The Party

Max loved his cake.

By the time the family arrived to celebrate, Max had maybe loved it a little too much ;)

Max's cousin, Noah, really enjoyed the bubble gun - ha.

And for the first time since I can remember, Max actually ate cake. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Having a kid who doesn't like sweets and won't let you brush his teeth, is not such a bad thing!

The Cake

Mommy Pig has already face-planted. Hopefully it makes it until tomorrow's party!

Happy Birthday Max!!

Happy 8th Birthday, Max!!

This year we decided to do something a little different... We decided to take Max to the toy store to pick out his own gift using the money he got from his two Grandma's and his birthparents, Melody & Freddy. I don't usually take Max shopping since he's a runner and has to be in the stroller, and that makes it hard to shop and push him. And he tries to grab everything off the shelves within reach, so it's just easier for me to leave him home with Steve when I need to run to the store. I'm not sure the last time he was in a ToysRUs. When we walked in, his eyes got wide and he said, "Wow!!!" Ha.

He loves Peppa Pig, so we just went straight to the Peppa toys...

He picked out a couple of small Peppa figures and the Peppa Pig playhouse, and practically had it out of the box before we even got to the car ;)

Then we hit Chik-Fil-A to get fries for dinner. I had already taken fries to his class at school to celebrate (since he doesn't really like cake or cookies); but hey, on your birthday you get fries twice!

He loves it! So thank you Grandma Sharron, Grandma Joan, Melody, and Freddy! There's a couple more things we'll let him open on Sunday at the family party...

Earlier, he opened the shoes he's wearing above. They have Peppa Pig charms on them.

Sunday, we'll celebrate with the family, and eat a Peppa Pig cake, of course. And Piper has a big bottle of ketchup ready to wrap for him! Yum-o.

The shoe charms came from Amazon if anyone wants to know. You can get them for $7 HERE. There is a bigger set HERE for $8, but it wouldn't have shipped in time for his birthday ;)

Ketchup

Max loves ketchup. Every morning at school, he has ketchup on his hashbrown. And then, instead of syrup, he puts ketchup on his pancake, or waffle, or whatever the main course is at breakfast. And then, if there's any leftover, he just eats it with his spoon. Mmm.
Piper got him a big bottle of ketchup for his birthday that's coming up this week ;)

Someone in our house is playing an instrument!

So, we've had a piano sitting in our living room for 10 years. No one knows how to play it. I've asked Piper if she wanted to take lessons. Nope.
But randomly last year she said she wanted to play the violin.
And lucky her, when she switched schools this year, they offered violin!
Here is her first concert. I was quite impressed :) Most of these kids started playing in September and this concert was in January.

Snow Shoeing w/the 5th Grade

I joined Piper's class for their snow shoeing field trip in January. It was perfect weather!

Speed Limit: Snow - Lots of it!

Hoar frost - very cool and pretty in person. Our guide told us all about the how and why it forms, but I can't remember now ;)

The Muffin Paper

So some time before Christmas, Steve had noticed a discarded muffin wrapper next to the tv. And it bugged him. But instead of just picking it up and throwing it away, he stewed over it. And then one night he brought it to our attention. (I'm not a big tv watcher these days and hadn't even noticed it.)

He wanted Piper to throw it away because she was the one who left it there. Makes sense. Except if it bugged him so bad, why didn't he just pick it up??? He left the room and Piper looked over at me and said, "Mom - don't pick it up. Let's see what Dad does if we leave it there."

So we did. It sat there for a couple of weeks I think. 

Then, the week before Christmas, I told Piper we should throw it away as a Christmas gift to him. BUT, we should document it and print out the pictures, and wrap them as a gift.

So we did. He thought it was hilarious.

Here are the pictures ;)

3rd Annual Winter San Diego Trip

Piper and I flew to San Diego a couple weekends ago. Just for the day! Steve and his business partner pay for everything they can, including their mortgage, on an American Express. So they get lots of SkyMiles. But since Max can't fly (sensory issues stink!), we really don't go that many places. So we decided we should maybe start taking quick day trips with Piper. There are several places, like San Diego, that we can get to in a couple of hours, spend the day, and fly back. We don't have to get a hotel. Or even pack a suitcase.

So we flew down to San Diego to just spend the day at the beach! So fun!

It was kind of cold and windy, but who cares! We were at the beach! We started out at Coronado Beach.

I even painted my toenails for the trip.

Let the seashell hunt begin!

First time seeing a jellyfish!

Now, that's a sand castle!

Sun!! We headed to Silver Strand Beach after grabbing lunch at Walmart. Yeah, we're fancy like that.

I think due to recent storms, there were extra shells on the beach.

And sand dollars!!!! We found over 20 in 2 hours!

We always bring a few ziplock baggies to bring home shells.

Happy girl!

So many shells!

When we got home, we had to rinse and sort all the goodness. (And yes, the sand dollars get lighter after they dry out {and die, apparently}.)