Birthday party day

Zoe was kept upstairs during the party, but once she was outside, she headed right into the bounce house! Funny dog!!

Daddy jumps for joy that BC is FOUR

Pretty girl Little Miss (remember her as a baby??) having fun playing BC's new game called "Cootie"

Mimi Bear loved every second of snuggling Little Miss' brother. He snoozed like this for a LONG time! :)

The kids on the hunt for the spilled candy!

The kids were so funny with how cautiously they "whacked" the pinata. We finally had Uncle Fred get in there and get the candy on the move! :)

Make a wish, birthday boy!

Lunchtime with friends...although BC didn't eat a thing! It's lucky I got this shot of him sitting still!

Bear Cub hanging out with baby cousin A

Slip-n-slide fun!

Bouncing babes

Uncle T with cousin A...isn't she cute in her sun hat?!?! :)

Saturday's "Poison Dart Frog" party was a success! The weather was beautiful...although HOT! The kids didn't mind at all...they were in and out of the bounce house and kiddie pools. They were all over the place! We had about 7 kids here and a couple of cutie babies too. We ordered pizza and had the frog cupcakes for dessert. It was tiring day, but worth every second...I love knowing that we celebrated Bear Cub up BIG and that he had a fun party! The kids loved the frog pinata and really liked the Clue/Scavenger Hunt we did to find their goody bags. They actually did BEST with the structured activities like those!

It was a great weekend - filled with lots of happy memories. :) Although I will say that I'm glad that birthdays only come around once a year! Ha!

Our birthday boy!

Good morning, birthday boy!!

It's party time!

Lovin' those gifts!

Getting ready to open one of his gifts from my best friend & her family. Zoe looks on...

Whoa! Awesome praying mantis glasses! Here he is, in praying mantis position...

On our way for the day...insect glasses on, bug "catcher" on his lap...yes, that is some of my plastic ware...

Helping make his cat...Oreo.

Checking out the birds...looking more like a big kid these days!

He ASKED me to take a picture of him on this...too funny!

All smiles checking out some interesting critter...

Hmmm...interesting sign, don'tcha think?

He loved feeding the goats.

Fountain fun at the zoo! It was SO hot...I was tempted to jump in too!

Checking out his rocket balloons...

So fun!

Ribbit! Frog cupcakes for my frog scientist! :)

Bear Cub had a great birthday -- a great birthday WEEKEND, really! :) On Friday, he woke up to find his door decorated and the downstairs with balloons and best of all, a stack of presents on the table. We headed to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and to my disbelief...he ate an entire donut and FOUR donut holes! This is a LOT for him! Maybe a sign of a new appetite with his old age? I sure hope so! After Dunkin, it was on to the mall to Build-a-Bear. Just that morning a coupon came to my email for a free build. I couldn't pass it up! He chose a cat and had fun making it -- although it wasn't AS cool as it was the first time he did in the Fall. So by this point, it was about 10:30 and we were on our way to the zoo...the original plan for the day. BC konked out in the car on the way...early for him! After a quick snooze, we headed in to the zoo and had a fantastic day together! I LOVE to take him to the zoo because he is so interested and inquisitive about all of the animals and exhibits. His love of nature and animals is pretty amazing. The big exhibit that we were anxious to see were the Geckos. I guess it's a traveling one, so our zoo is about to lose it. BC loves lizards so this was a great thing for him to see!

Once home, we let Bear Cub open his presents from us and he was SO excited to do that! The boy LOVES presents! :) He later went to the pool with Daddy, while I stayed back and baked the frog cupcakes for his party. OH! And then, that evening, his bounce house arrived! We had a blast jumping until it was time for bed. Needless to say, after his BUSY and FUN birthday, he fell asleep immediately. Me too! :)

Enjoy the pictures from Friday! I'll post about his party next...that was a success and lots of fun for the kids. Another busy day though!

I am SO thankful for July 9...and the fact that our precious boy was brought into this world on that day. I wish I could have held him and loved on him in person on that day, four years ago. But I like to hope and think that I had a moment of happiness wash over me when he was born. And I sure hope that he felt loved by us, all the way around the world...on that very special day.

I've loved him from the beginning...and I will love that birthday boy of mine forever! :)

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAR CUB!!!

Phew! What a fun and busy day we've had here! Well, Bear Cub is officially FOUR now! WOW!! I couldn't turn my computer off for the night without posting a quick note about his fantastic birthday. He had a happy and fun-filled day and we are all tired out from it! And the best part of all?? We still have his birthday party tomorrow to look forward to! I promise I'll post pictures later this weekend - we'll have lots to share, I'm sure!

Until then, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my bright, vivacious, ENERGETIC, handsome, fun, and dramatic boy!

