Seth Turns Five!

This was a bittersweet day for me--five is big number! We're officially crossing into "big kid" territory now. I'm not sure I'm ready for him to grow up so quickly, as awesome as it is to watch him learn & grow!

We started off the morning with his birthday cereal and the same truck balloon he's picked out for years

We had a last-minute shift in vacation plans, which meant moving Seth's party to his actual birthday instead of Saturday. Which meant we had swimming lessons in the morning, a party in the afternoon, and packing all evening! A crazy day, but worth it to celebrate Seth.

Seth picked his party theme this year: Bad Piggies. He LOVES that game. You design a car, then race it around a course either trying to get three stars, or trying to blow up the car (guess which one Seth chooses to do?). 

I'm so not good at this party planning thing, but I managed to come up with a few great games for the kids to play. Of course, they were all outside games and we woke up that morning to a downpour that NEVER LET UP. So I had to make some last-minute adjustments to the plans.

Decorating is also not my gift, but I did enough to please Seth:

Seth actually made the poster above.

It says "SETH!" (with a few mistakes crossed out)

Activity #1: Painting wooden cars to race (if it hadn't rained, that is)

Activity #2: Pin the piggies in the car:

Activity #3: Making our own Bad Piggies masks:

Six little Bad Piggies

Then it was cake time, which is all Seth had been asking about since the party started.

I was very happy with how his cake turned out!

This was a lot of fun to make! I had one of the Primary girls in our ward who wanted to be a pastry chef come over and help me (she did a fantastic job!), plus Seth helped. He made the third star, plus helped me assemble the car.

Just a little bit excited about the cake

Blowing out the candles

(I love Catherine's little face peeking over the counter)

The car was the first thing eaten--every kid got a piece! (Not sure why they were so excited about it--I can't imagine it tasted that great, but sugar is sugar when you're a kid!). I didn't get a picture of the cake itself, but Seth picked lemon cake with raspberry icing (I'm obviously raising him right!). I did dye the cake green to match the Bad Piggies, which he thought was pretty cool.

Then it was present time, which was INSANE. I spent most of my time trying to keep one of Seth's friends from opening all the presents before Seth did! 

I asked that Seth's gifts be very simple--he's spoiled enough as it is! Some of his favorites were a bag of cotton candy, a box of granola bars, and bubble gum.  

Catherine had a very special present for Seth. A day or two before, Seth had found a wooley bear caterpillar outside (just like the one he adored last fall). He brought it inside, made it a house and got it some food. It would have eaten dinner at the table with us if Dad hadn't objected. 

Sadly, during an after-dinner visit Catherine got a hold of the caterpillar and was...less than gentle with it. Seth was in tears when I told him his caterpillar was probably going to die. And so, after a plea on my ward's Facebook page, I found a friend whose kids just happened to have a caterpillar they were willing to give to Seth.

This was Catherine's gift: 

A new caterpillar!

It was a big hit at the party.

(Cute side-story: by some miracle the mangled caterpillar managed to survive the night. When Seth got up the next morning and saw it was still moving, he was so excited. "Mom! Heavenly Father and Jesus made my caterpillar all better!" It did die a day or two later, but by then he had another caterpillar and didn't seem too upset by the event).

We had Seth's birthday dinner (Panera mac & cheese with butterfly noodles, corn on the cob and green beans from our garden) with the Oliveras, then opened family gifts with Grandpa & Grandma Mikesell over Skype. This was Seth's favorite gift from the Mikesells: 

Firefighter and policeman hats and outfits to play dress-up with!

He was also pleased with his gifts from Mom & Dad: a package of Lego wheels (nothing but wheels and axles so he can make cars to his heart's content) and a remote control car: 

Happy Birthday, my not-so-little Seth Man!

We love you!

Summertime Kids

We play hard. 

Sometimes too hard:

Seth spends all day outside, only coming in when he's so red he matches his shirt

(from heat, not sunburn--I'm very diligent with his sunscreen): 

We do fun things to keep entertained, like making sidewalk paint: 

Cornstarch is great fun: 

Seth is getting better at containing the mess-making: 

Funny how paint attracts all the kids in the neighborhood: 

Independence Day

We had a fantastic 4th of July this year--one of my very favorites! We got started a few days before with this art project for Seth's school:

 I was a little stressed about how this project was going to go down, but they both did great! And no huge messes to clean up!

And here they are, wearing their creations for 4th of July (one day Seth is going to regret the stupid faces he pulls for pictures):

Then it was off to the party! Despite the heat and humidity (which is even more awesome when you're pregnant), we had a fantastic time: 

Catherine was on the trampoline as much as possible.

She only left when the big kids came and would pop back in as soon as they left.

Seth had a great time on the slip and slide

(minus the one time he tried to run up the slide and fell on his back)

Catherine discovered the waterballoon stash and disposed of quite a few.

She was not pleased when Daddy threw a waterballoon at her, however.

Thanks to the antics of some older kids, Seth decided he would pull out our wagon and ride it down the hill. Of course he consistently rode down backwards, and thus had no steering, but he made it down several times without  breaking any bones (to my surprise).

Catherine likes the heat and humidity about as much as I do.

For the first year, Seth wanted to be right by the fireworks.

Jon & I were shocked.

We were having so much fun that we ended up staying much later than planned. 

Luckily Catherine was entertained by jumping on the couch and watching Sprout in the family room.

