Enchanted Rock

Our day at Enchanted Rock was indeed enchanting. Not a cloud in the sky, nice cooler temps and just a good vibe all around. It was also super windy at the top! Can't believe Dave and I had never been. After all the hiking we did in Utah, the climb was a piece of cake (relatively speaking...).

We thought Enchanted Rock would be a lot bigger than this?!? 

Enchanted Rock or the moon?

Looking at tadpoles. How'd they get up there?

Our handsome 5-yr-old explorer

Testing the built-in whistle on his new backpack

We had a picnic before heading back to Austin. It was a perfect way to celebrate Spencer's birthday. We want to go back this winter - maybe do some stargazing.

Fiveorama!

Spencer celebrated his 5th birthday with his friends and classmates last Sunday at Westgate Lanes. Daddy designed the invitation and as always did a great job!

Between his best friends, seven classmates, grandparents, the kids' parents and a few siblings thrown in, there were probably 40 people there. The kids had a blast and I think the adults enjoyed it, too. You can see some good pictures over at Steffani's blog, too.

Funny story about the cake. Since I baked a cake on his actual birthday, we decided to buy a cake for the party instead of doing one of our classic creations. We took some pictures of bowling themed cakes to the HEB bakery and were expecting to have a couple of bowling pins drawn on the cake. We were quite surprised to see the crazy 3D cake! The kids were all begging for the bowling pins (they were definitely better to look at!).

At the end of the party the bowling alley presented Spencer with a real bowling pin and all the kids signed it. Then Spencer handed out cute bowling pin cookies and thanked his friends for coming.

 

We had a small family gathering at our house afterwards and Spencer opened his gifts. I think it's interesting that kids don't usually open gifts at their party these days. It definitely makes things easier on many levels, but aren't the kids missing out a little on seeing their friend open the gift they picked out? And learning that it's okay to watch another person open gifts? But I digress...

And let me tell ya, if you need a gift idea for a 5-yr-old boy, a good old fashioned Whoopie Cushion is the way to go. Spencer got one from Piper and Beckett and I would give anything to have a video of the first time he sat on it. It made me think of this classic for some reason. But after the initial "what?!" he laughed and laughed and laughed all evening as he got various guests to plop down on it. "Mommy, isn't this so funny? Mommy I love this Whoopie Cushion. Isn't it funny Mama?" Comedy gold right there!

It was a fun day and we were reminded once again of how blessed our little guy is to have so many people who love him.

Happy 5th Birthday, Spencer!

Our sweet Spencer is officially a 5-year-old! Since his birthday party is next weekend, we decided to spend today on a family adventure. But first, there were gifts to open and chocolate croissants to eat!

Posing with his stash

First up, some LEGOs from Daddy

Books from Mommy...

His "main" gift was a new backpack for hiking - he's been asking for one

This video just kills me. Sure, he got a new backpack, LEGOs, clothing and books, but what was he the most excited about?

Trader Joe's has the most magical frozen chocolate croissants; you let them sit out and rise overnight, then bake them the next morning. Delicious!

Then we headed out to Enchanted Rock in Fredericksburg. What a gorgeous day for a hike up a big slab of granite! In the interest of time and space, I'm going to do a separate post about Enchanted Rock tomorrow - lots of photos to go through.

We got home around 4:00, so Daddy and Spencer played with LEGOs for a little while and I frosted a cake I had baked last night. (Funny story: After I mixed up the ingredients, I discovered my oil was rancid. Rancid oil does not a tasty cake make. Had to run out at 9:30 for more supplies...) I decided to put some food coloring in the frosting to make it a little more special. Spencer requested blue with green polka dots. I frosted it, then he and Daddy "sprayed' on some polka dots. I think it turned out pretty - sorta looks like a globe.

Then we were off to eat dinner. Spencer chose Hao Hao for his birthday meal. The owner, who is incredibly sweet and remembers everyone that walks into her restaurant, gave the birthday boy a t-shirt because she thought it was no neat that he selected Hao Hao!

We lit five candles when we got home and sang to our sweet (and crazy?) boy. Then we took our traditional 6:28PM birthday photo.

 

 

 

Happy birthday, Spencer. We love you in the whole world!

Last Day of 4

Wow! Today is Spencer's last day as a 4-year-old. So hard to believe that we will have ourselves a FIVE-YEAR-OLD tomorrow. As I've said before, his birth feels simultaneously like yesterday and a zillion years ago - such an odd sensation.

We spent the morning at Blunn Preserve doing a Little Helping Hands volunteer project. We were tasked with spreading mulch along a big stretch of walking trail. I was proud of Spencer - he worked so hard for the full hour. He told us later that someone said, "You sure have worked hard today," and he replied, "When something's hard I stick with it." Glad to know that message it seeping in... He earned a t-shirt and a free Amy's Ice Creams coupon today for completing his third volunteer project.

After resting at the house for a little while, Spencer and Daddy went to a real golf course for a couple of hours. Big moment for the boys! I did a little birthday shopping and went to the new Trader Joe's for the first time (big moment for me!).

When they got home, we played some Uno before dinner (can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but Spencer is totally into Uno now and it's super fun!). Then Daddy headed out to do some final birthday shopping while Spencer and I did bath and bedtime. I need to find a pic of him wrapped in this monkey towel to compare. Look at those long legs - the towel barely covers his bum now!

 

I think I'll end this entry with a few things I want to remember that I appreciate and delight in about Spencer at 364 days old...

• His fun sense of humor
• His competitive streak (not always fun to witness, but he comes by it honestly!)
• His kind heart and empathetic nature
• His love of mushroom
• His newly discovered reading ability (we pretty much have a full-on reader now) and love of books
• His ability to have conversations - it's such a joy to talk with him!
• His concentration when working on a LEGO project
• His love of hearing stories - real stories about him, Daddy's or Mommy's life, or crazy made-up tales that Daddy tells after dinner
• The enthusiastic way he collaborated with Daddy on an "iPad Success Plan" last week after we had an issue with unauthorized usage (with the babysitter)
• His love of playing and listening to music
• The deep, deep belly laugh that no one brings out in him quite like Daddy
• They way he's always ready for an adventure 

Happy birthday (almost), my beautiful boy!

5 in 5

Our little boy is going to turn 5 in 5 days. How can that be, I ask you? 

“I know I can't make time slow down, can't hold our life as it is in a freeze frame or slow my children's inexorable journeys into adulthood and lives of their own. But I can celebrate those journeys by bearing witness to them, by paying attention, and, perhaps most of all, by carrying on with my own growth and becoming." - Katrina Kenison, The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir