Eight is Great!

Luke turned 8 on Wednesday and had a great birthday!  He asked if he could open one present in the morning before school, and had his eye on the biggest one in the pile.  Luckily, he had Winnie to help him open his new air hockey game!  

I surprised Luke by purchasing an outfit for his Pikachu (because we love themed birthdays around here), and our birthday boy had a Pokemon breakfast before heading to his before-school Chess Tournament.  

While Luke was at school, Winnie dutifully watched over his presents.  I took Krispy Kremes to Luke's class and had lunch with him.  Someone was VERY excited to be having a birthday at school, and his teacher reported in a jovial tone, "Well, I can't get him to do a thing today.  It's as if he thinks he should be exempt from school work on his birthday..."    Mr. Cockman smiled and continued, "How great it is to be eight!"  (Thank you, God, for teachers who remember what it is like to be a second grade boy!).

Grandpa arrived in the afternoon to celebrate with us, and after school we had a family party:

We had dinner and birthday cake, and then it was off to soccer practice.  It was a full, busy day for our new eight year old, full of his favorite things from start to finish!

Happy 8th birthday, Luke!  

We love you so much!

Pokémon Party

We celebrated our almost-8-year-old this weekend with a Pokémon themed party at Celebration Station.  Luke has been counting down the days until his birthday for weeks, and has been entertaining us with his musings.  Last weekend, as we were driving home from church, he announced from the backseat:  "Daddy, 8 years and 10 days from today, I will be driving a car!".   Mark almost veered off the side of the road when he heard this proclamation... 

We told Luke that he could choose two friends to take to Celebration Station on Saturday for an afternoon of go karts, bumper boats, mini golf, and arcade games. (What could be more perfect for second grade boys?!).  He chose the venue months ago, and this was the first party that we've hosted where we picked up Luke's friends and haven't had parents in attendance.  It's a milestone for any parent with young children, and is a tangible reminder that these kids are growing up!  Luke chose Aiden and Maxim, who are his two best friends in his class, to celebrate with him.  These boys are like the Three Musketeers at school.  They participate in Chess Club together, play soccer, are  Pokémon-obsessed, and are great buddies.  

We were lucky to have a beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon for Luke's party, and the first thing that the boys wanted to do was to go on the bumper boats.  Leah was a fantastic sport, and donned her new Pikachu shirt for the occasion (which she and I bought at Target to surprise Luke for his party).  She and Mark rode in one boat and the three second graders were in another.  This made for a fun competition of squirting each other, and the kids loved it!  

After a quick break for pizza (because growing 8 year-old boys eat astonishing amounts of food every chance they can), we played mini-golf.  It was a cute course, and our little golfers had a blast:

I love this picture.  They look like 3 little old men on the golf course.

Next were the go-karts.  This was thrilling for the boys, who had never driven go-karts before, and they were in their element racing around the track:

Meanwhile, Leah and Mark rode on the Family Go Karts, and this was a super fast, fun adventure for our little Peanut!

After another round of bumper boats, the boys played games in the arcade (which was much too chaotic for picture taking), won tons of tickets, and picked out their prizes.  Last, but not least, were birthday cupcakes to celebrate our special boy:

When the kids realized that there were packs of Pokémon cards in their party cups, they ripped them open immediately and started trading.  They had several Pokémon "battles" in the car in the way home, and although I don't understand this phenomenon/game at all, I do know that it makes these kiddos very happy.  

Seeing the smile on Luke's face and watching how much fun he had with his friends was priceless for Mark and me.  It was a wonderful way to kick off Luke's birthday week, and we love seeing him so happy!

Soccer Shots

I posted our Spring Sports update last week and realized that I hadn't taken a single picture this soccer season!  The kids have the same uniforms and teams as the fall, but they have grown and changed, so I took my camera to L&L's soccer games this morning, and now have some shots to share:  

Leah's team named themselves the "Reptiles" this spring.  Here's Coach Mark with his now mostly 5 year-olds, giving them a pregame pep talk:

Some pics from the game:

And here's Luke in action:

 

Pre-game meeting with coaches.

Luke's team is called the "Vipers", and he still loves being goalie.  Mommy wills the minutes to go by quickly when Luke is in the goal, but he doesn't seem nervous at all!

 So proud of our little soccer stars!

Spring Sports

Our schedule is busy with spring sports right now, and we have several highlights to document.  Luke wrapped up his second season of basketball last month and came home with another medal to add to his collection.  You have to love youth athletic leagues, where a team that doesn't win a single game all season still awards their players with victory medals.  This was a "growing season" for Luke's team, and those kids played with such heart... they learned valuable lessons about sportsmanship and teamwork, and we are very proud of Luke for remaining positive and enjoying the game despite the team record:

The kids filled out their own March Madness brackets, too, and enjoyed participating in this challenge with their cousins.  Poppy sponsored this friendly competition, and we were amused when Leah picked Duke to win the tournament.  Doesn't she know our family?!

Leah started taking gymnastics in the fall, but I just recently took pictures of her class (poor second child), so I am going to include it in this "Spring Sports" update.    Leah had a physical therapy evaluation last August to assess her hypermobility, and the PT recommended gymnastics as being helpful to improve her core strength and balance, so we joined a class when school started.   Leah also has 2 friends from preschool who are in her gymnastics class, and we have been very pleased with Tumblebees this year.  Leah enjoys her weekly class and has recently mastered a handstand, which is exciting.  (I am personally thrilled that she hasn't required stitches in her chin since last March, and am giving gymnastics class a lot of credit for improving her coordination!).  Here's our cute little gymnast in action:

Not sure if this counts as a "sport", but Luke joined Chess Club at his school this spring, and it is right up his alley!  He wakes up early to attend Chess Club before school each Wednesday morning, and he absolutely loves it.   He's been studying his strategy lately, and I recently found him in Quiet Time reading this: 

This month, interested Chess Club players are participating in a mini-tournament at school, and the top two qualifiers will advance to the Greensboro Chess Club Scholastic Competition later in the month.  Luke advanced in the first round, and will play finalists next week.  Good luck, Bubbie!

Leah has been watching her brother play chess for over a year, and now she has started playing, too.  We are astounded that our 5 year-old preschooler knows the functions of each chess piece as well as basic strategy!  Since chess is currently a daily activity for our little "mathletes", it definitely deserves a spot in our Spring Sports blog post!

We had a fun opportunity to attend Wake Forest's Spring Football Game this past weekend, and were able to secure a suite thanks to our very large annual alumni donation.  April Fools!   The kids were actually the reason that we were able to have the box seats, since they are Junior Deacon Club members.  There were snacks and drinks, big screen tvs, comfy couches, and it was climate controlled!  We really need to rethink this whole "sitting on the grass on Deacon Hill" thing for our fall football season tickets...

Mark also took the kids to a WFU baseball game recently, and Leah was happy to have her picture taken with the Demon Deacon:

Luke and Leah are midway through their spring soccer seasons and are on the same teams as they were in the fall, so we know many of their teammates and families.  Mark is coaching Leah's team again, and both kids are enjoying their seasons.  This is the first spring that Luke has chosen not to play baseball, and I wasn't sure if we'd miss it.  However, the kids are having so much fun with soccer that it is a great spring so far.  (The fact that both of the kids' practices are scheduled at the same time on neighboring fields each week also contributes to my overall love of our current spring sports routine!).  Three Cheers for all of our Spring Sports!