Carter Wayne turned 4 on Saturday. I’m pretty sure it was the hottest day of the year to have his party. I just keep reminding myself that at least it didn’t rain!

I told him Happy Birthday that morning when he woke up. About a half hour later when we were getting ready to eat breakfast, he asked if his birthday was tomorrow. I told him, No – it’s today! He told me he wouldn’t be 4 until he had his cake. And then later that morning he asked me how much longer until he turned 5…

We sang Happy Birthday to him and let him blow out candles on his donut for breakfast that morning. In case you’re wondering, he’s taken a liking to sleeping in his undies…

The kids playing in the yard and pool:

Time for presents!

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out his candles:

After most of everyone left, we moved inside and he got to play with some of his new stuff with Dinah and Paul:

Then we moved outside and Carter gave rides on his Hummer. Dinah also broke in Carter’s bike and showed him how to pedal it:

Happy Birthday Carter – I love you!!!

2 from the Zoo and 2 from the Shipman Picnic

Let the summer fun begin! Last Monday Carter, Sam and I met up with some of my friends from work at Chuck E Cheese. Carter LOVES Chuck E Cheese and I wouldn’t tell him where we were going. Needless to say, when we pulled in, he was more than excited. He played games and rode some rides with Becky. Sam also did a few games – anything that involved a ball he was all about!

Sam riding rides and playing a bowling game:

Rinna with her BFF, Barney:

Carter LOVED the roller coaster rides. We even got Sam on one:

The next night we headed to Shipman for the picnic. Carter wasn’t the biggest fan of the parade thanks to the sirens. Once the sirens were over Sam got into the parade and picked up a few pieces of candy and then decided he need to eat them all.

After the parade, Jake, Emily, Dinah & Paul came over to ride some rides. One our way:

Carter, Dinah & Paul on the ferris wheel:

Next was the cars…a ride all the kids could enjoy:

Carter & Dinah and then Carter & Paul rode the spaceships…looks like they a blast:

Sam & Brea rode the cars a second time while the older kids were riding the spaceships. I don’t have any pictures of their second ride, and it’s probably not a bad thing. Sam cried the whole time! I felt like a horrible parent watch him cry as the ride was going on. Every time their car came by he cried even harder and put his arms out. No Parent of the Year award here!

Jump house:

The last ride of the night was the Cobra. When we first got there I asked Carter if he wanted to ride it…he said “No.” After their second time on the ferris wheel, we had 1 ticket left. Brad and I told him he could use the ticket if he rode the Cobra…without hesitation he wanted to ride! Brad bought a ticket to ride with him and then Dinah decided she wanted to ride, too, so Jake rode with her.

The kids loved it and Dinah even had her hands in the air at one point! I thought for sure Carter was going to puke when he got off! He didn’t look so hot. I was actually a little nauseated just watching the ride! We had a great time with the kids and family. Due to the late night we only got 5 hours of sleep before it was time to go to work the next morning!

Friday we went to Purina Farms with Sheri, Brea and Grandma & Grandpa Slusser. It was a fun place to go to – only took a couple hours and it was free!

Sam LOVED the animals. When he grows up he’s going to play sports or something involved with animals.

The dog show was fun, too!

The day after the Fourth of July, we made a trip to the zoo. It was a warm one!

This monkey was sitting up on a tree when we walked over. Sam was eating popcorn, and the monkey came right down to the glass and sat in front of Sam.

The kid area…always a favorite place to go:

He FINALLY fell asleep for about 30 minutes. The cold air from the penguin house woke him up and he was super excited to see the penguins and kept saying ‘penguin’ to anyone and everyone.