Other Stuff

Now that we are caught up on Avery's birthday week, here are some random photos before we jump off into Carters upcoming birthday week.

Since carter is getting bigger and bigger, we have started to do some baths with them in the same tub.  Avery loves entertaining her little brother and the entertainment keeps Carter from trying to climb the shower curtain, so win-win?  Bubble baths are especially popular as Avery loves to decorate Carter with bubble hair.

As you can see, the both have a lot of fun.

Carter loves to climb things.  Here he is tackling the stairs one evening after we left the baby gate open.  We won't make that mistake again.

 We also got a swingset in the backyard for both of the kids birthdays this past week.  So far it has been a hit.  Avery even went out there and played on it for about 30 mins all by herself as I was cooking (I can see it from the kitchen).

 Little man loves it!

Girls Afternoon

Avery's friend, Hunter invited us to see the Charlotte Ballet perform "Little Mermaid" last Sunday.  I decided to tell Avery we were going to have a surprise girls only afternoon.  I will never be able to beat the Daddy-Daughter trip to Carowinds, but I figured lunch uptown and the ballet would still be fun :)  The day before, I asked if she wanted to know the surprise and she said no, but she did know that she was going to wear a dress so I guess that was good enough.

Hunter also invited her friend Addie who is also a big mermaid fan.  Here they are posing in front of a big, shinny statue before we head inside.

Here are the signs for the main characters, aka "Ariel" and "Prince Eric"

The show was great for kids.  Two forty minute sessions with an intermission in the middle.  It was Avery's first ballet so she had to wrap her mind around no singing and no talking and that Flounder was missing because this was not exactly the Disney version.  But she clapped at the end of every scene and was worried the show was over every time it went dark for scene change.  I think she had a great time.

Mommy-Daughter Date success!

New Bike!

Avery also got a new bike for her birthday as she had outgrown her purple one.  We went to several stores to pick out just the right one and she fell in love with this one that had rocket stickers on it.  She was deadset on getting a red one just like NC State and because it was her daddy's favorite color.  We tried a couple times to change her mind, but she wasn't going to have it any other way.  She also picked out a new red helmet.

Helping Daddy getting it ready to go.

 Posing with Rocket.  She keeps asking when we are going to decorate it with some NC State stickers so it can be a NC State Rocket bike.

 Ready to ride!

Avery's Birthday Part 3

So on Avery's actual birthday she had to go to school, although she was pretty excited about sharing it with her friends and being the center of attention at school, getting to go first at everything, and being the line leader.

5 Years old!

 After school, we took Avery out for dinner.  We talked for over a week about where we should go and she finally decided to go to Flying Biscuit, because that is where we celebrated Laura's birthday.

 The family enjoying a nice dinner outside.

 Carter spent most of the time before the food came turned in his chair flirting with a girl at a neighboring table.

 Little Miss 5.

 While we didn't get any pictures of Avery opening our presents to her, here is her favorite from Uncle David that came in the mail.

Birthday Party Part 2

So after the party with the friends at the cupcake store, we headed back to the house for more cake and more presents and more fun with the family.

Avery and the awesome Minion cake that Gigi made.

Most of the presents were minion themed this year and Avery was very much spoiled by her family.

Carter had a blast helping Avery unwrap everything.

Avery's birthday usually is the first day that we can get outside and play and this year was no different.  She was given a kite and we had to take it out for a spin, which consisted of us doing sprints up and down the hill trying unsuccessfully to get it to stay in the air.

Avery in full sprint getting ready for another kite run.

Jude taking a shot at it and nearly taking my head off.

Aunt Stephanie did a great job keeping Carter from eating all the grass and mulch (even though he tried to taste everything).

Avery also got a jump rope.  This may appear to be a great action shot, but she is still learning.  It was more of a throw the rope over your head, pause, jump over, pause, and throw it over again.

Singing Happy Birthday a second time.

Avery's Birthday Party Part 1

The Saturday before Avery's birthday we had a birthday party for her friends and cousins.  We decided not to have it at our house for once and have it a local cupcake store where someone else would be responsible for cleaning up after a bunch of overly sugared 5 year olds.  Avery finally decided on a Minion themed birthday party after talking about a half dozen different themes since Christmas.

The birthday girl herself with her minion shirt, minion goggles, minion balloons, and minion plates.

 Part of the gang.

 They party was a cupcake decorating party, so Daddy got to help Avery hold the frosting bag while Avery squeezed it out on to her cupcakes.

 Mommy helping with the finishing touches.

The delicious chaos.

The finished result...delicious.

 While Carter didn't participate in the cupcake decorating, he had a great time with the balloons and being walked around the room by Gigi.

 Us with the birthday girl.  And Hunter.

 Before the kids could dive into their cupcakes, it was time to sing happy birthday to our little princess.

 Soaking it all in.

Anna tasting her work.

Some of the girls decided they should huddle up and do a group hug.

 Avery opening gifts.  She was such a sweetheart and was thanking everyone as they gave her gifts.  Abby had drawn a picture on the outside of her card and Avery said, "Abby is like an artist, she always draws beautiful pictures."

 Mimi and Papa got into the minion spirit.

Happy Birthday Avery Jean

Happy 5th Birthday to our Boogie Bear!  It is fills our heart to see the amazing person that she has grown into.  She is such a kind-hearted and amazing person.  The way she cares for her brother warms our hearts.  The way that she knows all of her friends favorite things we know she will be loved.  The way that she remembers everything about everything from every football game she has been at to the time when she was 2 and she went to see airplanes take off with daddy; we know that she will be smart and successful.  The way that she won't let us out of the door without an extra hug or an extra kiss; we know that she appreciates our love.  

Anna Kate Turns 3

Last Saturday, we headed up to Moorseville to help Anna Kate celebrate her birthday.  Sara took a lot of pictures on her blog, but this post is to confirm that yes we did attend and the kids had a blast.

We were the first of Anna's friends to arrive and the girls turned up the crazy to 100 straight away with all the balloons.

 Carter was a bit more subdued meeting friends that were more of his size.

 The whole family took a turn on the swingset, although not pictured was me running back and forth to keep them all moving.  You would think that Laura could swing by herself....

 The girls eating some kids snacks.  There were a lot of little kids at the party and one of the smaller ones grabbed a chip off of Avery's plate while they were eating as her plate only had healthy food on it.  The mom apologized and we didn't think anything of it.  At the end of eating, the father asked his little girl, "What's in your belly?"  Avery rolled her eyes and said "My chips...."

 Anna having Happy Birthday sung to her and the awesome cake my mom made for her.  It's so funny to watch kids enjoy being the center of attention on their birthday.

 Carter making silly faces with Daddy for the camera.

 A book was a part of the presents, so everything had to stop to read it.

 Carter was a great helper opening the presents.  He is actually sitting in one of the boxes, tearing up the tissue paper into confetti to be used at a future birthday party or parade.