and out last birthday kid of the week - mason! his actual birthday is going to be a bit of whirlwind and the first one where i don't get to spend the whole day with him.
we had to wake him up and rush everyone out the door so that we could have his birthday breakfast of choice (dunkin' donuts, specifically their hash browns. if you haven't tried them, you are totally missing out.) and still get to church in time to do all of our setting up tasks.
snapped this cutie while waiting for his hash browns.
breakfast of the birthday boy enjoyed at church.
since the dessert destination of choice is right next to church, we had a pre-lunch frozen treat to celebrate mason. the birthday boy even asked to share a table for two with me.
he let dad pull up a chair to be our third wheel.
and now for most of our kids' dream lunch - mcdonalds! we picked the only one in the area with a playplace so that he could have a little fun before we spent a few hours in the car for his main event... love.
manning turned four today! he has been very excited for his birthday to come. unfortunately, we had the early baseball games this morning and had to have birthday breakfast at the field. but who would mind with donuts like these? manning requested "peace, love and little donuts" and watermelon for his birthday breakfast. the funny part was that the customers in front of us were picking up birthday donuts and the lady behind the counter was also celebrating her birthday! it was the birthday destination this morning.
we all enjoyed the birthday breakfast picnic.
once we were done with our final saturday baseball games of the season, we went home to have manning's lunch of choice - kraft mac and cheese with steamed broccoli.
look at this big kid!
with manning's blessing, maddux and i were excused from our own celebration to go to one of his classmate's birthday party. it was an awesome old school backyard party. maddux and his friends had a great time and the other moms (and grandmas) and i were marveling at how well behaved they were.
maddux ended up winning the pin the tail on the donkey game! it worked out great because he was given a super hero kickball as the prize and took the sting out of all the gifts at home.
look at these well-behaved boys taking turns at the piñata.
maddux and i went home to pick up the rest of the crew so we could go to toys 'r' us for their birthday celebration. the birthday kids were all sent coupons for their 'gift' and an invitation to the party. this year they released a book about geffory the giraffe. the kids were each given a copy and got to listen to it read.
they were also each given a stuffed geffory toy (maddux got one for his birthday in november).
we let them wander around for a while browsing the toys (and growing their 'want list') before going to manning's restaurant of choice for an early dinner. we were all happy about his choice. he also chose for us to sit at the bar (he didn't sit alone, the rest of the kids were in the bathroom).
and then we went home for opening presents over skype with the grandparents.
remember this book from the felt board set? very exciting!
once we were done with the grandparents, it was time for cake and ice cream! manning chose a minion cake.
now bring on the rest of the presents!
i remembered to get a picture with the birthday boy this year.
then we went out to give him his present from dad and mom...
this was the #1 thing he mentioned every time he was asked about what he wanted for his birthday, a "yellow pedal bike." and he took to it quicker than any of the other kids which was actually a little scarier because i couldn't keep up and he didn't know how to fall yet. this was on his third attempt:
manning was very happy with his special day. love.
some friends were launching a food truck business and hosted a "food truck rally" at their party center to kick things off. to say it was a success would be an understatement! we got there about an hour after it started and one of the nine trucks had already sold out. we waited in line for close to two hours at our friends' truck. it was a little cold, but the live music was fun and it made for a pleasant evening outside. and the food was yummy! love.
we surprised the kids with a sundae dinner to celebrate the last day of school. and they were very surprised! we had vanilla and chocolate ice-cream and every toping we had in the house out for them to help themselves. they thought that we were joking. much to their delight, we weren't. with a large mouthful of ice-cream, mason said, "this is the best dinner ever!" love.
