Peter's 8th Birthday

We had Peter's birthday party the day after we returned from the beach.  After dropping the ball on Lily's, I planned ahead.  We had a Chuck E Cheese party.  We'd decided on that last year.  Peter was beyond thrilled.  It was so so so overstimulating.  I expected it to be easy.  The overstimulation may have counteracted the "easy" I was going for.  But we got it out of the way.  The always-hoped-for Chuck E Cheese party is in the books.  Done.

There were about 4 parties going on at the same time.  He was thrilled when it was his turn to have the mouse come over.  I adored the way that he wore the glasses all night long.  I mention each year how much Peter loooooves his birthday.  He looks forward to it all year.  Getting to wear those glasses all night- I've waited my life for that!

Sweet boy, I love your enthusiasm for life and fun.

 My three other favorite men:

PT, I love you and I love the way you love your friends and love to have fun and love all of the possibilities in your imagination!!! It is our joy to celebrate YOU!

This year Peter doubles the age he was after being diagnosed with epilepsy (& other challenges along the way). We are thankful for all the ways God has and continues to provide for him and us.

PT, you bless us in so many ways & we are so proud of you.  

We are thankful you are ours and thankful for your life, sweet boy!!!

The Beach 2015

We went to the beach this year with three other families.

It was the second to last week of summer and perfect timing.  

Here are the favorite pics:

 This child makes my heart leap out of my chest.  Oh, the sweetness.

 He so loved all aspects of the beach: the sand, the water, the extra time with Dada.

 We were the last family to leave and I ran down to the beach to give it a 3 minute try for a pic of the kids together.  This was the best I got.  Its still precious.

Can you even believe how blonde Peter's hair got this summer?!  I loved it.

But then buzzed it off before school started. :(

The Farm House- Summer Visit

It's good to go back and look at the summer.  Overall, it was all spaced out nicely.
The next week, we headed to my parents house to spend a little time in the country.  

My mom took us to this Bird Park.  I highly recommend it!!

It was so neat!  Picture overload...

This first one shows you the sticks that you hold for the parakeets to come and land on you.

 Then we gave Ben a stick.

I think he was OK with it for a split second....

 ... and then terrified & his scream scared the bird away.

 Then one landed on him...

 WHY WOULD YOU TAKE ME TO A PLACE LIKE THIS?!

 I couldn't stop taking pictures.

I have ideas of printing some to frame & hang.

They were so beautiful.  It was one of those times when I was stunned at God's artistry.
Their colors were brilliant.

 We saw lots of other birds and ducks from around the world, some endangered ones too.  Peter liked finding those.

See- the t-shirts- our summer team shirt.

We enjoyed a few days back at my parents house. The kids enjoyed the dogs (b/c we are not dog people).  I love this pic b/c you can tell they are talking to each other about who knows what.

 Ben decided he liked my mom on this trip.  She was beside herself.  He's made her wait for it.

 This pic is blurry but still love it- it looks like it belongs in a magazine.

Country Americana Summer.

 It was Mike's mom's birthday while we were there.  Also the day of the annual meteor shower.  She so kindly agreed to drive down on her birthday with Ski & Mike.  We had dinner, did presents, and all laid out in the front yard to watch the meteors (which weren't overly impressive).  It was funny- we all felt sorta young and silly.  Which can never be bad.

 A final smile with a dangy front tooth.

 This may be one of my favorite pics of the summer.

They just played outside together, used their imagination, got exercise, explored, ate popsicles.
It was great.

One of their cats shares my love of physical touch, so he came and curled up on top of me.  

I appreciated it.

 We enjoyed filling our tanks with summertime.  Ah, warm carefree summertime, we love you!