Bear Cub...WE LOVE YOU!!! :)

More pics from last week! :)

From our beach trip...before heading into the downtown area to eat the first night. We had sooooo much fun! It was the most relaxing 2 days we've had in a long time. What a way to celebrate our 10 years of marriage. :)

Lovin' life on the beach...it was never really, really sunny, but that was nice because it made our beach time much more comfortable! We both read a lot and just relaxed. Yes, that is a bucket near me...no sand castles were built, but we did find BC some great shells. Even on our getaway, we couldn't help but think of our lil man! :)

Hunk-a-hunk-a burnin' love! :) Here's my man, looking all dapper and handsome as he relaxed under our awesome sun shade that we bought this year. It's so nice to have a place to escape the bright sun when it's out! Way to save on sunburns too!

The beach view from our room's balcony. The beach was SO quiet and peaceful...of course, we were there during the work week, but I have a feeling that it's just a mellow kind of beach at any time. It was gorgeous! We saw LOTS of dolphins and enjoyed some pretty rough surf (for a Gulf beach, anyway!) when we swam. Fun, fun!

Bear Cub and Mama...with my birthday cake that they surprised me with. YUM!! :)

Busch Gardens FUN

Despite all of our rain this weekend, we did head out with our fairly new Busch Gardens passes and got in a few good hours of fun before the rain was just too much. It's a great park, with a lot to see and do...and best of all, it's only about 40 minutes from home! :) We may even go back again this week...if we can dry up some from all of our rain!

BC and Daddy, getting up close and personal with a Bengal Tiger. Pretty cool observation area that you can climb up into...all glassed in, so no fear!

Thumping his chest like a gorilla...he said he could hear the thumping as we were trying to find our way.

Checking out the jeep (He LOVES Jeeps) for the safari ride. Unfortunately, he was still too short to ride the ride. :( Maybe soon. OR...we'll just put lifts in his shoes!

One with the hippo??

Happy 4th of July and an early b-day celebration for Bear Cub!

An interesting "Cheese!" face -- I think he was too anxious to get into his presents! :)

G & G smile as BC eyes those gifts...

Bear Cub loved his "Cars" musical birthday card!

And he was very excited about his "First Nature Encyclopedia" book. Perfect gift for Mr. Science! :)

Very serious about opening his presents as Grandma looks on...

G & G got BC an awesome "Moon in My Room" -- it's a moon that you mount on the wall that shows the different phases as it lights up. Bear Cub was SO excited about this! Cute story...G & G got this for him because each time he spends the night at their house, he wants to look at the moon with them. So now, every time he looks at his moon in his room, he can think of Grandma & Grandpa! And...do some science learning too! :)

Proud parents...with our almost 4-year-old. OH MY!

Make a wish!

Check out his black mouth and teeth from his piece of cookie cake! WOW!! Looks like the creature from the deep!

Hello and happy 4th of July! I hope you've had a fantastic weekend! I have lots of pictures to post from last week, but I thought I'd start with today's events. Grandma and Grandpa Bear came over today...a VERY rainy 4th for us...to celebrate Bear Cub's birthday a bit early. They were so sweet to bring over a Lightning McQueen cookie cake (YUM!) and an armful of gifts for our big kid. BC was SO ready and excited to open his gifts...he got into them as soon as they got through the door. Imagine what next weekend's birthday party will be like...we may have to hide his presents until it's time to open them! :) We had a great lunch with G & G, got his new moon all hooked up, and just enjoyed the day together. A big THANK YOU to G & G for helping make BC's upcoming birthday so special and happy. This boy is going to be celebrated all week long!

Be on the lookout for more pics...I've got a bunch!

Another week gone by...already!?!?

Hello again! Ok, so I MUST plug in my camera and upload some pictures for you guys! It was another busy, but fantastic week for us. Yesterday my sweetheart and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary!! Wow...looking back on the past decade, it's hard for me to even keep track of all that we've done and been through together. It has been an amazing adventure, one that I cherish with my whole being...and one that will keep on coming for many years to come! I love my husband soooooooooooooo much -- there is just no other way to say it. He and I were truly meant to be together (although neither one of us would have dreamed that back in 10th grade when we met!) and he is so completely my soul mate. :)

With that said, we had a great anniversary....away for 2 nights at a beautiful beach! Oh my...it was relaxing, quiet, peaceful, filled with yummy meals and easy conversations. There were NO time outs, throwing sand, unwanted splashes, or "Can I be excused NOW?" asked at the dinner table. You guessed it...Bear Cub stayed home with Mimi....thank you, thank you, to Mimi Bear!! It really was a wonderful getaway - such an awesome surprise for me from my man -- and just a much-needed break from our usually busy, hectic life.

Bear Cub did well with his Mimi, going on lots of bug hunts, playing outside, going on a field trip to Pet Smart (one of his faves), and doing some artwork. I think they kept each other busy just fine! :)

I WILL post pictures this weekend sometime. But until then, please have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend! I am proud to be an American and thankful that we have all that we have here in our country. One trip to Russia (especially 2!) would make any American remember to appreciate all that we have and all that we are potentially able to have, here in the States. Happy Birthday, America!! More to come soon...I promise I'll get back to my better blogging ways! I'm still in vacation mode I think.... ;)