One More Time with Feeling

Okay during the last 3 weeks, I think Parker had no less than 3 birthday celebrations,
I had one, Jeremy had one, we had a joint one,
and then there was our friend's baby's birthday
somewhere there in the middle.

So, last weekend we were barely able to muster up
enough enthusiasm for another birthday party;
this time with 5 middle-school boys.

There are a lot of "your mama is so fat..."
and "your mama is so dumb..." jokes.
I had no idea.

After a couple hours around our house hopped up on pizza and cupcakes,
we took them to Richmond Ice Zone where they could cool off.

Parker did awesome, this was only his 3rd time,
but he was tearin' it up out there.

Ah, boys.

First day of (gulp!) Middle School

What a cool kid, eh? Especially with those rad shoelaces!
He had a great first week in 6th grade.
He made 3 new friends right away and is fitting in just fine in his new school.
All the 8th graders seem like giants in comparison,
but he'll hit his growth spurt soon enough.
I was only a LITTLE misty-eyed when I dropped him off the first day.

End of Summer Wrap Up

So, the summer's officially over- happens every year after my birthday.

I was 31 this time. Shouldn't I have gotten 31 cupcakes?!?!

Celebrating growing old with style!

Over the summer break, Parker played with Legos
for about 6 hours every day.

We went to the zoo and saw some awesome animals,
like these baby tigers taking an afternoon nap.

Or these penguins, that seemed more than willing to pose for this picture.

Parker's favorite animals at the zoo are always the ones he gets to touch.
(And the ones with the stinkiest saliva, probably.)

Like this giraffe, who licked Parker's hand for about 10 minutes.

Jeremy is getting old, too- he turned 31 in August.

I got him a new watch. Just look at the gratitude in that expression!

Isaac, Katie, Lily and Hudson to visit one Sunday afternoon.
We took them to the awesome park designed for kids in wheelchairs,
and Lily had a blast zooming around everywhere.

And SOME of us took naps.

Parker is the big ONE ONE

Parker's birthday was yesterday!

He got a LOT of Legos.

He spent ALL DAY building those things.

Well, he did take a couple breaks to enjoy his birthday dinner
(homemade chili) and his birthday dessert
(homemade lemon pound cake).
And we took a trip to Ironbridge Sports Park to race go-karts
and hit some balls on the driving range.

What's that, you ask? A sunburn?
Oh no. That's just the RASH Parker gets when he gets so excited
about something that he can't stand it.
What, YOUR kid doesn't break out in a rash?!?!

It must be all the adrenaline or something.
This was the worst we've ever seen it!
Guess that means he was having a REALLY good time!

Happy Birthday, Parker!
(FYI, the rash disappeared about 2 minutes after the go-kart races were over.)