andrew's 9th birthday

We made it to the Ramada tropics!  

It might have been freezing outside, but it felt like a tropical paradise in here!  This year for his birthday Andrew wanted to do something different.  He did not want a party with all his friends.  He requested to stay in a hotel with his cousins and swim.  Mission accomplished.

We arrived early before the crowds and got a ton of swimming in!  It had been a while since they had been swimming and they loved it!

I think Kerigan did this approximately 947 times.

She loved going down the slide with Evie!

My birthday boy!  I could hardly get him to stop for a picture!

So I got a few more of this girl!

Andrew coming down the big slide!

Grandpa and Grandma, Papa and Ga Ga and Uncle Jay and Aunt Rachel showed up later to join us for pizza and cake!  Of course I didn't get pictures of anyone else!  Too busy keeping up with the kids!

The kids had fun in the arcade too while I set up for the party!

I enjoyed making things easier this year!  Just ordered Big Hero 6 plates and napkins, made a banner, and ordered an awesome cake from my nephew's wife who makes all our cakes and cookies!  She is amazing!

We set up poolside and had a great view!

Opening gifts at dinner!  He got Pie Face from Papa, a much anticipated gift and one I had been avoiding all through the Christmas season- ha!  I am not a fan of messy games.  But when Andrew found out about this game, it was at the top of his birthday list.

Pepperoni pizza for the birthday boy!

How can he be 9?

After dinner, cake and gift opening- the kids had round 2 of swimming and we said goodbye to the grandparents!

Then we took the kids back to our room to open gifts from mommy and daddy.

It was Ninja Turtles and Skylanders...

They would laugh and laugh because Andrew could never get these boxes open and every box he opened was taped shut!

I love tricking him and wrapping smaller gifts inside a bigger box.  

This was the Skylander he wanted most- Bowser to go with his new superchargers game.

Love my kids so much!

After gifts, this happened.

We had so.much.fun playing this game.

And I thought, what better place to play a messy game but in a hotel room?  Ha!

I think she loved it the most!

She kept wanting to turn the knob until she got pie face!  Ha!

This game was definitely a hit!

A fun memory from Andrew's 9th birthday.

Daddy even got in on the fun!

And for documentation purposes... mommy too.  Ha!

They also had fun kicking the hover ball up and down the hotel hallways!

And making popcorn with Andrew's new popcorn bowl!

Popcorn and sleepover #2 with cousins!  I'm pretty sure Andrew would say this was his best weekend ever.

In the morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel.

And of course, went swimming again!

Time to head home- Pirate faces!

And it wouldn't be Andrew's birthday without a blizzard warning!

We went shopping for necessities.  Ha!  The kids got one snow day and it wasn't nearly as much snow as they predicted.  It has been a low key winter with not much snow!

And just like that.  We have a 9 year old.  Happy birthday buddy!  You will always be our "Big Hero..." no matter what age!

big hero 9

 So, my little man is 9.  Just like that.  He went from a tiny 4lb preemie to a rock star 9 year old.  

And I seriously just feel like I blinked and it happened.  

He wanted a Baymax theme (Big Hero 6) this year, so we just changed the 6 to a 9 and it's all good! 

 We had kind of an extended celebration because the kids didn't have school the Friday before so my mom was coming to stay overnight on Thursday and watch them on Friday (his birthday was Saturday).  My mom brought cookies for his class on Thursday and I snuck down the hall to join in the fun!

Andrew's classmates were loving the cookies!  And they love Andrew- can you tell?  Just a little bit.  Ha!

Then Andrew went to pass out cookies to his old teachers in the building.  Because we love them.  Mrs. Nichols basically changed Andrew's life in first grade.  He would not be where he is today without her.  She saw potential in him and taught this kid how to read.  And he took off!  And never looked back.

And the fun Mrs. Friday.  She and Andrew formed a special bond right from the start and they loved to tease each other.  Andrew had so much fun in 2nd grade and learned a ton in her class!  I'm so bummed I never even took a picture with his current teacher, Mrs. Pfantz!  But we love her too!  He's been blessed with a string of amazing teachers. 

After school Ga Ga and Papa came over and of course we had to go to Zeno's.  It's the best pizza and we love going there on birthdays for free cheese bread!

Two of his favorite people.

The 3 on the other side of the table!  Kerigan had tumbling so she and daddy joined us when she was done!

Andrew is always so sweet and tender-hearted about his family.  He treasures family time.  He came downstairs and wrote this sweet little note.  "Yay it's my birthday.  This is going to be a special day.  I am getting older now (insert me sobbing here).  I can't wait to see all my cousins, friends and grandparents.  And best of all eat chocolate cake (ha!).  I can't wait to see everyone.  From Andrew.  I just love this boy!

My mom and Jim brought their gifts for him to open a little early.

A pop up popcorn bowl, just like Papa's!  Can you tell he was excited?  Ha!

And all the fixins' to make and eat popcorn!

And he hit the jackpot with Skylanders from Ga Ga.  She knows the way to this kid's heart for sure!

Then of course we had to make popcorn!

They had so much fun and had popcorn and movie night with Ga Ga.  The kids love it when she spends the night- they all have a sleep over in the basement and have the best time.  These are memories my kids will cherish forever.

Then the next night, I had a little surprise up my sleeve...

After school I drove halfway to meet Jason and pick up our nephew Jayden.  Andrew pretty much loves nothing in this world more than this kid.  These two are like brothers.  I guess it makes sense their daddies are brothers and good friends, too.  They are so lucky to grow up together.  I could not wait to walk in the door with Jayden.  I knew nothing in the world would make Andrew happier.

Daddy took the boys to the movie- Kung Fu Panda 3 that had just come out that night and Andrew had been begging to go.  A movie night with his cousin= best birthday surprise ever.

After the movie these two came home and played, built a tent in the basement and stayed up late.  Andrew was so excited to wake up on his birthday morning with his best buddy!

In the morning Andrew opened Kerigan's gift and the kids played for a while.

Love.These.Two.

I love Andrew's bedhead!  Ha!  The sign of a perfect sleepover.  Kerigan had been so excited to get Andrew this game.  They had both been wanting it and have had fun playing together.

Jayden had a basketball game in the late morning so we jumped in the car and headed back to meet up with Evie to watch!  This made Kerigan's day!  In case you couldn't tell.  Ha!

After the game we all had lunch at Chick-fil-a and headed to our next destination for some major birthday fun!

Birthday part 2- coming soon!