7 Years Different; 7 Years the Same

7 years of birthdays in this town… Same spot, Age 2 and Age 8.

John's 2nd Birthday

Photos posted at my mom's request!

Cupcake tower returns for another 2nd birthday!

On your birthday, you get to eat bubbles

Carter's 7th Birthday

Waiting for his party guests to arrive

Horsing around with pals before the climb

More pals, waiting their turn

Headed to the top

Presents!

Ice cream!

All the May birthday boys in his class

Weekend Getaway to Estes Park

The final piece of Thomas' birthday surprise was a weekend trip to Estes Park where we celebrated Thomas, Marc and Rob's 40ths together. Okay, it was early for Marc and Rob, but they didn't seem to mind. We managed to mostly keep the trip a surprise from all of the guys. Details here. 

We chose Colorado because it was vaguely centrally located, when considering couples from Atlanta, Houston and San Diego. We also liked it because of the beautiful views, hiking, breweries, and some of the features of the house we rented, including the hot tub and wood burning fireplace. 

The boys

View from one of our four decks (plus, mimosas!)

On our hike to Cub Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

Cub Lake (did I mention about the beauty?!)

After our hike, we drove to Lyon, CO to the Oskar Blues Brewpub, where they happened to be having Octoberfest, complete with a polka band

Shannon, Rachel and I might have been a little lost in the polka music, had we not had our husbands to share their (apparently vast) knowledge of polka with us. Case in point, before the polka band even started to play, there was a prediction that this particular song would be 4th on the set list. And they were right.

The guy in the band is playing a washboard tie

After Octoberfest polka fun, the serendipitous fun kept coming!  Just around the corner we found this amazing place.

It was so great to spend the weekend together. Our children were well cared for by a hugely appreciated group of family, friends and babysitters. They seemed to have a really terrific weekend, too!

Thomas' 40th

Thomas turned 40 last month! 

Carter helped with the decorating, which included posting a little relevant math he worked on for his dad

Thomas' main present was a series of 4 fun excursions 

The night of his birthday, we went to hibachi with the family

It was the very same restaurant that Cart Cart took Thomas and Park to on their birthdays almost every year, growing up

But back then, they didn't create a personalized cake for you, complete with the picture they took of you with a fun umbrella

The night after T's birthday, we went to see a taping of Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me at the Fox

And then the Saturday night after his birthday, we had a cocktail party for T, complete with ONLY pink drinks, because they are his favorite (and he's old enough to not be ashamed)

Our friends Lance and Stephanie hosted the party (THANK YOU!) and Thomas got to share some of his favorite stories from his 40 years

It was a small gathering, but it included old friends, new friends and family

The fourth, and final, fun thing was kept as a surprise until last Friday when I picked Thomas up early from work... More on that tomorrow!

John's First Birthday

John turned one on the 16th, and we had a small party for him yesterday. 

Waiting for cake

Cake!

He liked eating cake

The big kids got to open his presents after he went to bed

Things About Carter's Birthday

[Elizabeth: I blogged previously about Carter's sixth birthday party, but needed to post on his actual birthday. Since he's a big 6-year-old now, I invited Carter to compose this post. He dictated and I typed. We'll let him do this on occasion going forward -- and hopefully he'll take over the typing sooner rather than later.]

I am six. I had cupcakes at school for my birthday. I ate them on the wall close to the field and close to the playground. After all that, I went back to learning. 

John and I had a good time at Fellini's Pizza

I liked having my picture taken close to the wishing well

Mama Helen is watching me open my presents

I found my bicycle below the back deck. I had a good time sitting on it and rolling it into the garage

I like my tight rope that I got for my real birthday 

Carter's 6th Birthday Party

Carter turns 6 on Wednesday, and we had his party at a park this afternoon. The weather was perfect!

At one point, we found that the boys had banded together to carry most of a tree onto the playground.
Here, they are marching it back to the woods where they found it (we presume). 

His cake! 

To go along with the baseball theme, we had hotdogs and crackerjacks.

And a baseball piñata!

More Birthday Pics

Here are a few more pictures from Carter's birthday festivities - opening presents the day after his party and on his actual birthday.

He's superman suited AND cowboy booted.