Kate in a box

 The Angelos kids came over to see Jaydon and wish him a Happy Birthday which allowed us to wish Alex a Happy Birthday!  Kate enjoyed the box that Jaydon's gift came in!

Etienne's First Birthday Party

We braved the amazing wind storm that left much of Western Washington without power for hours if not days and headed across the ferry for Etienne's first birthday party.  It was a fun chance to visit with family and watch E get into his birthday cake.  Auntie Jenny also made sure there were a couple special things for Jaydon (pinata and a football cake) to celebrate his birthday too.

Kate got to 'drive' waiting in the ferry line, which turned into dancing - see below video

 

I have never been on a ferry rocking this much, we tried walking in a straight line around the cabin and it was impossible. The kids were sure laughing and having fun getting tossed around. 

Playing a little homemade version of ping pong

Cousin Jim helping Kate get some water

Lucy and Cousin Sam playing together

Kate eating some fish with Jim

'Etienne' opening his present from his aunts and uncles on his moms side (Smoldons and Maxons), as you can see Lucy is never far from gift opening and will always offer to help, just like her mom

Cousin Sam and Uncle Bill

E got a water table with fishing poles

Jaydon got a fun costume kit from Helene and Pierre (Jen's in-laws)

The winds were so bad that both ways into Jen's house ended up being blocked by trees and power lines so L had people park at the boat launch and picked them up in the whaler.

Pinata time

Cake time

The first taste!

He loved it!

Jaydon and Lucy enjoyed their dessert too

Kate did not get her afternoon nap so by the time we were getting ready to leave she was passed out!

It was a wonderful day celebrating a couple pretty cool birthday boys.  We were very lucky to come home to power!  Our house only lost it for about 4 hours while we were gone and so we were never in a place without it.  Jen ended up losing it later that night for about 18 hours and I knew many friends who were without it, right in our area for two days.  We certainly got lucky!

Jaydon Turns 6

We woke up and got to celebrate Jaydon turning 6 before heading out to brave the huge storm and get to my sister's house.  Jaydon wanted blueberry pancakes and then he got to open some presents.  We even skyped in Granny and Papa to open their gift!  It was a fun low key morning before a crazy rest of the day.

Time just keeps flying by.  Jaydon is still so into baseball and football but currently baseball is his main love (probably because the Seahawks haven't really started yet).  He says he wants to be a professional baseball player when he grows up.  He is still amazing with numbers (a couple days ago he counted by 2s, 3s 4s then 7s, we were quite impressed then Dad came home and wasn't as impressed because 7s are touchdowns so he is used to that.  Dad asked him if he could do 8s which he could (with a little more time to think) and then he even counted by 5 1/2s it was crazy).  He is just starting to figure out reading and sounding out words which is fun to see.  He has two loose teeth and is quite excited and can often be found wiggling them.  He does enjoy his sisters though takes full advantage of being the older brother and does his share of picking on Lucy at times.  We are all excited for him to start Kindergarten this fall - he is so ready!  He also continues to have such a caring heart, he is pretty empathetic and really thinks about how others are doing and feeling.  We are so lucky to have him in our family!

Showing Granny and Papa the gift they got him.  He is thrilled, he can now play baseball in the yard on his own

Grandpa Jim, Grandma Jo, Aunt Megan and Uncle Patrick got him a very cool camera, as you can see in the photo below he was really excited.

Jaydon''s 6th Birthday Party

We had a wonderful evening celebrating Jaydon!  He again wanted to have a baseball game in the cul de sac.  This year we added pizza to it as that has quickly become a favorite food of his.  He had a wonderful time and we only got sprinkled on a couple of times.  

The kids eating dinner on the grass

Elvis had to wait behind the fence while the kids ate - it was so hard

Ahh, freedom!  Cash and Elvis helped clean up - funny enough they mostly got the left over carrots and ranch

Teaching Caedan a bit about baseball

Even baby Lena got in on the action

Jaydon decided to use the tee

His friend Miles at bat

I went with 51 and 33 because they both add up to 6, then someone asked whose numbers those were and he could tell you.

Oh, he got a huge piece of cake because he wanted some of the mitt and the ball - sooo much frosting.

Our Uncles exchange student from Italy, Carolina with Kate

Present time

Around the house

We've continued to enjoy our neighborhood and the remainder of summer!

Some water table fun with the neighborhood girls

Jeremy and Bob replaced the fence between our yards

Lucy has loved helping me wash the dishes, though maybe she doesn't love having pictures taken to document this fact.

Kate even got to have a playdate with Lena while Jaydon had his friend Miles (Lena's older brother) over for awhile.

Life is good, we are healthy and busy and having fun.