Fun in the Month of August

So here it is, our last month of Summer fun. 

Week 1 started with us going to our neightborhood pool. Little Tucker is getting pretty good at kicking his feet in the water. 

The next night we got to finally do something we've been waiting all Summer to do. We got to FINALLY get ice cream from the ice cream truck. The kids were beyond excited. We heard the ice cream truck while the kids were in the bath. So I quickly got them out and and dressed and we took off out the front door to catch up to the truck. We finally caught him and the kids got to pick out an ice cream treat. So fun!

 On Wednesday we went to the Rogers Aquatic Center. 

Thursday we went to eat lunch at "The Wooden Spoon"

Friday night we had an outdoor movie night. We watched "Brave" and the kids loved it. 

Week 2 began with Glow ring toss, We made the rings out of glow sticks and the kids really loved it. 

Tuesday we made giant bubbles. These are always a hit and this time was no exception.

On Wednesday we had a pool party with the Lowdens. The pool was awesome and even though the kids could only touch on the stairs, they still swam around with their "puddle jumpers" and loved it.

Tanner didn't want to leave. 

Even little Tucker enjoyed it

I love this one of Tanner and his little buddies.

Look at this cute little body after the pool, before i got him dressed. 

Thursday we went over to Bella Vista for the Carmike Cinema Kid's Series. We saw "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" Tanner and Bailey both really liked it and Tucker was such a champ. 

Then on Friday we went to the Benton County Fair. The kids loved the rides but I think their favorite part was getting to hold the baby chicks. 

Here are my sweet babes at the fair. 

Week 3 started with a dress up day. The kids literally spent all day changing their dress-up clothes. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. They have so  much fun wearing their dress up clothes. 

Tuesday we made cherry pie pops. These were quick, easy and delicious. 

Wednesday we played a ping pong water game. We put ping pong balls on golf tees and then we used squirt guns to shoot them off. Tanner really loved this. Bailey had to get right up close to the balls in order to actually hit them. I was cracking up. 

The next day we made gummy bear Popsicles with some friends. Bailey was a big fan of them. 

They were just sprite and gummy bears frozen in a Popsicle mold. 

Then on Friday we went to dinner with Nanny and Papa at "The Wooden Spoon". We enjoyed it so much the first time that we couldn't wait to go back. 

That's the end of our summer activities because we left for Florida the next week.

We had such an amazing summer, full of fun and adventures. We feel blessed that we were able to spend so much time with our friends and family. 

But, with that said, I am genuinely looking forward to Fall.  

Tanner's Super 5th Birthday

This weekend we celebrated Tanner's 5th birthday. 5 years--- how is that possible? My oldest is 5 years old? It's kind of killing me. 

This year we had a superhero party for Tanner. He loved it. When he saw the party all set up he ran up to me and gave me a hug and said "It looks awesome". That's all I needed to hear to make it worthwhile. Love that boy!

We had his party at our neighborhood clubhouse, which was great. 

I went with a vintage comic book superhero theme. It was so fun. I loved the word cutouts and the bright colors.

I just love how it came together. 

We served fruits and vegetables. But these fruits and veggies gave you super powers when you ate them. Awesome huh? 

And these fun jello cups. 

Oh and super subs. 

We had mighty cupcakes for the kids. 

and "POP! corn"

And the centerpiece of the table was the three layer hero cake. Don't you love the chevron? This cake took way too long. I'm too much of a perfectionist for my own good. And it isn't even perfect, I finally had to stop messing with it. But it still looks good. Just not perfect. 

Here is the drink table. We serve "Lightening Lemonade" and "Invisible H2O"

And here are the kid tables

Centerpieces and table settings. The little red boxes are the favor boxes. They had super bubbles, super word bracelets, super candy and stickers inside. 

Here is Tanner and I by the food table- so much work for this party but he seriously loved his party. 

Family shot in front of the food table. Love these kids and my ever- patient husband. 

We invited 7 of Tanner's little friends. Can I just tell you how different 7 boys are from 7 girls. Tanner party was a little more wild. But it was still so fun. Each boy got to pick out a cape. 

They looked so adorable in their capes.  After putting on their capes we headed outside to play some super games. First up was the "Super Muscle Training"

I had made this barbell from Styrofoam balls and a wooden dowel.
I mostly love Tanner's face in these pictures. So EPIC. 

Then it was time for "Superhero Speed Training"
the boys ran around the cones as fast as they could. It was so cute with their little capes billowing behind them. 

And the last game was a water balloon toss- "Superhero Accuracy Training"

Then it was back inside the Superhero clubhouse for lunch and presents. 

Don't you love all these boys in their cute little capes. 

The favor boxes were a big hit. 

Tanner got some super cool stuff for his birthday. Lucky little boy. 

And after presents we sang "Happy Birthday" to Tanner and cut into his super cake. He was so cute. He just smiled the entire time as we sang to him. 

His cake was red, white and blue inside- Tanner loved it. He said it looked like a "Captain America" cake. 

All in all, it was a super party for all those little superheroes. Tanner loved it and I think all the boys did too. I love this little hero of mine and I can't believe he is 5 years old. 

We were lucky to have Nanny, Papa, Aunt Laura, Uncle Joseph, Aunt Julieta, Clark, Danny, Stephanie, Aaron and Blake also at his party. It was fun to have some family time.

Today is Tanner's actual birthday and so we got to open his family gifts with everyone. Then we had his birthday dinner. This year Tanner requested "Chinese noodles" which is what he calls chow mien. So I made yakisoba, sweet and sour chicken and pot stickers. He was pretty excited. 

I think it was a pretty good birthday for the boy. 

I just can hardly stand that it has been 5 years since this little man entered our world. He is a sweet, tender boy and he is an awesome big brother. He constantly makes me laugh and I'm so happy to be his mom.
Happy 5th Birthday Tanner!