Tracen turns 7!

There is nothing more exciting than getting another year older!  May 5 our sweet Tracen Jay turned 7!  Wahoo!  He is getting so big!  He still loves basketball and his jerseys.  Him and Logan are the best of friends (most of the time).  Tracen loves to race, play dogs, play Skylander guys, swim & go to Hershey Park!  

To Celebrate Tracen's birthday, Saturday the 4th, we headed out to none-else than Chuck-E-Cheese!  The boys were in hog-heaven.  They have a roller coaster simulator ride with 6 different roller coasters.  For just 1 token, both boys could "ride" for this price so needless to say they rode all 6.  It was a favorite for the day.  After we went to Paramount Sports, a indoor playground, gymnastics arena and played with our PIM friends.  So much fun!

So here is the dude!  Big 7 year old!  Spoiled rotten by family and friends.  This kid raked in the moola and bought a DSi and a game and a few other random toys!  We are now proud DS owners.  I am proud of the boys because they waited and bought them with their own money.  Hopefully  they will learn to take care ofthem better because of it.  So far so good!

Sunday night, Tracen's actual birthday, we had some friends over for a Mexican Feast and ice cream & cake.  Tracen wanted a chocolate-chocolate Crusher cake...so here is what I came up with.

More presents from friends & Mom & Dad!

Nothing but pure joy with this guy!  Thank you everyone for your gifts!  Tracen loves them!!!

Happy 7th Birthday Buddy!

Our Nation's Capital

For part of Chris' vacation in April, we packed up the car and headed to our Nation's capital for a couple of days. (April 23 - 25) We got there Tuesday afternoon and went home Thursday evening. It was a short trip but so fun! We will definitely be going back in the future!

In Tracen's Kindergarten class they had been learning about a few of our more famous presidents, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln & Thomas Jefferson.  He had also learned all about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington so it was pretty cool to be in these places and to see some of these historical sites.

We became experts of the Metro system, which was also fun for the boys.  We explored the Mall, Took a day to play at the Zoo, ate some Cafe Rio (yum!) and went to the Museum  of Natural History and the National Air & Space Museum.  There was so much to see that we didn't get to see it all, but we will be doing another trip before we leave Pennsylvania.  It is such a cool city!

The Washington Monument.  It is still under construction.  Two years ago, there was an Earthquake in Virginia which caused some damage so for safety reasons they have been making some improvements.

 

World War II Memorial.  We found the states the boys have lived in!

Lincoln Memorial and Reflection pool.  

While we were there, we read the book Who Broke Lincoln's Thumb (one of the capital city mysteries by Ron Roy).  It was a fun book to read.  We got to stand by the monument and the boys got to see how HUGE it is.  It was fun to talk about the story while we looked at the statue.

View of the Washington Monument & Reflection Pool from the step of the Lincoln Memorial.  Such a cool place.

On Wednesday, April 24th we spent the day at the National Zoo!  We ate lunch at Noodles & Company and had ice cream at Baskin Robins.  It was a long day but so fun!

Tracen's favorite animal is the cheetah...why do you ask?  Because it is FAST!

We arrived at the Gorillas just in time for the workers to be putting out their food and then they released them to eat.  How cool was that?  There were 5 gorillas all together, the momma, dad and 3 babies.

No trip is complete without a ride on the carousel.  Too fun!

The Magical Land of Oz

I once again got be be apart of Roadshow! This year our theme was "Out of Great Books" and we chose to go with The Wizard of Oz. We wrote out script based off the comedy of Angela Johnson. It was pretty fun. As will all Roadshows there was a lot of work, a lot of stress, a lot of craziness, a lot of sleepiness but in the end A LOT of FUN! I loved it! I wish I had done Roadshows as a youth.

Anyhow, here it is: It's about 10 minutes long. The kids did great!

There was a minor malfunction with the opening song:  (I'm pretty proud of it...so here are the lyrics. to the tune of "Arabian Nights.")

Oh I tell of a land, of a magical place
Somewhere over the rainbow.
Where happy, blue birds fly
Way up high in the sky
It's enchanted; this munchkin home.
The wicked witch of the West and Galinda never rest
From their feud of Popular cause
So just relax, lend an ear
Listen close, you will hear
My story of Magical Oz

For anyone who doesn't know, Roadshow here is done as a 24 hour marathon. While we get the theme early and can work on the script/idea for the show, you can not begin production until Friday night and you perform the following Saturday night. This includes all costumes, set, lines...etc. It is a huge production squeezed into a tiny amount of time!

Logan Turns 5!

Happy Birthday Logan! Can you believe it? Our little bear is 5! He had an awesome day! It started out with school and I brought in cupcakes. He wanted sprinkle (funfetti....must get that from G-ma Debbie) cupcakes with blue cotton candy frosting! It was a hit!

Here is his little class.  There are normally 12 kids...6 girls and 6 boys.  Logan has loved it this year!  After the party I tried to get him to take a picture with his birthday certificate, but can you believe it?  He is so stinkin' shy at school.  I keep telling his teachers that he isn't like this at all at home, but at school there is rarely a smile or a story.  Nothing like his older brother...that's for sure!

I finally got a smile out of him by having him say "Skylanders."  We are currently OBSESSED with Skylanders.  It is the perfect combination of two of Logan's favorite things:  Guys and Video Games!

After school we headed to McDonald's for a super healthy lunch :)  It was Logan's day so he got to choose everything we ate.  After lunch, Daddy woke up and we opened presents that were sent from family.  His little buddy Benjamin stopped by and gave him a present...

Best buddies...Logan & Ben.  They are going to be TROUBLE next year in Kindergarten together!  Their birthdays are only 6 days apart...how perfect is that!?!

The big birthday boy getting ready to open his presents and cards....

Ready...get set...GO!

This kid got more money than he could have ever imagined!  And by the end he was getting a little silly with delight at all his cash!

Goofy Tracen...just for good measure :)

To continue our healthy eating, Logan chose to go to Chuck-E-Cheese for dinner.  The boys were in heaven playing all the games!  It was so much fun I think Tracen is choosing to go there next month...yikes!

After Chuck-E-Cheese We came home for more presents and cake.  Our friends the Hipples joined us...it was small and simple, but very fun!

The decorations

Logan's girlyfriend and Tracen

Overall it was an awesome day!  I still can't believe that my baby is 5!  Where has the time gone.  Next year both my boys will be at school....freedom!...just kidding!  Thanks to everyone who sent something for the little dude!  He is working on his thank you cards!  We are so thankful to have so much family and friends to make our kids feel special!