Take Me Out To The Ball Game

I'm almost ashamed to say we are nearing baseball playoffs and I am just now getting to a baseball post.  In my defense, we've had several rain outs, a 10 day stint with sick kids, and let us not forgot that I have two sidekicks at every single game with me.  Snapping pictures is not always an easy feat.  Who am I kidding, actually watching the game is not an easy feat with my princesses by my side.

But, here we are, near post season, but not quite there yet, and I finally grabbed a few of my little slugger.  Isn't he handsome?

Catcher seems to be one of Jack's favorite positions.  I'm not sure exactly why.  Dressing in all that garb looks rather uncomfortable to me.  But he doesn't seem to mind a bit.  He's even made a few stops now and again.

Jack has most definitely come a long way in the batting department.  I even caught wind of a conversation in the bleachers naming him as a "power hitter".  Can't say that I didn't beam for a moment.

If catching and batting are on his favorite list, the outfield can be found on his list of "not so much".  Someone's got to do it though.  And so he does when his turn comes around.  And 90% of the time he can actually be found paying attention....kudos for that!

Jack was super excited when he got #7 this season considering he was 7 years old and all.  Here's hoping next year he can snag an 8.

And all the while his little sisters can be found somewhere around the field.  If they aren't begging for the concession stand they are usually in the bleachers scarfing down a picnic dinner in the hopes of earning a sweet treat from it.

They are quite the little troopers when it comes to baseball.  Maggie is trying to figure if it's something she "has to do when she gets older".  I assured her not.  She followed that with a giant smile and "I'll do Tap instead".  I'm guessing that might just be our next endeavor.

Until then we are going to keep cheering on the Cardinals and play hard for the playoffs.  Did I just say playoffs?  Geez, this school year and baseball season have flown by.  It's been such a FAB one though!  Almost hate to see it go...

Sick

Just in case you're wondering where I've been lately, this might explain it...

Three kids, three different ailments, and three different antibiotics....all in the past 7 days.  Someone please explain to me how that is even possible.

Get Well Soon Cibula sweeties!  This mommy can't wait.

Minecraft Mania

So as I mentioned, I have a serious problem with letting a birthday pass without a party.  But, seeing as how Jack had just returned from the birthday trip of a lifetime it only seemed reasonable to keep it low key.

When I offered this up to him, he was more than obliged.  I allowed him to invite 4 friends over for a Minecraft themed playdate. 4 turned into 5 and the playdate turned into a sleep over.

Six boys, Minecraft mania, pizza, cupcakes, and a very late night later, Clay and I are still standing.  And I have to admit, it wasn't so bad.  It was actually pretty fun.

So I am really not lying when I say I went reeaalllyy low key on this.  In fact, I'm almost embarrassed to show you how much so.  But, for nostalgia's sake, I think it only fair to add a few pictures of the decor {if that's what you want to call it}.

The boys wasted absolutely no time getting acquainted.  It was full throttle from the moment they all arrived {not that I was expecting anything less}.  I was beyond thankful that the rain held off so I could send those wild things outside.  In all honestly, Jack has some really nice friends...it was a great group of boys.

My heart nearly melted when Jack had his little sisters sit next to him during cupcakes and Happy Birthday.  They were absolutely thrilled to be a part of his birthday celebration after hearing all about Legoland for days....and days.

Grandma enjoyed having the opportunity to celebrate with Jack as well.  She hadn't seen him since he turned 8!  She also had another pre-planned agenda...grab the little sisters for a sleep over.  Clay and I were convinced the girls would be thrilled.  And then consequently we could focus on a house full of boys.

Sadly, we were very wrong.  There was no way those little sisters were going to leave this shindig.  I tried, but Maggie insisted, "the boys were funny and she wanted to stay".  And Lucy doesn't go anywhere without her big sister.

So I was left with a house full of 6 boys and 2 girls.  Thanks for trying Grandma.

From then on, just about everything went down from Minecraft to dance parties to Lego building to a movie and then finally...sleep.

And guess who found a cozy spot on the couch with her pink blanket?  And she even spent the WHOLE night there.  Gotta love a birthday brother who goes for that without a wince.

So here I am, yet again, saying Happy 8th Birthday to my favorite boy in the entire universe!  Hope it was your best yet.  Wishing you a wonderful year ahead without a lot more growing and crafting!

