Birthday Videos

I forgot to post these videos when I posted pictures of Zane's birthday. Here he is talking about his party day and then blowing out his candles.

Zane is 5!

Yes, Zane is 5. This feels like such a huge milestone.  I can't believe how old he really seems lately and I love it even though I don't know where the time went.  He really is just the sweetest guy - which is exactly who he's been since he was born.  I have loved thinking back to his birth and first few years. But now I'm excited for this year and looking forward to having a 5 year old, a Kindergartner, a big helper, and a great big brother.

Look at this cute little face! 5 years ago...wow.


 
 


We had Zane's birthday party this year a few days early.  It was an interesting party because almost none of Zane's friends could make it (after inviting 30 kids).  It worked out well though, because it ended up just being family and a couple of Zane's good friends. We had it at the park near our house and the kids had fun for sure.  The adults had fun just eating and hanging out in the shade.

Here's our guy eating his snacks before going out to play.

Smith and Nell

Emmy with their friend Skylar

Spiderman / 4th of July theme

Grandma Shirley and little guy

Love this guy

Smith was lucky to have his cousin in town.  Zack's sister Becca and her son Perry were in town, as well as his mom Nancy.  So the kids got to have family stay with us all weekend.

Sand

Hanging with Grandpa Jack

 

Zane wanted to be sure there were white and chocolate cupcakes so that people could choose. :)  I love these next three pics (thanks Dad).  I just love his expressions!!!

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He let Emmy help him open almost every gift - he was so patient.  His friends loved watching.  Here he was opening his gift from his friend.

The little boys got to eat lunch in the stroller.  Thanks Gigi!

HOT faces!

Zane and Skylar

THEN, a few days later we got to celebrate Zane's real birthday on the 4th as a family.  Zack had the whole day off, which was awesome and we got to have a really  packed day.

We had blueberry muffins for breakfast and spent the morning relaxing, playing games, and playing legos at home.

Then, went to McDonalds for lunch.

After that, we headed to the mall and had to get ice cream of course.

Later that evening, we left Smith with Grandma Fran and took the two older kids to the fireworks event in Broomfield.  Their favorite part of the whole night was riding the school bus shuttle from where we parked to the park. 

They had bounce houses, a playground, petting zoo, pony rides, etc.  It was awesome just playing and hanging out, waiting for fireworks.

They held on pretty well.  Right before fireworks, we put them in pjs and snuggled in.  They both LOVED it, for the first while.  Then Emmy fell asleep and slept through the last half of the fireworks, loud finale and all. 

 

Here they are so excited with their glowsticks.

 
Here's Zack carrying Emmy afterwards.  

 

Afterwards, we went to catch our shuttle back to our car and realized that there were a million people waiting in front of us.  They only had two buses so it was taking forever.  Zack finally had to run 3 miles to the car to pick it up and bring it back and we still beat the second load of people out.  What a hero. :) Luckily, while we waited for him, Emmy slept and Zane fell asleep on the bench next to us. We didn't make it home till about 11:30. Long day, but fun!

June

Well, here I go, catching up on the past MONTH! Yep, that's right, a month's worth of pictures. Starting from the beginning of the month until the end.

Here's Zane on his last day of preschool with his teacher Ms. Doreen.  He loved going to school this past year, and now he's super excited for Kindergarten.  

I just liked these pictures, from time at a park.  Zane was waiting his turn for a seesaw.

Emmy fell asleep in our grocery cart - I have never had that happen before!

Pet rocks

Zoo time with friends. Here's the crew looking for tigers.

With their buddies Charlie and Abhi.

The two babies took a nap in their strollers .  Yes, these are our three double strollers parked in a row. :)

All of us

After our hot and exhausting day at the zoo, we had to get a cold drink.  I let them share a Vanilla Cream Frappucino and neither of them liked it.  Emmy said it tasted like water and Zane said it tasted like "snow that a dog peed in."  Hahaha.

We love going to our YMCA...the outdoor pool and spray park are great.
Smith LOVED the little fountains and played in them for a long time.

 

Emmy was showing us her bagged cast on one arm and Sleeping Beauty in the other. I think Smith was yelling at Zane for touching his head. 

These three got to walk some laps at the Relay for Life in Broomfield while we visited some friends doing it...Zane in flip flops and Emmy in rain boots.

Here are some pictures from Zane's first t-ball game. 
First, the fans...

 

There's Zane, in the middle of the pack with shorts on

 
The "Gators" team...Zane is 4th from the left.

A few weeks before this day, we went on a hike together and it went really well so we thought we'd try it again.  This time, not so much.  We drove to Boulder, near the Flatirons, to hike at Chautauqua park. First of all, it was H.O.T.  Well, it took us about 15 min to find a parking spot, 10 min to put on sunblock and find our glasses, get Smith into the backpack, etc. and then another 10 minutes just to get across the street to the field. 

Then we started "hiking" up the trail just to get to the beginning of the actual hike and it was hilarious.  Emmy was asking for a water break every minute of so. Zane was complaining of the heat and acting sluggish, and Smith was falling asleep in the backpack.

So, we got up to the start of the hike, took one picture, and turned around and went back. Everyone was happy with that decision.

Look at these poor hot faces...

A couple of weeks ago, while Zack was at middle school camp, I got to spend most of a week with my mom and sisters in Colorado Springs.  While down there, we threw a baby shower for Jordan, who is expecting a baby girl in August.

Cute outfits!!

Cutie pies...

Hanging with Dad on Father's Day - pretty sure Zane was dressed like a spy

My friend Tammy and I took all the kids to Chick Fil a for lunch and then to Costco.  Boy was it hilarious.  The kids had a great time.

Walking along the freezers

Here are some pics from a recent trip to the museum.  Zane loves snakes right now.  Love them.

Emmy got her cast off only 3 weeks after she got it on. The doctor was impressed by how quickly her bone healed.  She was awesome the whole time they sawed it off, through x-rays, etc. She held her arm straight like this for about 10 min after she got her cast off.  It made me laugh.

Spreading out her fingers - her elbow was stiff and her arm was so sensitive!

Another t-ball game...this time the fans were running circles together.

Ready to bat

 

Our tired guy after his big turn at bat

 

We set up our ball pit in the basement.  Smith is in heaven.