Happy 6th Birthday Nate!

We had a wonderful week celebrating Nate's birthday.  We kicked things off with a water slide/Ninjago party.  I found several free Ninjago printables at Craft, Interrupted. 

We did not plan to rent the mammoth water slide you see below.  Our plan A water slide fell through at the last minute.  Nate's party was on his birthday, Wednesday, July 10th, and I was trying to find a water slide on Monday!  It was just a tiny bit stressful. :)

It was actually a blessing in disguise.  I thought we would have between 10 and 15 kids, but we ended up having 25.  This slide was much better for that many kids. 

We love this boy so much!  He is smart, funny, kind, considerate, compassionate, feisty, and just. plain. awesome.

It was such a blessing to have so many friends and family join us to celebrate Nate's special day.

I love this picture.  The kids were singing to Nate and he was truly enjoying the moment.  He had been looking forward to this party for weeks. 

Nate wanted to have a girls against boys water balloon fight. 

I think the boys enjoyed it a little more than the girls. :)

The party was so much fun.  The kids also played "Pin the Beard on Sensei Wu" and broke a pinata.  We had to rush those activities because of a thunderstorm so I didn't get any pictures.  

The celebration continued Thursday night at Tae Kwon Do.  They celebrate with a "belt line."  All of the kids take off their belts and form two lines.  The birthday boy (or girl) runs down the line while the other kids give them a (gentle) pop on the behind.  This was something Nate had also been looking forward to for weeks. 

Nate wanted Darren to be part of the line.

The celebration also included board breaking.

Finally, we celebrated with our immediate family Monday night.  We have been doing this since Nate's third birthday.  We get together, enjoy some yummy food, and watch a slide show of pictures of Nate from the year.  Nate calls the slide show the "Nate movie" and gets so excited about it.  When he watched it the first time, he was literally jumping with excitement. 

Nate requested brownies for this celebration.

I wanted to get pictures of Nate with the grandparents too...then I got distracted and that never happened. 

This year Nate's birthday requests were star wars legos, star wars action figures and "a book or two." This light saber was, by far, Nate's favorite birthday gift.  Thank you Aunt Lynn and Uncle Gavan!

May the Force be with you. ;)

June

June has been a fun and busy month.  We have been working on our summer bucket list. 

We had a photo shoot early in June with a friend from church. 



Darren and I tried paddle boarding for the first time.  It was much easier than I expected and so much fun. 

We had a great time with friends from church at Point Mallard water park.  This was Nate's first water park experience and he loved it. 

We spent a long weekend at Wind Creek.  We had a great camp site and the weather was very pleasant.  We had a great time swimming, relaxing and enjoying being outdoors.  One of my favorite memories of the weekend was eating watermelon and spitting seeds.  I'm pretty sure Nate enjoyed it too.

We got to enjoy the super moon.

We spent a lot of time in the water.  Our final day in the water we saw a snake!  I have been camping for years and this was my first time to ever see a snake in the water.  I am thankful we saw it on our last day. 

Nate lost his third tooth. 

My final high point of the month is Nate learning to ride his bike.  We do not have a great place to ride at our house (no paved drive) and live on an extremely busy highway so learning to ride hasn't been at the top of our priority list. 

Beach Trip

We left for the beach on Memorial Day and came home on Saturday.  The first two days the water was clear and calm with small waves. 

Nate loved riding waves on his boogie board.

We had dinner out at Pampanos.  It's probably not the best food in the area, but I love sitting on the porch, feeling the breeze, and looking out at the ocean.  I must say that my fried seafood platter  was awesome, even better than some of the "better" restaurants we've been to in the area.

Nate wanted his picture made with the Bass Pro shark to send to Nan and Pops.  They usually go with us but not this trip. We sent them lots of pictures and videos over the course of the week.

This is his "the shark is about to eat me" face.

Kodak Moment # 1:  Darren and Nate got to the beach before me.  When I walked up behind them, this is what I saw.  I had to get a picture.  I know this growing boy will not want to hold our hand much longer.

Kodak Moment #2:  I stepped out of the camper to see Nate reclined and "reading" his NinjaGo library book.  Thanks to that book, NinjaGo is his new favorite.

There was a really cool sand sculpture where you entered the camp ground.

We had long bike rides everyday.  Learning to swim and learning to ride without training wheels is on Nate's summer to do list. We can check swimming off the list, but still have some work to do on bike riding.

The last three days, the red flag was out for big waves and rip currents.  We had to find entertainment on the beach.

A Little Boy's Dream

Darren's sister and brother-in-law are building a house next door.  Nate has had the best time playing in the dirt.

Deja Vu

Nate graduated from preschool, again. :)  If you remember, we decided to do one more year of preschool since he has a summer birthday.  It was the perfect decision for our family and for Nate. 

This face cracks. me. up.  He knew I was taking his picture and he kept making this face.  His teacher gave him the lizard he's holding.

All of the children, ages 2-5, participate in the musical part of the program.  There are many, many more children than shown in this picture. 

Then the older kids change into their caps and gowns for graduation.

There's that sweet smile.