Andrew's 5th Birthday

Somehow I was okay with Leah turning 6. I was okay with Abigail turning 2. But for some reason Andrew turning 5 came as a surprise. I can hardly believe I now have two school-age children. I feel like he's still my baby.

After spending the day at the Adventure Park Friday, we took it easy on Saturday. We had our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast.

We had cake and presents after dinner. He requested chicken nuggets for his birthday dinner. We actually had them for lunch and had spaghetti for dinner, but at least he still got what he wanted. We tried to keep the cake and the (minimal) decorations as a surprise and I think he really liked the anticipation.

He got quite a few presents from Grandma & Grandpa. He makes genuinely excited faces at every present he opens. This was a new train for his wooden track.

Grandma & Grandpa sent everyone a pair of sunglasses. Little sister loves sunglasses.

Andrew hadn't really told us anything specific that he really wanted, although we know what types of things he likes. Brett wanted him to have this really cool foam dart gun. He didn't seem like he cared about it much at first but after a few rounds of shooting it, it was his favorite gift. He asked to play with it the second he woke up the next morning. Brett is teaching him to handle it like a real gun so he develops a respect for them and knows how to be safe.

He also got another of his beloved Paw Patrol pups. And Grandma & Grandpa sent a set of small plastic pirates with a pirate ship which now line his bedroom floor.

He loves being the center of attention for the Happy Birthday song. I thought my last-minute homemade cake turned out pretty good. He didn't really tell me what he wanted on it, other than cars. He's not really that into the movie Cars, but he happened to have a Lightning McQueen toy, so I used that as the inspiration and decorated the bottom like a race track. Inside was a camoflauge-color (vanilla) cake we found at the grocery store.

Five years old!

Now it's time to shoot that gun. He has pretty good form.

Brett said we have to start them young here in Vermont. This was really the only time Abi showed any interest in shooting it.

It wasn't a big, elaborate party, but our five-year-old really enjoyed himself and got everything he wanted in a birthday!

Bromley Adventure Park

In celebration of Andrew turning 5, we decided to take a family trip in lieu of a party. Someone had given us 4 family tickets to Bromley Adventure Park that expire at the end of the summer, so we thought we'd take advantage. It is really a ski resort that is about an hour and a half away, and over the summer they turn it into basically a giant permanent carnival with several different rides. (There is no way we would have been able to afford it if we hadn't been given the tickets, so we are so grateful we got a chance to try it out basically free, with the exception of a few tickets for Abigail.) There is definitely more for older kids, but there was also quite a few things our kids enjoyed and they are already asking to go back.

First they hit up the bumper boats. 

Of course Andrew and Leah both loved the bounce house. They somehow ended up going in two different times and getting the place all to themselves. 

The "ride operators" were really fun guys who actually played with the kids while they were on both the bounce house and the bumper boats. They threw balls to them while on the bumper boats, shook the sides of the bounce house, and then they even let Brett get on with them (even though it was meant for kids under 48" tall!). 

We made the right choice in not spending the money to get Abigail an all-day wrist band. She seemed a little interested in getting on some of the things, but when it came down to actually doing it, she would chicken out. So while the others were bouncing & bumping on the boats, she colored a picture. And she didn't act like she felt left out at all.

The highlight for everyone was the giant slide, which is about 2/3rds of a mile long and starts out with a 5-10 minute ride on a chair lift. The kids had to go with an adult, so it proved a little difficult with an odd number of kids. We had to take them one at a time, and it was at least a 20-25 minute ride. Brett and Andrew went first. He managed to take some pictures while they were on the lift-- I wasn't brave enough to risk dropping my phone!

You take a little car down the slide that you control with a pole. You can make it go faster or slower on your own (so long as you don't get stuck behind someone really slow like I did one time).

Then, after making Leah wait for them the whole time, he took her. (She wasn't too patient during the long wait but we didn't realize how long it would take the first time and I wanted to see them at the end. The second time they all went, we let them do other activities during the wait, because everything is close together.)

Here's what it looks like from the chair lift. There are 3 different slides, but we could only go on one (the slowest track) as a double rider.

Then I went with Abigail. I wasn't sure what she'd think but she really did enjoy herself. She sat perfectly quiet and still the whole time on the chair lift (and I had a death grip on her), till near the end when she started pretending to grab the empty chairs as they passed (so I knew she was having fun). Then she was silent on the slide too, but it went slow enough that she was able to tell me she was having fun.

After our picnic lunch, they wanted to try the trampolines. They love jumping on the trampoline, but being hooked into a harness was a whole different experience. They had to figure out how to get good height, but they ended up really getting up there.

Abigail really really wanted to try it, even taking her shoes off before we even had any tickets for her to get on. She didn't mind putting on the harness. She was fine climbing up there and getting hooked in. She even stood there a minute or two, but after that she wanted off. I think she thought she would just be able to jump freely like she usually does on the trampoline, but once she had to be hooked in, she wasn't so sure.

We even got to play some mini golf. By mid-afternoon, we were a little too hot and tired to play a full game, but we hit the ball around a little while. Daddy had to teach Leah and Andrew a little at first, but Leah got pretty good by the end. Abi got bored after only two or three holes and instead decided to play around with rocks or run around on the grass. Or just put her ball in the hole.

After doing everything once, we did it all again. And there was very little whining. And a lot of fun. We really just enjoyed being together. Everyone wants to go back again (although we may wait till they get older and can do more things on their own). We had dinner out on the way home and stopped by Walmart to secretly pick out Andrew's birthday gifts. It ended up being 8:30 before we got home-- a full day of fun!