Alex's 8th birthday

Saturday is my nephew's 8th birthday.  Today was his party.

He had a Game Truck come to the park. 

 

 

I had never seen one of these, and in case you haven't either, let me explain.

 

This is a huge trailer pulled by a huge pickup truck. It can hold up to 20 kids, I think. Inside is a Wii, Wii-U, Xbox 360, Xbox 1, PS3, PS4, and maybe something else.  I'm not sure.

 

Your gaming selections are on a magnetic strip by the door.  Before the party, the man who works the Game Truck took down all the rated "M" and "T" games.  But any other game was up for grabs.

 

Then you sat on the couch, grabbed a controller, and played your games.

 

The birthday boy....



It was a pretty cool set up.  These pics don't really do it justice. 

What was truly incredible is how kids can pick up a controller to a gaming device they're unfamiliar with to play a game that they've never seen and can instinctively figure it out.

Jack came home convinced we need an Xbox.  He's never played an Xbox til today and picked it up in 2 seconds.  But all the kids were like that.

It was also amazing because this was the quietest party I've ever been too.  Give kids video games for an  hour and a half and --voila!-- you have the easiest, least talkative party you've ever been to.

After gaming, they went to the pavilion at the park and had cookie cake.  Then everyone went home.

No muss, no fuss.  Genius!

Happy birthday, Alex!

forgotten Easter pics

I meant to add these but forgot.  I have to add them for scrapbook purposes.

Cousins at Easter...

Yes, they're all very similar... But you know when you have 6 kids you just press the button down and continually "click" hoping that at least one will be good.

I thought these were all cute.

Back row: Alex- 7, Rachel - 8, Sarah- 7
Front row: Caroline - 3, Kate- 2, Jack- 6

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning we had an Easter egg hunt at church.  "Hunt" is the wrong word.  More like a "scramble" or "pick-up". 

We got there right on time, and I'm sure glad we did!  Caroline's group (3's, 4's, and Pre K) were the first to pick up eggs.

Here she is ready to go.  A fierce competitor.

She seemed to be picky at first, running past certain eggs and picking up others.  Then her greed kicked in, and she picked up whatever she could find.

Caroline with Morgan and Keegan. We'll see them later today.  It's Morgan's 3rd birthday. :)

Then it was the Kindergarten - 2nd graders turn.  Jack VS Sarah.
 

GO!

Checking out their loot.

The cousins were there too.  It's so hard-- read "impossible"-- to get them all to look at the camera at the same time.  But you get the idea.

We'll get together with them tomorrow at Mom and Dad's for lunch and a true HUNT.  When Dad hides eggs, it's no joke!

BTW, did you know they make plastic eggs called "Hard to Find" eggs?  They're gray and shaped like rocks.  Or brown and shaped like sticks.  Or green with blades of grass drawn on them. 

Somewhere there are diabolical people in Easter Egg Factory boardrooms thinking of ways to frustrate kids.  They're probably the same people who thought of trick birthday candles and pinatas that are impossible to break.

Mary Poppins

Last night we went to the theat-uh  (That's "theater" written in a British accent.) to see "Mary Poppins". (I don't know how to type it the way Bert says it, but that's the way I'm saying it in my mind.)

I spoke in a British accent a lot yesterday. (It's hahd to stop a British ahccent once you've stahted.) I think my kids grew a little sick of it... especially because my accent sounds a whole lot like Eliza Doolittle before Professor Higgins helps her.

We all went to eat at the food court in our mall before our night out.

Then everyone in this picture (+) my mom (minus) the men (minus) Kate went to see the show.

More easily said-- Sarah, Jack, Caroline, Mom, Hilary, Rachel, Alex, and I went to see the show.  Hmm.  Maybe that wasn't more easily said. 

The kids loved it! I think if they had one word to describe it, it would HAVE TO be... supercalifragilisticexpealidocious.

