, cookie, and notepad