Saturday marked Austin's birthday party for his friends. This is the party that we've been planning for what seems like a long time, but really was probably only a month. And by "we", I mean "I". Austin was good for coming up with the initial theme (dinosaurs), but his only other contribution was asking me 600 times a day if his friends were coming over for his party yet.
The guests arrived at 10:30 and were given their choice of dinosaur tattoos. Once everyone was present and accounted for, it was outside for the only activity I had planned. A dinosaur hunt. But not your average hunt. There were four little dinosaurs for each kid, all in different places. There was one dinosaur frozen in ice (and floating in the water table), there were 2 sepearate dinosaur nests with dinosaur eggs (a cool little craft found here), and then one more dinosaur hidden in the sand that the kids had to dig out. Once the hunt was over and the dinos were all extracted from the eggs, most of the kids retreated to either the swingset or the water table. Most of the parents hung out on the deck and enjoyed one of the most beautiful days (weather-wise) we have had this summer.
Then it was on presents and lunch. Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and dinosaur shaped PB&Js, chips, and juice boxes for the kids. Perhaps the most peaceful time of the party for us adults. It seems all the kids worked up an appetite during the hunt and wanted to eat and not talk. We finished up with the previously mentioned cake.
A fairly "Dino-mite" party! (You knew that was coming....)
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A break from the weekend
This weekend has been a lot of fun, but it has also been one of those weekends that you end a bit more tired than you started.
Friday we kicked off the weekend by grilling out and inviting the neighbors over for a bonfire. At 10pm we remembered our children and put them to bed. At 11:45 pm, the bonfire turned into a movie screening of "Old School". All Rob needed was a little prompting from one neighbor who slightly suggested he bust out the movie screen. He disappeared for 10 minutes and emerged with the outdoor theater (Dad, I don't know if you'll ever get your wagon back, it's proved very useful at our house!). We didn't need to worry about how loud it was because all the surrounding neighbors were with us.
Obviously, the picture above does not do the movie's picture quality any justice. The movie really is quite a sharp picture. But, the picture above does give you an idea of the set up Rob has.
Knowing that the next day was Austin's birthday party, and knowing that meant preparing for 16 people to eat and have fun (10 of them kids), I left the inaugural movie viewing at midnight. Only to be awoken by Ellie a few hours later.
Saturday morning we ran around the house like crazy getting everything ready for the guests that arrived at 10:30. It was a busy morning, but the party was a lot of fun (another blog post to come). Everyone left around 1pm and we put the girls down for naps. I'm including myself in the "girls" column. In fact, I was probably the first to fall asleep. Rob and Austin entertained themselves.
Saturday night we invited the neighbors back for a full feature movie. We intended to watch Wall-E with the kids but, after hanging out with our incredibly crabby son, we decided he was in no shape to stay up late another night. Instead, all the kids went to sleep and the adults watched Kingpin. Another late night, and another early morning. I'm happy to report that all the kids are currently napping and gearing up for Maddie's birthday party this afternoon. Party after party! That's how we Runchey's roll.
Friday we kicked off the weekend by grilling out and inviting the neighbors over for a bonfire. At 10pm we remembered our children and put them to bed. At 11:45 pm, the bonfire turned into a movie screening of "Old School". All Rob needed was a little prompting from one neighbor who slightly suggested he bust out the movie screen. He disappeared for 10 minutes and emerged with the outdoor theater (Dad, I don't know if you'll ever get your wagon back, it's proved very useful at our house!). We didn't need to worry about how loud it was because all the surrounding neighbors were with us.
Obviously, the picture above does not do the movie's picture quality any justice. The movie really is quite a sharp picture. But, the picture above does give you an idea of the set up Rob has.
Knowing that the next day was Austin's birthday party, and knowing that meant preparing for 16 people to eat and have fun (10 of them kids), I left the inaugural movie viewing at midnight. Only to be awoken by Ellie a few hours later.
Saturday morning we ran around the house like crazy getting everything ready for the guests that arrived at 10:30. It was a busy morning, but the party was a lot of fun (another blog post to come). Everyone left around 1pm and we put the girls down for naps. I'm including myself in the "girls" column. In fact, I was probably the first to fall asleep. Rob and Austin entertained themselves.
