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!

Someone turned SIX....

Yes, weeks ago.  But that's the way things have been going around here lately.  Ten days before Gavin's birthday we celebrated with a party at a local gymnastics place.  In the end, I know he had fun, but I can't help but feel bad.  We wanted to avoid a meal time party so we picked the only date they had available for an afternoon party, even though it wasn't my ideal date.  Soon after, we realized it was Easter weekend.  Strike one.  Then, the day I printed his invites and got them all ready for him to take to school the next day, he brought home an invite for the EXACT same day/time from another classmate and she had invited the whole class.  Strike two.  So, only three friends his age plus our favorite friend, Harper, were at the party.  But, we made the best of it and had a great time!

 

Now, imagine a dark gym with kids that won't stop moving.  Recipe for disaster when you think about photographs.  So...ignore the quality and just enjoy the memories we captured. 

 

Of course we had delicious cupcakes from Mara...Pokemon themed, since that's our newest obsession.  I thought we'd have a ton leftover since we had a lot of 'no' rsvps....we didn't.  Ha!

This handsome kid makes me so happy!

 
Gavin's birthday celebration was just beginning.  Our trip to Mexico was the weekend before his birthday, so he got to celebrate with Mimi, Rosi, and Sandy while they were here.  Plus, he received gifts in the mail, had the chance to take cupcakes to school (thanks to a snow make-up day...he wasn't even supposed to have school on his birthday!), had lunch at McDonald's with Riley and me, got presents the day of from Mommy and Daddy, and we had Chickfila and Yum Yos the weekend after, his pick.  Lucky kid!

Happy birthday, Gavin Jack.  You have no idea how much you mean to us.  Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon and back (and back around again!)  We will ALWAYS be here for you, no matter how old you get!

Before we get to our trip...

I hate blogging out of order, just as I hated scrapbooking out of order.  As I went to start uploading pics from the trip, I realized there are a lot of things from early November I didn't post!  So...I need to photo dump some things.  It will make me feel better to get caught up.  :)

First of all - we went to First Fridays at the square for their Holiday Toyland.  Holy madness!  I think everyone that lives in our town was there.  But, we wanted to take Gavin because there were special guests - Mater, Lightning McQueen and Holly Shiftwell (maybe...I can't really remember now who the third one was) were there!  We didn't tell him where we were going, and I loved capturing his reaction on camera.  

 How fun!  Unfortunately, he wasn't as excited as we'd hoped...once he saw them, the excitement was over and I couldn't get him to stand for any cute pictures.  Oh well...

  

Then we had the birthday party of our best buddy, Lucas!  A pajama party with homemade pizzas and a movie...how cool is that???

And this little cutie just bigger and more adorable this month...

And lastly....Gavin had his Thanksgiving Pow Wow at school the day before we headed to Ohio.  We were invited to pick him up a few minutes early so we could take pictures of the event.  He was so darn cute!

Now I feel caught up!  :)  

Yum Yos!

Last week, we lucked out and our friends Amy and Lucas were free during the day so we got to have lunch and some Yum Yos with them!  Amy is a working mom, so these playdates don't get to happen often, and Gavin sure does love spending time with his buddy Lucas, especially if Yum Yos is involved!  :)