A Seventh Birthday Celebration

How it's possible that this boy is already seven is beyond me!

 This year, he decided he wanted to celebrate his birthday at Fast Lanes.  He invited several boys from school and his longtime buddy, Chase, to join him in the celebration.  Seeing him around his friends is always fun because this goofy side of him shows that we don't see often when he's alone.

The kids got to do a couple rounds of Laser Tag, which Riley just loved!  Harper came to the party also, and Amy had warned me that she didn't like laser tag so I was kind of expecting Riley to not want to try it either, but she went right along with the big kids and had a blast!

They also go to do a round of go-karts before coming back to the party room for pizza, cookie cake, and presents.  We ended the party with arcade time and racked up tons of tickets.  It was a really fun party!

He was supposed to be off school for May break on his birthday, but happened to be in session because of snow day makeup days so Riley and headed over to take him lunch and a little birthday treat.

 Riley still tells him he's six all the time and drives him nuts!  He's very proud of the fact that he's now SEVEN and makes sure she knows it.  Right now, he is obsessed with iPad {Minecraft and Plants vs. Zombies - ???}, playing Mario on the Wii, drawing pictures {he uses YouTube to help him learn how to draw his favorite characters from these games}, using his booklight late at night and early in the morning to read books {A-Z Mysteries and Cam Jansen are his current favorites}, and playing soccer. And as much as he loves school, he's really ready for the year to end and to have his summer break!

Let's Play Catch Up

Ooops...I let a month pass by.  Wow, what a busy month!

I hate it when I let a month pass.  Not good for my 2015 goal, huh?  But geez...this past month was filled to the max.  Here's a peak of what has been going on, and some of these will have longer posts coming this week (I hope).

 

Jarrod completed his first Half Ironman in New Orleans.  I thought he was nuts when he first brought this whole thing up last fall, and while I still do....I'm so proud of him for setting his mind to this and accomplishing it.  He finished the race in just under 7 hours.  For those unfamiliar, it's a 1.2 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike ride and ends with a 13.1 mile run.  We did some projects around the house while he was gone, including making Welcome Home signs for him.

It seems our healthy living example is paying off, too.  Gavin participated in Running Club again this year and participated in two runs - the Wildcat Rumble was a 2 mile run on school property, and then the two of us ran the Gold Rush 5K together, his longest run to date. 

 

 

 Our 5K was perfect.  Neither of us was feeling great, but we were determined to complete the race.  I promised him we could take it slow and walk if needed, but also encouraged him to push himself and keep going as much as he could.  The sweet kid held my hand during almost the entire race.  I couldn't believe it...never expected him to reach for my hand while running!  I just drank it all in.  Such a special race.  We finished in about 45 minutes and he was so proud of himself.  He kept saying how much longer it was than he was expecting.  Haha!  I wonder if he will sign up for it again next year.

Well...now that I've wasted most of the morning trying to transfer iPhone pics and ended up having to do a Restore to my phone (GRRR!) I will have to keep the catching up going another day.  Sigh.