The dancing was fun!  The actors were so talented.  Even watching the sets change was spellbinding.  But I'm pretty sure their minds were blown when Mary Poppins flew with her umbrella and when Bert walked on the wall and on the ceiling.  I, of course, saw the cables, but Sarah was convinced that he had on suction cup shoes.

It was a late night, and Caroline ended up sleeping through most of the second act.  But Sarah was still talking about it this morning.

Jolly good show, ol' chaps!

(That's British, right?) 

Ok, I'm done with the accent.

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Yesterday was my nephew's 7th birthday.  He's 6 months younger than Sarah and 9 months older than Jack.  Our family had a busy year and a half when the three of them were born. ;)

Hilary kept it a low key family get together by meeting at Chick-fil-A for lunch, presents, and cake.

Happy birthday, Alex!!! :)

Memorial Day 2012

We invited my sister and her crew and my mom and dad over for a pool party yesterday.

One thing that really helped keep us cool-- Jason bought another fan for outside that had a mister with it.

As in a spraying device in front of the fan. Misting water. For some reason, when I wrote that, I felt like that sentence read as though we had a "Mr." as opposed to "Mrs". Like we bought a fan that came with a man. Not the case. Just didn't want anyone to be confused. ;)

Pressing forward in the recap of the afternoon...

We had all snacks and drinks while the kids swam.

Caroline swam a little...

I didn't catch whether or not Kate got in, but she was ready at any moment. :) Noodle. Check. Goggles. Check.

Other pics from the afternoon...

After swimming, we ate burgers. We had a tent/canopy thing set up for the kids. The adult area was pretty well shaded by 6:30 so we were good. The kids played in the sandbox for a little while. Then we headed out front to the swing.

Jason was pushing the kids pretty high.

Then he introduced them to the "Tornado of Terror". He wound the swing tight. Round and round. Then he pulled them back high and let them go. So, not only were they swinging, but they were spinning. I'm not quite sure how we managed to not have anyone throw up.

It was hard to capture the Tornado of Terror digitally and do it justice.

This is one of my favorite pics. Jason was describing the Tornado of Terror to Alex. Asking him if he could handle it. Telling him it was intense. And Alex is just smiling away.

He didn't back down. He loved it.

Everyone went home around 8:00. I threw the kids in the tub and then they crawled into our bed to watch TV before they went upstairs.

Terrible pic. Sorry.

A fun day!

Easter lunch and egg hunt at the Fisheros after church

(But mostly pics of the egg hunt.)

Dad hid eggs all over the yard, and each child (McGlamerys and Valentes) got a section to hunt.

That's the way we've always done it, and it's how I hide eggs for my kids. Each child gets their own room where their eggs are hidden. There's no competition to find your eggs before someone else steals them all. This way you can hunt without pressure. :) AND I can hide them in easy places for Caroline and trickier spots for the big kids.

Of course, every party needs a boy in a sombrero.

The boys looked for eggs in the backyard.

For whatever reason this one is my favorite of him. The hat. The look on his face. I like this one.

The big girls were on the side of the house. The little girls were in the front yard. And at some point, they all came together.

Mom had the tables decorated so cute(ly?) for lunch, but I failed to take pics of them. :(

The kids had brightly colored egg shaped plates and a stuffed bunny as a center piece at the kitchen table. ("Stuffed" as in "toy". Not taxidermied. Just wanted to be clear. ;) ) And the adults were in the dining room.

It's AWESOME to have a kids table and an adult table in two separate rooms. Every year holidays get so much better!!

In fact we were reminiscing about the many, many holidays we spent at the kitchen table with a baby or 2 in a high chair, a toddler or 2 at the Disney Princess table, and a baby in an exersaucer. Puts my stomach in knots just thinking about it.

After lunch all the little monkeys [minus Kate] got in Uncle B's bed and watched "Aladdin".

While the adults ate oreo cheesecake in peace. :)

Hallelujah! Amen!