Tuesday, August 28, 2012

SEVEN!!!!!!!!!!

I honestly don't know where the past 7 years have gone because they have literally passed in the blink of an eye.  I feel like Carter was my baby just the other day but that is hardly the case as my big boy is 7!  We had a birthday week of celebrating instead of just a day but Carter deserved every bit of it.  He is a happy, caring, considerate, kind, and smart boy who I am overjoyed to call mine.


The celebration started with dinner out the night before his birthday at his restaurant of choice...he picked Chili's so off we went to get the party started.  He was so cute and was very shocked when the entire wait staff came out singing and clapping all for him!  He and Hudson both loved the molten chocolate cake with ice cream that they gave him for dessert.


The next day was his actual birthday and we started with his favorite breakfast of Krispy Kreme and chocolate milk.  Hudson loved finishing off Carter's leftovers in the birthday seat as you can see!



After breakfast we were off to Durham to the museum for the day.  They had a blast and loved showing Daddy around on his first trip there.






We had to ride in the number "7" car in honor of the birthday boy!


The boys really loved the mist area at the museum and it was the perfect place for them to cool off and expend some energy before we headed to lunch.


 We went to lunch at Satisfaction in Brightleaf Square.
 Carter had meet the teacher at 2:00 so we rushed over to school to meet Miss Cillian, his new teacher.  She was really sweet and even noticed that it was Carter's birthday so he felt really special.  We headed home for quick naps and then were off to t-ball for Carter's last game of the summer.  We came home and had his favorite dinner complete with his requested chocolate Olympic-themed birthday cake!  After that it was finally time for presents!





 He was really excited about all of his presents...a tent, an Appalachian jersey, a new ds game, a Nerf football, and a few books he's been checking out at Target!


 The tent was definitely a hit with all three of them.
 Can you tell Hudson is just a little excited?!?!
 Saturday meant birthday party time!  The day was not a typical August day as the temp was around 70 and I don't think we saw the sun at all but we made the most of it and thankfully the rain and storms stayed away so we could have his party. 













 We came home to check out all his new goodies and he really racked up with some great gifts.
 Ashley and Andrew gave him Battleship and had to break it in and play the first game!
 Ashley looks less than thrilled but I think she had fun playing with the birthday boy!  She and Andrew were a huge help at the party and I can't thank them enough for being there for us!
We had an exhausting but fun week celebrating the newest 7 year old.  He was spoiled rotten with gifts and fun and is so lucky to have such awesome friends and family to shower him with love and presents!

Family Fun in the Mountains

 Last weekend we took a much-anticipated trip to the mountains to visit Brian and Sarah.  We've been trying to plan a weekend all summer and finally found one that worked for everyone.  We headed up Friday and packed as much fun as possible into every bit of our trip.


The lake at Grandfather was so much fun for the boys on Saturday.  They have a beach area with lots of sand toys, climbing things, and a pirate ship playground and also lots of fun things to do in the water if you can brave the cold water!  Carter was the first one in and thankfully Brian swam with him as I wasn't quite ready to freeze.  They have a trampoline and slide out in the water so Carter really loved that.  Hudson and Coop spent most of their time on the beach and Carter would swim for a little while and then come warm up on the beach before his next round.


they have a beach volleyball court and we were all schooled by Brian and Sarah!  We had a great time playing and I had the bruises on my hands to prove it.  Sarah and I rented kayaks and paddleboats and went exploring the lake with the boys and made the most of our cloudy day at the beach.


Sweet Sarah had the big boys hooked up with their own little room, with movies, markers, and basically anything boys could want!  She made smores for the boys over the fire pit on our last night and before we knew it it was time to come back home.  We had an awesome time and look forward to heading back as soon as we can!  Thanks Brian and Sarah!