A Whole Lot of Birthday Fun at Hero's

Saturday we had a joint birthday party for the boys at a kid's birthday party place called Hero's. Ben had been to a party there before and I had taken them to an open play, so they were both a bit familiar with it. We split the difference and had the party smack between both their birthdays, so Ben had to wait a few weeks after his and Nick has a few more weeks until his is officially 3. The place is great - you pretty much walk in with the kids and they do everything else! When we got there, the boys got to choice a shirt, bag or pillow case to color and have their friends sign. They both picked the bag and colored while waiting for their friends to arrive. 

After everyone arrived, they started in the bouncy houses. They have 3 inflatables for the kids. It was awesome because our party hostess, Caroline, entertained the kids, kept them wrangled and even took the little ones (18-20mo) on the inflatable slide so they could do it too while mom and dad relaxed and watched. 

They loved the big slide. Shocking that Nick liked it...

After about 20ish minutes on the inflatables, they moved over to the 'Sandlot' where they played parachute, balloons, tag, dance party and scooters. 

Next they did some carnival games like ring toss and bowling where each kid got to pick a prize. The birthday boys got big stuffed animals. Then we moved into the 1950s room for pizza and cupcakes. They have 3 party rooms; a 1950s, 1970s and 1980s room. The kids all ate pizza and the the boys each got a cupcake tower with there age in cupcakes to blow out candles. 

Hero's provided the pizza and cupcakes as part of the party. They also got candy to decorate their cupcakes.

The boys got some awesome gifts from all their friends and have been playing with all of their new games and toys since their party! 

I Love You Through and Through

Nick and I read the book I Love You Through and Through a lot. He can pretty much recite it by himself now. It is just too cute!

Despicable Me 2 Dancing

Snow Ball Video

Some videos from the Snow Ball last week. The actual snow ball fight for the pre school kids and the boys playing velco ball with two very nice high school girls.

The Snow Ball at the Library

Friday evening the boys and I went over to the Perrysburg library for their annual Snow Ball. It is an indoor festival for kids. It was awesome! They had a dj, a very organized snow ball fight for each age group, putt putt in the stacks, big legos, cardboard box snowmen, 'ice skating' on paper plates, face painting, coloring, a photo booth, basketball, velcro ball, and much more! The boys had a great time! We met up with Avery and Cameryn there and the kids all had a blast. It was a great way to end a long day home in the cold. And it was very, very well run with tons of volunteers to keep everything running smoothly. 

The Miracle of January 24th

The miracle of January 24, 2014 - Nick pooped on the potty! It took a day and a half, but it finally happened, and everyone was very excited. Nick FINALLY got to open his poop present that has been sitting in a box on the counter for three or four months. He got a Thomas train set with a penguin that can connect to to their other train sets. I actually think Ben was more excited than Nick was. We had good success on Saturday, but a fail on Sunday, so the poop present had to be taken away again, to be earned again when he poops on the potty. I feel like it will be a on and off process for a while more yet. 

A Little More Kinetic Sand Fun

Nick and Avery love playing with the kinetic sand. I think Avery played for over an hour, on and off, just making shapes and running cars in it. I brought the little picnic table upstairs in the kitchen and Nick will just go play by himself for quite a while. Sometimes, I might even find myself playing with it for a bit...

Ben's School of Blocks

Ben made this 'school' out of blocks the other night. He was very proud of himself, as were we!

When the Sand is Frozen Outside...

We find inside sand! The boys had fun playing with the kinetic sand. It's pretty cool. It's 'wet' but with a polymer not water. And it doesn't dry out. It makes amazingly little mess. In fact, a study proved that 2 out 2 children over the age of 4 made more of mess than children 2 and under. But it is pretty awesome stuff - way less stressful than play doh!

Little Sleeping Beauties

Drinking Glasses

The boys got drinking straw glasses from Dzaidzau for Christmas. They had fun drinking their orange juice with them. It was pretty entertaining, yet required skill to keep the glasses on, one end in the cup and the other in their mouth. 

Another Pretty Sunset