Happy Birthday Jack!

Birthday season in our household is officially winding down.  Today was Jack's big day - he is officially four years old!  I can't believe it.

 I was a bit worried about how his day was going to go when he woke up at 4:30 saying he didn't feel well, but he totally perked up - no fever and he tested negative for strep at the doctor this morning
.  Will tested positive on Thursday evening, so I was sure that Jack had it when he woke.  I'm so glad that isn't the case!

 The weather has been awful around here - rain, rain, and more rain.  So it felt like the perfect opportunity to check out the Daniel Tiger exhibit at the Magic House. Jack loved it!  He checked out everything in sight and couldn't get enough!

I was super impressed with Jack's bubble ability :)

We finished our celebration with pizza for dinner and a blue cake.  Jack was so excited with that blue cake!  It was adorable.

Our littlest man has brought so much joy, laughter, and love to our family.  He gives the fiercest hugs and declares his love for Mommy several times a day.  He is my sidekick and my joy.  I can't picture our family without him in it.  After William came along we weren't sure about adding a third child to the mix.  I'm so glad God saw fit to send Jack to join our family.  We weren't complete without him.  We love your more than you can ever know Jack Man.  Thank you for being you!

Happy Birthday William!

 

Six.  This little man is six whole years old as of 9:44 this morning.  I just can't belive it.  So far I think he has had a pretty fun day. 

He got to pick breakfast - I thought for sure he would want to go get Dunkin Donuts, but he requested pancakes.  William and Jack helped me make them bright and early this morning.

Jack and I brought William Jimmy Johns for lunch at school.  These kindergartners were so darn sweet!  They were all so excited for William's birthday and they told me all about how he shared his birthday bag in class.  Basically since they can't bring in food they get to bring items that tell about them.  William brough several random things.  He did put his taekwando belt in there - according to the kids he even got to show off a few moves.

We have swimming this afternoon then we are meeting Grnadma and Grandpa at Chipolte for dinner - another pick by William.  We will finsih off the night back at home with chocolate cake with chocoate frosting. 

I can't wait to pick our big six year old from school so we can keep on celebrating!  William brings so much joy, humor, laughter and spunk to our family.  He has a ridiculously kind heart as well - there is a restaurant nearby that the boys love.  Brian doesn't love it so much.  In the car this morning Will said "Mom, you know why I didn't pick Yellowstone for my birthday dinner?  Because Daddy doesn't like their food that much and I want him to be happy too."  My heart officially melted.

Happy Easter!

What a wonderful day!  We decided to check out 7:00am mass instead of 9:00.  I love our church and all that they offer for families and hte community - I don't love how long even a regular Sunday mass runs.  We knew there was no little church or children's literugy, so chances were pretty high it would be rough.  It was early - and we were a couple minutes late - but we made it!  Once we got home the kids had to hunt for their baskets. 

When Brian was growing up his dad always hid their Easter baskets - he likes to talk about the year that he didn't find it until Monday because his dad hid it up the chimney - so that has become one of our traditions.  It was actually pretty comical because each boy found a basket, but no one found their own.  Max found Jack's, Jack found William's, and William found Max's.  Once we got it all sorted otu they headed to the basement for an egg hunt since it was rainy out. 

 Max looks so grown up!  I just can't take it!

 William loves dressing up.  He was so excited to wear his very favorite fancy shirt and his new dress shoes. 

All three boys love silly faces.  Jack's face is supposed to be his surprised face - even though it looks more like a roar.

 AFter some quite time we headed over to Aunt Carm and Uncle Mike's house for some more fun - including the annual egg hunt in their back yard.  The kids were scoping out all the eggs from the steps as we took their picture - and everyone was talking about the egg on top of the chimney.  With a little help - Jack got to do the honors. 

 Jack was pretty proud of his egg collection.  He also had a blast with his godfather Tony.  Tony does a great job of making him fly like an airplane.  Jack talked about it for two days!

Another fabulous holiday in the books.  We are so grateful for these moments with our boys!

The Beach!

The last day and a half of our beach vacation finally warmed up enough for us to head to the beach!

 Thursday afternoon was chilly - we wore long sleeves and pants, but we thought the boys would at least be able to play in the sand.  We actually met friends from out elementary school and the big boys had a blast creating in the sand together.

 If I recall correctly the complex they build had five hot tubs :)

And a 'Golden Gate Bridge' that Max was super proud of!

 Friday we spent pretty much the entire day at the beach!  It was beautiful!  Still a bit chilly for swimming, but the boys were comfy in their suits for some sand/water play.

 The big shovels were a huge hit, until dad used a little too much force and broke one.

 I couldn't take enough pictures and as I look back they are just gorgeous!

 We are so grateful that Nonna joined us for the trip.  Everything is more fun with Nonna along :)

 Max had a blast digging the biggest hole ever!

I think he was pretty successful.  Toward the end of the boys digging, it was tough to get them out of the whole!

It was a great way to end a great vacation - and for the record this beach day was on March 17th.  I got all of the vacation posts up within my self imposed one month time limit - barely :)

Boats and Planes in Alabama

The Maritime Museum in Mobile was another great stop on our trip the entire place was super kid friends and had lots of hands on activities for everyone in the family.

 William got a kick out of this pirate scene - although I think Brian was really the one that liked it :)

One of the exhibits talked about how they retrieve items from the floor of the ocean.  You could even try out the robot arm yourself.  Max was so close to picking up a coin!

 The kids area was a huge hit.  William was ready to board a ship and all three boys thought that the green screen was pretty cool.

 Jack enjoyed moving all the sea creatures around on the magnetic wall, but his very favorite part of the entire place was this shipping container exhibit.  One would light up on the floor and he would have to jump on it.  As he did, a fact would appear on the wall for me to read.  I think we read every single fact they had - about four times :)

 One day we headed over to Pensacola to check out the National Naval Aviation Museum.  Jack was in awe of the giant lights and planes hanging from the ceiling.

Here the boys stand before a flight log that shows this plane was the very first plane former President George H Bush every flew.  I'm not sure the boys got it, but I thought that was pretty cool.

 The highlight of Jacks visit was this super cool little playground.  He explored it top to bottom for an hour, while dad and the big brothers checked out the other exhibit.  The museum is on a working naval base, so there were naval personnel everywhere.  I was glad that Jack was contained and I didn't have to chase him for a bit.

 All three boys got to check out the cockpit of a Blue Angels plane.   There are even sometimes air shows on the base!  No air show on the day we visited, but they all enjoyed pretending to fly.  I was just shocked that a full grown man would fit in that tiny little cockpit!