Gabe's 5th Birthday

Happy Birthday Gabe!

Transformer Gabe...the newest 5 year old!

Gabe's birthday actually lasted several days this year. It started with his party on the 14th. This was his first "real" party. He wanted a Transformer party, so that's what he got! He invited a few friends from church and his pre-K class. He was so excited, but also quick to let people know that it wasn't really his birthday, just his "party day".

The boys played on Fort Apache as they arrived.

As the boys arrived, they headed out back to play on Fort Apache. After everyone was there, we played a couple of games. Gabe wanted to play "Duck, Duck, Goose", but wanted to play it a Transformer way...so, we changed it to "Autobot, Autobot, Decepticon" (it was quite a mouthful for the boys, but they handled it well!).

Playing Autobot, Autobot, Decepticon.



Lining up for Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

We got an Optimus Prime pinata...it was a definite hit! What child doesn't like grabbing handfuls of candy off the ground? I guess the way they make pinatas now is with pull strings (definitely safer than a bunch of boys blindly swinging a bat around!)...it worked pretty well and everyone got at least one turn.

Nate taking his turn pulling a string.


The mad dash for candy.

We've had the best weather! I love that we were able to hold the party outside, even after dark! We didn't even need jackets!

A little pizza and cake is a good recipe for keeping 4 - 5 year olds happy. Gabe was pretty excited about his Transformer cake and even more excited about the Optimus Prime toy that came on top!

Blowing out his candles...

Gift time brought an increase in Transformers at our house (now we just need to learn how to transform them...I'm pretty proud of the fact that I can transform Ratchet!).

I love the look on Will's face...I'd say he's a little envious! Will wasn't too excited about the rule we have about not having to share new toys for 24 hours (after 24 hours, any and all toys belong to everyone in the family).

Saturday brought a soccer game...more about the soccer team/season to come later.

On Sunday, the 16th, we planned to have a family dinner with the guests of honor being Gabe and our friend Janet, whose birthday is a few days before Gabe's. But, Janet wasn't able to make it, so it was another party just for Gabe! Gabe and Will played "Jumping Monkeys" with Grandpa...we had monkeys flying all over the family room!



Gabe's actual birthday, the 17th, brought a great day at school. He got to bring cupcakes, was the Calendar Kid, and it was his sharing day! No doubt he felt very special! That evening was soccer practice. After practice, we took the boys to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. We had finished off the birthday cake, but we did have cupcakes! Gabe even asked if Will could have a candle to blow out. Mark and I got Gabe a racetrack for his birthday...the boys love it! We watched those race cars go 'round and 'round and fly off the track for at least an hour...and the only reason they were willing to put it away was because it was time for the "sleep over". We figured the boys could fall asleep watching movies and eating popcorn and then we'd move them to their beds...but 2 movies later, Gabe was STILL awake! I had to just convince him to go to bed.

Calendar Kid Gabe

Brotherly love...

For some reason, Will is done with cakes and cupcakes after he has licked the frosting off!

Loving the final birthday "cake".

Gabe, Will, and Nico playing with the racetrack (apparently Mark always wanted one of these as a child...so, now he is living vicariously through his boys!).

I love how excited Gabe is and how intent Will is in this picture!

I'd say he had a pretty good birthday! And now that he's 5, he thinks he is all grown up. When he wants to do something that we haven't let him do in the past, he'll say, "I can do it because I'm 5 now!"