Seth wasn't sure about the whole sparkler thing.

He was very, very careful while holding it.

Catherine did one sparkler and decided sparklers weren't her thing.

We ended up staying until 9:30, which is crazy late for us and our kids--we were having so much fun we didn't notice the time! It was a fantastic 4th of July with so many great friends. We're hoping we can do it again next year!

(My favorite part of the night? The grand firework finale, which involved a teenage boy holding a lit firework in each hand while singing "The Star Spangled Banner")

We waited to use the poppers until we had more room for throwing. The kids had a great time popping them all over our steps. We even attracted a hoard of neighbor kids who wanted in on the action. 

Happy Fourth!

Swimming Lessons

Seth loves swimming, but isn't totally comfortable in the water. And by that I mean he HATES getting his face wet. So we figured some swimming lessons would do him good (plus double as his P.E. class for school). We signed up with our good friends so he would have a buddy and crossed our fingers he'd survive without too much trauma!

Three swimmers, ready for class

(Catherine was not thrilled that she wasn't enrolled)

Seth took this picture of the pool.

His favorite part was walking to the deep end (11 feet) and watching people dive

Seems excited about being in the water...for now.

Catherine was stuck in the swings during lessons, which was mostly okay with her.

She also entertained herself by coming up with fashionable outfits to wear to lessons: 

Nothing like rainboots and shorts!

And, displaying her new obsession: 

Lightning McQueen shirt and toys (or, as she calls them, "Diding McGeen").

We had to borrow one of Seth's old shirts--they don't make them for girls!

And, my personal favorite: 

She got a lot of compliments on her Buzz Lightyear outfit 

Seth made great strides during lessons! He loved the kickboards and would happily swim or float as long as his teacher was holding him up. He would put his head underwater once each lesson just to satisfy his teachers (and me), but he wouldn't swim with his face in the water. But I'm very happy with what he did learn! We'll be doing this next year, too.

The last day of swimming lessons (which also happened to be Seth's birthday) was supposed to be a fun day--just diving for rings and playing in the water. But we woke up that morning to rain--heavy, steady rain. It was like a Tucson monsoon out there. We heard one thunder crash at 8:30, but nothing else, so we headed off to lessons in the pouring rain.

The teachers handed out "report cards", then gave the kids a choice: either get in the pool and play in the rain, or just get their free icees and go home. Every single kid in Seth's class chose to play in the pool...except Seth. He sat under the pavilion happily eating his icee and watching his classmates get drenched: 

Work Party

And now some photos from the great annual AMSAA Picnic:

 

Seth on the slide. He took off at a run as soon as he spotted it.

Catherine, offended by some unknown person/activity after just a few minutes on the slide.

She refused to go back on the rest of the time we were there.

Jonny and the Princess (pigtails! Yay!)

Seth has started this really awesome habit of pulling the dorkiest faces for the camera.

Example above.

Stealing Mommy's sunglasses

The kids were quite pleased with the whole situation. 

There were playgrounds, swings, icees and face painting: 

Yes, he picked the smiley-face flower himself.

Yes, he'll regret this decision one day.

Catherine was the real shocker. I tried to paint her face at the Memorial Day breakfast and she was royally offended by the attempt. So I didn't even bother trying this time. Once she realized what was going on, she spent a decent amount of time observing the painting of Seth's face. Realizing that he was apparently not suffering from the painting, she decided to take a look at the available options. It only took her a second to decide what she wanted. She hopped up on the bench Seth vacated and pointed out the design to the painter, all without any assistance or interpretation from either me or Jon. I was quite amused. And here is what she picked: 

A Mr. Matt flag heart. 

Two of the things Catherine loves most, all in one design.

She spent the rest of the afternoon reaching up and gently touching the paint just to see if it was still there.

Much to my surprise, Seth did NOT spend the rest of the afternoon on the slide. He found something even better:

A firetruck, which they have on display every year, and which he has never cared about before.

I'm not sure if it's the age or if it's Seth, but he's in this phase where he'll pepper you with constant questions about a topic until he's satisfied. It can be really fun if I have the time and energy to answer. Not so fun when I'm actually trying to concentrate on something.

But it wasn't me being interrogated this time! I let Seth pester the firemen for probably 20-30 minutes before I came to provide relief. By the time I got over there the firefighter announced that Seth was all trained and ready to join the crew. I think he was only half-joking. 

Catherine joins the fun. She's a great driver.

Two babies in a firetruck

Trying on the headphones.

Possibly they're a bit big.

We stayed in that truck for another 30-40 minutes. About halfway through another crew came to relieve the first crew. Seth was thrilled--fresh ears for all his questions. I was amazed by the detail he was asking about--I had no idea he was this interested in fire trucks or firefighters. I asked him on the drive home if he wanted to be a fireman now. He rolled his eyes and said, "No, Mom! I want to be an animal doctor!" (This has been his response for years now, despite the fact that he really doesn't care about doctors or animals very much).

And this was the scene about three minutes after we got into the van to head home: 

Looks like we wore the Princess out

Little does Seth know that this was probably our last year attending the picnic. It's getting too pricey for all of us to come (I guarantee the four of us did not eat $50 in mediocre barbecued meat and icees), plus they always plan it in June when it's hot and humid. As much as pregnant Megan disliked the picnic, I can only anticipate that Megan-with-a-hot-and-grumpy-infant will enjoy the experience even less. It was fun while it lasted, I guess!