Birthday Babies!!!!

Caden turned four years old this past Monday! He has been so excited about his birthday and especially excited to have a party with his friends at school in Mrs. Christy's class. He LOVES him some Spiderman so we made Spiderman cupcakes and had a little party. He was so cute and excited! He had made invitations for all his friends and passed them out the morning of the party. SO SWEET! I love that little man!

There were several children absent the day of the party so Jordan was invited to sit next to his big bro and join in the fun!

Caden and Jordan getting "Spiderwebs" all over their little faces.


Chase, of course, enjoyed my Spiderman creation immensely!!


Jordan playing with his party favors after the party while we waited for Amaya to get out of school!

Papa and Nana sent both Amaya and Caden gift cards to do some shopping for their birthdays. Amaya will be eight on the 18th and we are having her party this coming Friday night so pictures will be posted after that. Amaya was given a gift card to Barnes and Noble (PERFECT FOR HER) and Caden to Toys 'R Us. We went to Barnes and Noble first and she was SO happy to find an entire section of Magic Tree House books.

Searching for books!

She made her choices and used her gift card and paid herself. She had me stand back and watch.

Now, it was Caden's turn. This toy display was of a talking caveman and you pushed a button to see what the toy (that cost $119.00 YIKES!) could do. Caden jumped about ten feet in the air when the caveman started shouting and turning flips and was a little wary of getting any closer.

I told you...that kid LOVES Spiderman! He picked a Spiderman Web Blaster and mask so now he can blast his family with spiderwebs all day long.

The sun was in his eyes. This is Caden after his shopping trip where he paid using his gift card himself without any help from mom and dad. He was also quite proud of himself. What a big guy!

The kids had a BLAST getting to do their own shopping and we had fun watching them.
Thanks Papa and Nana!!! We can't wait to see you guys!!

ZOO

Wednesdays are half-price days at the zoo and for our family that means it costs us $26 to go to the zoo and park in the zoo parking lot. Not too shabby when you think of how much EVERYTHING else costs for a family of five. We took Amaya out of school early and headed to the zoo as a special surprise trip for both Amaya and Caden's upcoming birthdays in October.
Amaya would have had me take a picture of her with every single animal out there if she could have talked me into it. Here are the children with the tortoise.


Jordan inside the MOLA (Museum of Living Art)

Caden wanted a picture of him "sitting on" the snake.

All three looking at the turtles swimming underwater.

Very cool. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that he never actually saw the snake.

Had to get an official MOLA pic for Amaya's Zoo Scrapbook

Inside the stagecoach in the Texas section. Note: Amaya is wearing her tiger shirt and tiger print headband in honor of our trip to the zoo.

Caden looking up into the water.

Then Amaya jumped in and Caden wasn't too sure about sharing his "water spot"
Amaya is holding a book that Grandma Pat bought her a few months ago from Barnes and Noble. It's called "Critters" and it's a guide to all the "critters" found in Texas. At the back there is a section where you can check off the animals you've seen and when and where you saw them. She was able to check A LOT of her animals off after visiting the Texas section and she was SO excited!

This was supposed to be a picture of everyone with the Bald Eagle for Duke since that is his favorite bird. However, you can't really see him so it just turns about to a cute pic of Chase and the kids.
The boys and I. Getting toward the end of trip and starting to feel a little tired and sleepy. Also, Jordan decided he needed to wear his "ba-pack" for the rest of the trip.

Jordan was the first one to spot the Texas Longhorn and the Paint horse but then started looking at his shoe before I could catch a shot of him pointing.

Caden's favorite part: the GORILLAS! He wanted his picture with the gorilla before we left and it was one of the last things we did. He was very happy.

I love the zoo when it's not a thousand degrees and without a thousand other people. It wasn't crowded and it was just a beautiful fun day with my family. The kids LOVE animals. I don't get it but I can certainly appreciate it. ;)

Sea World 2010

All loaded up and ready for some SEA WORLD!!

Jordan got so excited he fell asleep.

Caden (who never REALLY sleeps) was ready for some fun!



We checked in at the hotel and headed straight to Sea World.



Little Jordy was "aaah'ed" by the fish.

Amaya was an excellent tour guide.

We had planned to stay and catch the nighttime Shamu show but the rain was too much for these little ones and so we had to leave for the day.

The next morning we hit our (2nd)favorite breakfast spot: IHOP before heading back to Sea World.

Jordan was so excited that this time he couldn't sit still.

And that wasn't stressing Chase at all. Doesn't that smile look genuine?

You can't see them but that is the first roller coaster ride for Caden and the first for both Caden and Amaya to ride without an adult.

I could not stand the thought of playing in HOT sand when it was already a thousand degrees so I graciously decided to let Chase spend this special time with the kids while I stayed OUT of the sand pit.

It's like she doesn't even notice the heat. Sweet girl.

Caden too.

If my camera had been aimed a little more to the left it would have been a PERFECT shot of Amaya feeding the dolphin. Still, not too shabby.

Caden wanted to buy fish to feed the dolphins with his OWN money from his OWN wallet.

Having a blast and loving each other (for the moment).

Searching for a dolphin.

The Lost Lagoon in the water park section.

We tried to talk the child into heading over to a different more age-appropriate area so she could actually get her entire body wet. AND this is what she opted to do instead.

Jordan loved the water and the slide.

Jordan's first movie experience "Toy Story 3". He made it through half of the movie before Chase had to take him out but I blame the forty minutes of previews we had to endure before the movie even started. I think he would have made it through if we'd just been there for the movie part.

Where's Jordan???!!

THERE HE IS!

His favorite part of the trip: the hotel room closet.

We love Sea World and we LOVE San Antonio. We had a blast and are so blessed to have grandparents that want to send us on vacation. THANKS GRAM! And thanks Duke and Nana for the spending money for the kids.