Crazy Climbers!

When we were in Williamsburg last month, Bean and Poppy found a new place to take the cousins: The Zone at the Williamsburg Indoor Sports Complex.  This fun-filled attraction included an indoor playground, laser tag (which is one of Luke's current favorite activities and very popular for 2nd grade boys' birthday parties), a laser maze, and an area called "Clip N Climb".   Our kids don't have any rock climbing experience and started the afternoon a bit tentative and cautious.  However, in an instant, they transformed into enthusiastic climbers, and stunned us all with their ability to scale all of the walls without any hesitation: 

There was a crazy fun climbing post area where you could challenge yourself to climb onto successively higher poles without any handholds.  Most people stopped right around this height:

And then there was Peanut:

I wasn't sure what to make of the situation when the staff person supervising the station shook his head in bewilderment and whispered, "Fearless!" under his breath while watching Leah:

And I really didn't know what to do when my baby leaped off of the extremely tall pole and flew through the air, giggling with glee:

Here are Maya and Luke, racing up the climbing walls:

And Miss Leah... again.  At the very tippy top.  

 Our views from the ground: 

Even the Daddies got in on the action, and Mark and Brian had just as much fun as the kids.  

(In case you wondered, Mommy did NOT participate in the climbing activities and is sometimes considered a stick in the mud.)

Our kids absolutely LOVED The Zone and have been talking about it ever since.  What a fun place!

Polka Dot Party

 

Leah had her first "friend party" this year, and we went with a polka dot theme (since the previously mentioned "Under the Sea" theme was impossible for Mommy).  Leah's birthday falls so close to Christmas/New Year's Eve that in previous years we have gotten away with celebrating with extended family over the holidays and calling that her "big" party.  However, this year, Leah specifically asked to have a party at Jump N' Fun (a popular preschool birthday party venue) with her friends, and it was a fun (and EASY!) party to plan.  Leah and I found lots of cute polka dot party supplies during our shopping last month, and I loved how everything turned out:

My only mistake may have been purchasing 20 polka dot noise makers and placing these at each child's seat at the table.  There is nothing more thrilling for 5 year-olds than to blow into these obnoxious ear-splitting toys as loudly as possible.  Luckily, we turned the cacophony into a game, and told the kids to all make noise together on the count of three, and then to hand their party blowers to their parents.  (I may have also whispered to the parents that I wouldn't be offended if the noise makers got "lost" before leaving the party/went straight into the trashcan).  

We gave out cute, colorful jump ropes as party favors and expanded upon the polka dot/jumping theme:

Jump N' Fun is a wonderful place for a birthday party, as the party guests have the entire venue to themselves.  This means that everyone in the jumping room knows each other/is an invited guest, and there are no crowds.  The kids bounced in giant inflatables, chased each other, and ran around for an hour without pausing to take a break.  Oh, to have so much energy!  

Fun with friends.

Teddy and Leah pretending to be monsters.

Next it was time for snacks and cupcakes.  One of my favorite parts of this party is that we had our own "Party Host", who set up the room, served food, and cleaned up everything.  It was wonderful.  I mentioned to Mark how lovely it would be to have my very own "Party Host" magically appear at our house.  (He rolled his eyes at me!)

We sang to the birthday girl, and she made a wish before blowing out the candle on her special cupcake:

Luke was an awesome big brother and sat beside Leah while she opened her presents.   Here is what it looks like to have a swarm of preschoolers hand you their gifts all at once:  

Leah was so excited leading up to her party, and beamed the entire time.  She was positively in her element being surrounded by her friends, and it gave us so much joy to watch her have so much fun.  Mark and I commented that this is our favorite birthday of Leah's so far.  We treasured the anticipation, the celebration, and the delight that our little girl exuded regarding her birthday and party as she turned 5.  May all her wishes come true!    

Birthday Girl!

Our sweet Leah Grace is 5 today!  This special birthday girl has been honored in several special celebrations lately, and she opened her presents from Grandpa when we were with him in Pennsylvania last week:

Leah told me months ago that she wanted an "Under the Sea" theme for her birthday, and so I began researching all things ocean-themed on Pinterest.    I found tons of cute ideas: sand toys and brightly colored buckets used for props and favors, ocean/fish themed snacks and party supplies...  and I then couldn't find a single summer toy/themed item in any store in the greater Greensboro area in mid-November.  Talk about the wrong season.  But luckily, Bean came to the rescue, and found adorable "Under the Sea" accessories for Leah's Williamsburg family party, and all was right with the world again:

We had fun with an ocean background for some pictures, and Leah wanted to show off her best fish face:

There were more birthday presents for our almost-5-year-old, and someone was very happy to be the center of attention:

Happy 5th Birthday to our precious baby girl!  We love you so much!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2016!  We kicked off the New Year by going out to dinner with friends on New Year's Eve and tucking ourselves in long before midnight.  What party animals!  We made up for it this weekend by tapping into our adventurous sides and taking a spontaneous day trip to Hanging Rock State Park.  The views from the mountains were beautiful and we hiked to the top of Hanging Rock with our neighbors.  Here are the kids at the Visitors Center at the beginning of the day: 

These adorable little hikers quickly learned that when they announced:  "Let's take a picture here!", that 4 IPhones would immediately whip out of parents' pockets... and that there was usually a snack break and rest involved:

Second Graders: Preston and Luke.

Brooks and Leah.  

There were caves, huge rock formations, and lots of photo opportunities along the way:

When we reached the summit, we could see for miles, and the view was breathtaking:

It was such a great way to ring in 2016 with an unplanned excursion.  Here's our little Peanut with a special New Year's greeting for you.  Hope your 2016 is full of fun and adventure, too!