Happy Thanksgiving

This year we stayed in town, and though we always miss family (sniff, sniff) we are so thankful for our nearby friends who are like family. We had a wonderful Friendsgiving with the Osmonds and the Livingstons.

 All the food was soooo good!

Yes it was hot enough to swim!

More from our week...
Menchie's when school got out. A+ teacher conferences for these three.

 Wonder! We loved it.

 Theses guys are meditating:

Art Hub for Kids:

Grocery shopping for favorite holiday snacks:

 Grabbing dinner while we shop:

It might be 90 degrees this week, but we still found some fall:

 Our driveway looks like this:

 Cute holiday kitchen helper:

Played video games, a few movie nights in. Tyler babysat for the first time while we had dinner with some friends close by! Christmas shopping! Gorgeous hike with the whole family, and Rey played at the dog park.

Thankful for the abundance of good we have in our lives, and this lovely holiday week we've spent together so far.

A Couple Sports Down

Not this one. Audrey's team won their first playoff game today, and she was invited to try out for the All-Star team. Go Audrey and Pinkalicious!

Cole played his last game today. He loved soccer and I hope he plays again next year. This year was "getting the hang of things", but he had a smile on his face the whole time and almost scored a goal today. Go #2!

Tyler had his last Fall Ball game today, too. We split up so I got updates from Adam. Tyler's been doing great at the batting cage, hitting 70mph balls. He hit great today and scored 3 points for the Dodgers. It was a fun season at Hart, and playing with our friend, Coach Jack, was great. Nice to have a little breather before Spring.

Happy Birthday Cole!

Cole is six! Started the day with two of his favorites: soccer and donuts. Go Rebels!

This year we had a big ol' party for Cole. He has a large primary class at church and I've always wanted to throw a party and invite them all, plus a few school friends. Found a groupon for Fun & Fit Gym, and our friend and gymnastics coach, Ryan, did the party. He was so great and the kids loooved him. They were so well behaved and had a blast - I'd say it was a hit.

Love all these fun friends, and Tyler was a great sport and had fun with the six year olds.

(Audrey was across the street mini-golfing for Ellie's birthday party!)

Warm-ups:

They did rope swing, trampoline, foam pit, obstacle course, races, hide and seek, and more.

Time for pizza and cupcakes:

I mean, does Cole seem relaxed and happy or what?! I think he felt pretty special.

Came home and opened a bazillion presents. Even though Cole told me "Clothes aren't for birthdays", I'm glad I got him new pjs:

Pikachu is a new obsession. Santa will be filling stockings with Pokémon cards, I think.

Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate Cole. He will be busy for weeks with his new toys and building Lego sets galore with Tyler. Cole is such a great little boy. He's doing fantastic in school, he's reading simple books and loves science and computer lab days. He loves soccer and baseball, and will often cheer against the Dodgers just to bug us all (I guess he's letting us know he's his own man.) Cole's most favorite thing in the world is playing with Tyler and Audrey. He loves them so much, and nothing is as fun if they aren't there. He's really funny and silly, and though he's grown up faster in some aspects, I'm happy to cherish where he is, and remind him often he'll "always be my baby even when he's 40." It's the best gift watching him grow up - our fun-loving (not so) littlest guy. Happy six, my love.

Six Flags for Cole

Today we had a "Cole's in charge at Six Flags" morning. We rode all his favorite rides, and he enjoyed telling us what was next. The park was crowded because of the three day weekend. After a few hours he said, "Can we go home and play Xbox?" So we did. Thanks to our super fun friends for hanging out with us. Emily Moffat brought him this killer lollipop:

Man with a plan:

Bartys rode rides with us for a while. Love these friends:

Chips, pretzels, sodas - all of Cole's favorite snacks:

Beautiful day with these three, and despite the crowds we really had a lovely time.

After Xbox and a pause for piano lessons and batting cage, Cole picked Return of the Jedi for movie night, and popcorn - "but only if it's kettle corn."

Darling Derby, and Birthday Kick-Off

Darling Derby last night with the awesome Activity Day girls. Audrey and Adam made her metallic money car.

The girls always make the best cars:

I wish I took more pictures! 1st through 4th place girls - Ellie, Audrey, Allie, and Anna:

All our girls, minus Leah who is cut off on the right! I need to find a better shot, but they are all so cute and fun, and I think they had a great time.

All her awards:

With the Darling Derby over, it is officially time to celebrate Cole! Cupcakes delivered to Kindergarten today, since no school tomorrow. Cole with his good buddies Davin, Felix, and Ryan:

Six! I can't believe it. I still have two days with a 5 year old.

Cole's teacher sent this picture today - Kindergarten and 6th grade buddies. Tyler's class is Cole's buddy class, which is so fun. Love they are all at school together this year.