Saturday night we invited the neighbors back for a full feature movie. We intended to watch Wall-E with the kids but, after hanging out with our incredibly crabby son, we decided he was in no shape to stay up late another night. Instead, all the kids went to sleep and the adults watched Kingpin. Another late night, and another early morning. I'm happy to report that all the kids are currently napping and gearing up for Maddie's birthday party this afternoon. Party after party! That's how we Runchey's roll.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Piece de resistance!
With Austin's birthday party tomorrow I'm planning all sorts of fun activities for his friends. I'm having fun with this dinosaur theme! First, I made the shirt. That is actually something I've wanted to make for awhile, so that wasn't that big of a deal. Then I googled cakes and found just what I was looking for!
Voila!
Well, that's not exactly how it looked online, but for my first attempt at a cake that is not the shape of a rectangle, I'm pretty proud. My toughest critics have already praised my work so that is enough for me. Austin told me his dinosaur cake "looks pretty cool". Ellie said "Wow!" and Riley said "Ahhhhhh!!!" (which translates to "Mom - that's the best dinosaur cake I've ever seen!") Those remarks are both a great compliment, and my biggest fear right now. The cake is drawing too much attention and I'm afraid if I leave them alone with it, they will try to get a closer look....with their mouths.
Off to go make some dinosaur eggs....
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Happy Birthday Little Man!
Four years ago today our lives were changed for the better in this house. Austin Robert Runchey came into the world a whopping 5 lbs, 10 oz. He's still as skinny as can be, but he's full of spirit and we're going to use some of his energy to celebrate in style this week (several times)!
That's him, with his snake, under "Tracy the Tree"....that's really the tree's name. I hear it is a very wise tree.
He was not a big fan of the singing that accompanied his dessert, but in general, he really enjoyed the restaurant, particularly when the monkeys started moving around.
Today he wanted to wear his brontosaurus shirt because he is having a "Brontosaurus Birthday party" on Saturday. I think he thinks if he wears the shirt today, then his party will be today. No dice. But, since I made that shirt for him, I will let him wear it every day this year to make sure he gets his use out of it!
Happy Birthday Austin!!!
We already celebrated once in West Bend. Last night Rob and I took him to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. He loves this place and wants to go into the store every time we're at the mall. He has had his eye on a big snake there for almost a year. Last night he finally got it.
That's him, with his snake, under "Tracy the Tree"....that's really the tree's name. I hear it is a very wise tree.
He was not a big fan of the singing that accompanied his dessert, but in general, he really enjoyed the restaurant, particularly when the monkeys started moving around.
Today he wanted to wear his brontosaurus shirt because he is having a "Brontosaurus Birthday party" on Saturday. I think he thinks if he wears the shirt today, then his party will be today. No dice. But, since I made that shirt for him, I will let him wear it every day this year to make sure he gets his use out of it!
Happy Birthday Austin!!!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Yee-Haw!
Have you ever seen a cuter cowgirl?
I doubt it. Potty training has been going well (all 1.5 days of it) and I had to get out of the house to run to Michael's to pick up some items for Austin's birthday party. Ellie was fairly insistent that she was NOT going potty before we left. So be it. She wore that thick underwear, the plastic over-underwear stuff, and this cute dress. Of course, halfway there I heard the infamous plea for a "Potty!" I figured that was more likely an "I just went potty" rather than an "I have to go potty" so I just told her to hold on and we'd be there soon. My mom was with so she watched Riley and Austin while Ellie and I ran to the back of the store (of course) to use the bathroom. To my surprise, she was dry AND went potty. Awesome!!!
She tried this hat on and it was too cute to pass up (especially when Grandma is with). Maybe it will take the place of Buzz? After one more trip to Michael's bathroom, it was homeward bound and we arrived back with one dry cowgirl. Hurray!
Lockdown - Day 1
Can you guess what we are finally doing?
Potty training. Ellie has been mentioning the potty (with very little consistency) for the last 4 months or so. She has even done the deed in her potty chair a handful of times. I always had a reason to put it off though. Trips here or there, the garage sale, waiting for summer, etc. Just about any excuse I could think of, I used. I know that I need to jump on board her enthusiasm train and get it done so today was Day 1 of seriously potty training Ellie. No diapers, no pull ups; just me, Ellie, and the potty. Oh, and a bottle of carpet cleaner, a pile of rags, and a bowl full of treats. And I can't forget a curious 11 month old. She adds a new dimension to the mix.
