Happy 6th Birthday James!

Today we celebrated James' birthday.  It has been 3 months since we have seen him... and he has grown so much!

 While James opened gifts, MD played with James' cousins.  :)

 He's opening the gifts the children picked out for him -- new beyblades and a beyblade night light/flash light.

 E found this Jack in the Box and had a blast with it... guess what he will be getting for  his birthday?!

 MD and his buddy, James:

 So James requested this shirt a long time ago and we waited til his birthday to complete it.  This is how it went:
Ed, his dad sent me a picture and I printed it and colored it in so I knew what it would look like in the end:

 Then I traced it on freezer paper and cut it out and began making the stencil:

 This is the first stage - black fabric paint first:

 Second was the blue paint:

 Third was the gray metallic paint and the finished product!

 I added the 6 on the back of his shirt last.

Happy Birthday James!!!!!

Another busy day

We had planned to go bowling... we showed up and the place was dark!  Turns out the water was off and they could not "legally" let us in.  I had to explain this to my disappointed children and 3 other children that I had with me.  They promised they wouldn't drink any water.  Well, I had to explain it was more complicated than that... Like how they could not use the bathroom if they needed to go, etc. etc...

So we slowly dragged our feet away from the bowling alley and we all buckled up and headed to the park!  They played for about an hour and a half and wanted to leave!  But they played well together while we were there!

 So we left and headed over to Jenna's house and...

 had a great time!

 Check him out!

 Too funny, huh?!  What a life!  ;)

 Afterwards we came home and quickly set out again...

 To see Jim at the hospital.  He is better now.  But, he has been in the hospital since Monday  night. His heart was not doing so well and he has had a few tests done, lots of needles poked in him, and lots of cameras in him to see how his heart is.  He has been attached to some monitor or other for the last 4 nights and the children couldn't see him while he was in ICU.  (This made MG very sad and she cried while I was visiting Jim that night.)  Now, he can be out of his bed.   He is no longer hooked up but is still being monitored.  His heart is doing better... nothing too critical. So we are relieved...

 But at least this visit, he was allowed children as visitors.  The children were happy to see him and have him explain all the things that he went through the last 4 nights and what all those tubes were still connected to him!

 And true to Jim's character, he put the boys on the bed and gave each of them a ride!  :0

And we found a nice place to put his bouquet of flowers that they made for him:

 After a few hours the children were done.  MD wanted to explore the monitors and we thougt it best to not explore that in case he hitsome button that would start up something!  You never know with MD.  He is very curious!!!  So we eventually left Jim, grabbed a bite to eat so we could avoid the traffic back home.  On the way home we decided to stop at Toys R Us to pick up a birthday present for James who is turning 6 tomorrow.  SIX!!! I can hardly believe it!  And look what my goofy boy found... a Fred Flintstone car.  I had to take a picture he looked so cute!  :)

I am so happy Friday is here.... Tomorrow we will start out slow, hang out at home, do a few fun projects, and then end up at James' birthday party for the rest of the evening.  It will be fun!

Gilroy Gardens

It was a nice day to venture out to Gilroy Gardens with some friends.
We started out at the car track -- MD drove this time:

 Then MD and MG went for a drive in this car:

 While E drove Sydney and me around a different track:

 After a walk around we hopped onto my favorite ride -- the Rainbow Garden, which just floats slowly down like a lazy river... and it was very relaxing for this momma:

 While our friends went on the ferris wheel, we walked through the monarch garden -- although it's not monarch butterfly time, so we settled for reading all the signs about the various plants:

 We met up with our friends again and went on the tram for the first time -- it was always closed when we were there last:

 We went over the Monarch Garden -- fun!  (would have been better if the butterflies were out flying around!)

 Then they were hungry, so while our friends went on a larger roller coaster (that my 3 are not quite comfortable with yet), we walked up ahead and watched a show while having our lunch:

 I love the new tin boxes we purchased!

 We heard a show going on and ran over... just in time for the ending... and photo time!  You know who that is right?!  My 3 love that book about Max and the Wild Things!

 And the long awaited... water play area!

 This was their favorite

 They were here for awhile...

 And I mean it...

 They spent a long time here!

 After what seemed like ages - they moved on!  How cool is this?!  See the bucket pouring out on those children?!  FUN!!!  (but not for my 3 -- they did the work and watched as the water poured on other children)

 E and Sydney stuck together for awhile:

 Then E and MD went way up there...

 And slid down here:

After that they needed a treat...

 and ICEE does wonders for hot children!

 Simple joys in life!!!!

Off for a few more rides -- hot air balloon:

 E went with our friends -- he's somewhere behind those bushes!

MG agreed to go on another roller coaster:

 While MD went on this Banana Boat ride with my friend's husband.  I got off the roller coaster just in time to see him on it.  It made me nauseous just to watch him!

 While MD was on the ride above, E was on this with Sydney and Audrey.  Today, he was very independent and was more than willing to ride with his friends, rather than cling on to me.  I am hopeful this will be a sign that when he starts preschool he will go from me without any tears!

 A train ride!!!

 Choo-chooooo!!!!

 Then MD saw this:

 And we waited in line...

 It was a short line though...

 And on the Garlic ride we went!!!!

 The artichoke:

  MG and friends:

 And our day ended at the playground... when the announcement was made that they park would close in 15 minutes!  Yes, we were there when the park opened at 11 AM and we left when the park closed at 5 PM.

What another fantastic day!!!  We LOVE summer with friends!!!!!