Soccer studs

We've ventured into the world of team sports. This fall is the first time we've signed Stokes and William up for a sport and we chose soccer to start us off. It's perfect that the season started right around their birthday because we got soccer gear for birthday presents! The boys got cleats from MaSha, shin guards and soccer socks from Aunt Tara & family and soccer balls and a goal from Aunt Ashley and family. Ready for fall soccer fun! You'll find us at the soccer fields bright and (very) early every Saturday morning. :)

With their coaches

Doing some "drills"

Hanging out and watching brothers

Go William!

They're so adorable!

Future Ronaldos! ;)

FOUR years old

Friday, August 25th marked the boys's 4th birthday. We really didn't do a whole lot that day out of the ordinary because we had done their birthday party the Saturday before and were leaving for the beach on the 26th, which, let's be honest, is the best birthday present ever!

We woke them up with balloons in their room.

Good morning, birthday boys!

Playing with balloons

Poor Ryan - he wasn't in a great mood that morning.

Hey! We're Four!

We got them dressed (in their birthday party fire truck outfits, of course!) and went downstairs for a special birthday breakfast of pancakes! With candles!

special birthday pancakes

William told me his wish and it was "for a birthday candle!" Wish granted. ;)

Then I made them sit on the steps and do the obligatory brother picture for their birthday.

Ryan was still not happy

Showing me how old they are!

Hahaha

I picked up Krispy Kreme donuts that morning and sent them to Ryan's special needs school on the bus to give to the kids in his class there. I sent Stokes and William's class popsicles for an afternoon treat and Rice Krispies treats for Ryan's after school class treat. Apparently the snacks all went over well! 

I picked them up early from school and Dada came and met us for dinner. We gave them a choice of what they wanted to eat and although "chocolate sandwiches" (aka Nutella sandwiches at home) was the overall winner, we went with the 2nd choice of Chick-Fil-A. We ate dinner there and let Stokes and William run amuck in the playground and they had such a great time playing with the other kids in there. Meanwhile, this little angel hung out with us at the table

In a much better mood than the morning

When we got home after dinner, we let the boys open up some of their cards from family and their presents from us.

Presents!

Ryan got magnet tiles that he loves
to play with at school.

Stokes and William got cool scooters

It was a great birthday, and I cannot believe I have four year olds now!

A "Blazing" Good Time

We had the boys's 4th birthday party the weekend before their birthday this year and had a "blazing" good time.

We invited some friends to join us at Fire Station #3 to do a tour of the fire station and then for a pizza lunch. 

The party started at 10:30 AM so we arrived about 5 or 10 minutes early and were surprised that no one appeared to be there. We rang the bell and knocked at the fire station door - no answer. We opened the door, which was unlocked, and went in. Didn't see a soul. We could hear calls coming in over the intercom but couldn't really make out what they were saying and were confused as to what was going on. I had a confirmed tour scheduled. We realized that there must have been a call that came in and the firemen had to leave to, you know, do their job (or whatever), but I think I was expecting a note on the door! Ha! Maybe something like, "Had to go put out a fire. Be back soon!" :) I mean, I know they have lots of time to write notes to moms of 4 year old birthday boys when there is an emergency going on. Kidding! Needless to say, it had me a little stressed out. I'd heard about fire station birthday parties from friends of mine, but I had never attended one and wasn't prepared for these situations. More guest started arriving and we were just standing around, dumbfounded (and taking pics of all the cute kids and chatting it up with the parents). After about 20 minutes, with no clue of when or if they'd be back, we started to call the pizza place to let them know to put the pizzas in the oven because we were coming early! Just as I was on the phone, the fire truck came cruising back up to the station. Perfect timing! I was able to tell the pizza place to hold off on cooking our pizzas and we go to do our tour.

This is us killing time and waiting for the firemen to come back...

Ready to party at GCFD Station #3

Party boys with Dada and Mama

Two handsome fellas

Caroline with a fire truck

Ava Lane loves her Auntie Katie!!!!

My cutie boy William

The truck pulled back in to the fire station - YAY!!!!
The party is saved.

The fire men and EMS woman were so engaging and sweet with the kids. They showed them all the gear that they wear and one of the firemen put it all on, piece by piece, describing each article and it's use, despite VERY hot temperatures. They answered questions, talked about fire safety, posed for pictures and let all the kids sit in the fire truck. They even slid down the pole for the kids' amusement. Before we left, they passed out fire hats, coloring books, stickers and pencils. It was great!

Fireman Justin with his gear

Stokes feeling how heavy the coat is

Kids were enthralled

Answering questions...

In the fireman zone

Cool!

Ryan liked it, too!

Fireman Justin with the birthday boys!

The Atwoods

The Caudills

My pretty friends and their girls, taking a little break

Loving the fire truck!
Stokes and Ben

Cutie boys!

So much fun!

He thinks he IS a fireman. Or as he likes to say,
"fighter fighter" instead of fire fighter. LOL

Jackson and Amanda

C in the truck

Bo and Bennett playing on the pole

Hanging around the fire station

Hey, RyRy!!!!

Peerys in the truck

All (or most!) of the cute birthday party kiddos &
our awesome firemen + EMS!

Video of the firemen sliding down the pole:

We then walked over to Marco's Pizza for lunch. Our pizza came out of the oven within minutes, all the snacks I put out beforehand were big hits and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had "fire" (icing) cupcakes for dessert and the best part is that there was no clean up! We just threw all of our plates and cups away, packed up the stuff that I had brought, put it all in the car and we were done. How easy is that?!?!

The birthday banner!
You can see later what happened...I must have
brought the wrong kind of tape.

Candy bar and "Adopt a Puppy"

Flames - red, orange and yellow pepper strips in ranch dressing

Fruit and Flames (and Ryan's honey bear cup ha!)

"Fire" cupcakes

Time to EAT!

Singing "Happy Birthday" and bringing cupcakes

Make a wish...

Helping Ryan blow out his candle

dig in!
p.s. My poor birthday banner in the background!
I fixed it once or twice and then just let it go. :(

Special egg-free cupcake from home that was iced
to look like all the others!

Yummy!

Open up!

Ava Lane and Caroline playing with their puppies

Attacking the candy bar

Peery birthday fun

Ryan and Auntie Heather
Shout-out to Heather for taking pics at Marco's for me :)

After the party, we needed to kill some time so we took the boys over to MaSha's house so that they could open their presents from her and then went to her pool. It was just perfect to cool down after a fun morning. The party and the swimming wore the kids out and everyone took a nice nap that afternoon.

Birthday presents from MaSha!

Stokes with his new soccer cleats

Ryan with Curious George and William with a new car

Playing with the new cars at the pool

Dada and Stokes

Ryan snoozing at the pool on a comfy float

That evening, the boys wore their fire truck pajamas, wore their new fire hats and had a blast. Stokes and William take turns "driving" Ryan's stander around the downstairs and tell us it's their fire truck. They make siren noises and it's hilarious!

Going to put out the fire!

Cuties had a great birthday party and a fun day!