The worst part of this for me is not leaving the house for at least a week while Ellie gets the hang of things. I really don't like using Pull-ups. I remember going through this with Austin and he pretty much just saw them as a cool diaper and would treat them as such. However, I'm sure by the end of the week I'll be whistling a different tune.
Day 1 went far better than I expected. There were only two accidents and far more successes!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fourth Celebration
We had a pretty great 4th of July weekend! We headed to West Bend on Friday afternoon. We always leave at naptime in hopes of the kids taking their naps en route. It doesn't always work for Austin these days, but we can usually count on the girls falling asleep...unless Austin is watching The Lion King and bursts out in a high pitched laughter. Lesson learned - mellow DVDs in the car from now on.
There's plenty of activity in West Bend on the 4th, but our family's highlights were the parade, the carnival, the jump castle, huge blow up slides, bingo (okay, maybe that was just a personal favorite), the park, swimming (private pool hours since we're in good with the manager - Thanks Patti), hanging out with cousins, tractor rides, fireworks, and when asked, Austin's favorite part was his first birthday celebration!
Austin's least favorite part would definitely be the parade. It started out high on his list because, come on, who doesn't love a parade. Especially when they are throwing handfuls of candy at you. He was scurrying around like a madman picking every piece of candy he could find. I think he was enjoying himself quite a bit until he ventured a little bit too far into the street. You could tell he was trying to hurry because he knew he shouldn't be out that far and both Rob and I yelled his name to get his attention. About, 2 seconds after that, a firetruck just happened to honk it's very loud horn (not at Austin) and that scared him to pieces. He came running back in tears and cried quite a bit. But, the parade people kept throwing candy at him, probably in an effort to cheer him up. Only Austin wanted nothing to do with it. He kept yelling "Sorry! No Thank you! No more candy, sorry!" I'm sure they couldn't hear anything and just saw a boy who was yelling something to them and assumed he was asking for candy, so they would throw some more. Vicious cycle. Austin ended up like this for the rest of the parade:
Ellie, on the other hand, she loved every second of it. Especially when her competition was safely in the arms of Dad. She danced, she picked up candy, she got a bracelet, necklace, and a beach ball. Life is good.
Riley enjoyed the parade from her new backpack carrier. She didn't get any candy or jewelry, but she did get her fill of people watching, which she enjoys.
Here's a slideshow compilation from the weekend to save me the time of sorting through all the pictures for my favorites.
There's plenty of activity in West Bend on the 4th, but our family's highlights were the parade, the carnival, the jump castle, huge blow up slides, bingo (okay, maybe that was just a personal favorite), the park, swimming (private pool hours since we're in good with the manager - Thanks Patti), hanging out with cousins, tractor rides, fireworks, and when asked, Austin's favorite part was his first birthday celebration!
Austin's least favorite part would definitely be the parade. It started out high on his list because, come on, who doesn't love a parade. Especially when they are throwing handfuls of candy at you. He was scurrying around like a madman picking every piece of candy he could find. I think he was enjoying himself quite a bit until he ventured a little bit too far into the street. You could tell he was trying to hurry because he knew he shouldn't be out that far and both Rob and I yelled his name to get his attention. About, 2 seconds after that, a firetruck just happened to honk it's very loud horn (not at Austin) and that scared him to pieces. He came running back in tears and cried quite a bit. But, the parade people kept throwing candy at him, probably in an effort to cheer him up. Only Austin wanted nothing to do with it. He kept yelling "Sorry! No Thank you! No more candy, sorry!" I'm sure they couldn't hear anything and just saw a boy who was yelling something to them and assumed he was asking for candy, so they would throw some more. Vicious cycle. Austin ended up like this for the rest of the parade:
Ellie, on the other hand, she loved every second of it. Especially when her competition was safely in the arms of Dad. She danced, she picked up candy, she got a bracelet, necklace, and a beach ball. Life is good.
Riley enjoyed the parade from her new backpack carrier. She didn't get any candy or jewelry, but she did get her fill of people watching, which she enjoys.
Here's a slideshow compilation from the weekend to save me the time of sorting through all the pictures for my favorites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