Jack's Birthday Vacation

Here it is April 13th, 2015 and my eldest child turned 8 years old today!  It has been so amazing to watch him grow this past year.  I've seen so many changes.  He's more mature {many more things are considered "babyish" here lately}, he's smarter {could that even be possible}, and he just gets more and more handsome with each passing year {call me biased}.

So when we started chatting up our birthday plans, which we do months in advance around here, Jack announced he wanted to take a trip as opposed to a big birthday party.  His destination of choice was Legoland in Orlando with "only" his Mommy.  I can't deny my heart skipped a beat...he truly loves me.  And I can't deny party planning nostalgia took over for a moment.  But, I was thrilled to grant his birthday wish.

So this past weekend, Legoland Florida is where you could find this birthday boy and his Mommy.  We had a "Bricktastic" trip {as they like to say down there} with what I hope are many lasting memories for him.  I know they were for me.

On Friday we flew out pretty early in the day to the Orlando Airport.  Legoland and our hotel was a good 45 minutes away so I had a nice afternoon planned for him in Orlando before we took off to Winter Haven.

We arrived in Downtown Disney for a birthday dinner at the T-Rex Diner and a coveted trip to the Lego Store.

Jack was serenaded with a Happy Birthday tune and a whopping cookie ice cream dessert.  Not a bad start to the trip.

Saturday morning we woke at our hotel which was only 2 miles from the park.  We grabbed the shuttle and were on our way.  The anticipation nearly did us in!

We arrived right at park opening and pretty much had the place to ourselves for the first hour or two.

Guest services gave Jack a Happy Birthday pin to wear.  Everywhere we went the staff was greeting him with Birthday wishes.

Jack asked me on several occasions to "take his picture" with this or that.  You know you don't have to ask me that twice!  This was one of his requests.  The Lego Movie characters...it doesn't get any better than that!

We rode every single ride he wanted to. And some more than once. The crowds were very light and we hardly had more than a 5 minute wait at each ride.  It was absolutely incredible!  That's my idea of a theme park visit.

This was Jack's favorite ride... The Flying School roller coaster in Lego City.  Add that his favorite Uncle Jon and Aunt Bailee drove 3 hours from Jacksonville just to come celebrate with him and he was a very happy birthday boy!  After Uncle Jon arrived, I quickly became plan B.  Jack wanted to ride everything with Uncle Jon.

I have to admit that "Plan B" business did come in handy on rides like this.  I'm not one who actually loves getting soaked.  The observation deck was a perfect seat for this one.

We even grabbed a show before heading off to what Jack considered the "best part" of Legoland.

The best part?  Legoland Water Park.  Again, I was beyond thrilled to have Uncle Jon with us.  I lounged with Bailee while these two got soaked, went sliding, and swam around a pool of bricks.  I had all intentions of hitting the Water Park with Jack the next day.  But, with possible bad weather in the forecast and the fact that Jon was willing and able, I happily tweaked our agenda.

Post water park, we said goodbye to our family and Jack and I finished off the rest of the park.  We saved Miniland until the end.  It was a great way to wind down and allow Jack some time to dry off.

This kiddo could have spent all day observing these amazing Lego cities.  He was in complete awe.

We wrapped up our day at park closing time.  Jack came home with a giant grin and another bag full of Legos.  The best part was listening to him on the phone with his Daddy giving him a play by play of every last detail of our day!  I wish I could have bottled up that conversation.

We had a pretty late return flight on Sunday.  With the Legoland Water Park out of the way, it freed up another entire day.  Per Aunt Bailee's recommendation we decided to give Disney Quest a whirl.  Now, I have to say this is something I wouldn't have had on my radar, but I was pleasantly surprised.

It was the perfect indoor {air conditioning!} way to spend our day before having to head out of town. It is 5 stories of interactive games.  I mean amazing things like build your own roller coaster and then test ride it.  Incredible.  And a rafting Jungle Cruise ride with real rafts and paddles.  It was pretty cool and normally this is not my thing.

Obviously, a 7 {going on 8} year old LOVED it!  And this was his Birthday Vacation after all.

We both came home with bags full of Legos and fabulous memories!  He woke up the morning after his vacation as a real live 8 year old!  Way to send 7 out and welcome 8 with a bang.

I have to admit I'm starting to dig this whole Birthday Vacation idea.  But if you know me, you know I can't let go of some sort of party.  

But, that's for next weekend...