Ethan's 7th birthday

Ethan just celebrated his 7th birthday and he wanted to have a Nerf military party with a few friends. Mimi and Uncle CJ were able to come into town, too!  Of course, we used blue and orange Nerf colors for our theme and the kids snacked on cannon balls, grenades, berry bombs, battle chips, MRE's, camo cupcakes, and quenched their thirst at the hydration station. 

 The first thing our friends did when they arrived was to make dog tags. The kiddos got to "help" hammer the metal stamps on their blank dog tag.

Then we gathered Nerf gear for each guest and decked them out with a military helmet, safety glasses, their dog tags, an ammo belt, and they had a ball!

Team Orange went right and...

 Team Blue went left.

They were on a mission to weave through the camouflaged bunkers and tape to find their team's 4 flags hidden throughout the yard.

 

 Some took their job VERY seriously.... ;-)

 And even went  into stealth mode :-)

While parents stayed in the safe zone on the front porch. 

 There was quite a bit of action!

 And cheers when they found their flags!

 After getting really hot and sweaty, we made our way to the backyard to cool off with a swim.

And Ethan showed everyone his Zen pose

 In between a cannon ball and jump competition with the big kids.

 Then it was finally time to eat! The birthday boy requested Little Caesar's and fruit for his party meal. Mommy could not have been more thrilled with this low maintenance request! The pepperoni was shaped like a bull's-eye on the pizza :-)

Then the best part of all: CUPCAKES! Our camo cupcakes also had a bulls-eye on top made from a peach ring and yellow M&M.

 Happy Birthday Ethan!

After the official party festivities came to an end, the Dads decided to head back out front and battle the boys on their own Nerf war ;-)

 Then someone decided to turn the tables on me...not sure how that happened :-)

 We all had a great time and after the day came to an end and baths were had, Ethan finally got to open presents.

 But Mimi saved the best for the next morning! When he woke up on his actual birthday, Mimi wrote him the sweetest note and had the Rocket Fishing Rod waiting on him!

He has been asking for this fishing rod for months!

 Mimi was nice enough to get one for Caden, too!

Then we loaded up to eat a birthday breakfast at Waffle House and headed to the mall to watch The Secret Life of Pets with Uncle CJ and Mimi.

That afternoon we had friends come swim and eat dinner with us and then the kids went down to the newly "almost finished" theater room to sack out in sleeping bags and watch The Lego Movie. This boy had a full birthday weekend!

Sweet Summertime

Summer has been packed full of activities so far! I always think that summer will be so relaxing and I will have time to finally get projects done around the house. Then it gets here and I feel busier than during the school year!

Small Group Social

We opened summer with a small group social. The kiddos had a great time...

 while the Dads hung out at one end of the pool...

 and the Moms had a chance to sit and catch up :-)

Daddy Date Night

Caden and Daddy got to have a date night at one of the summer movies at the outdoor amphitheater at the mall.

 He felt so special!

7 Bridges Band

We had an amazing time with Mimi and friends at the Buford amphitheater listening to the Eagles 7 Bridges Band! The boys loved hearing the live music :-)

Summer Camps

This summer has been full of camps for the boys! They were scheduled so that there has been a week of camp followed by an off week. The first camp of the summer was VBS, then they moved on to baseball camp and then basketball camp. Their last camp was Science camp but the boys call it "Bug Camp." Baseball camp was tough because they were out in the heat for 6 hours straight each day but they both said they had a great time and that it was a lot of fun! We had a few trips to Dairy Queen and Sonic after pickup that week because they got in the car each day with super pink cheeks ;-)

Visit with the Ash's

We were so excited to have a summer visit from the Ash family! We missed Mason this time around but the boys, both big and small, had a great time antagonizing each other in the pool!

Lucy took full advantage of down time when given the opportunity :-)

There was definitely some Super Soaker action involved!

There was even some night swimming with "The Bellagio"

Summer Library Program

On our off weeks from camp, we visit the library. In addition to checking out books, their summer program has been amazing! We have had a visit from the Chattahoochee Wildlife Center and learned about several live animals they brought with them. We have played non-traditional sports games like bowling, ring toss, and ping pong. We have been enthralled by the games they have on their computers and iPads. And we have gotten to put together and play with solar robots! What a terrific experience they have had at the library this summer!

 Fourth of July

Then it was finally the 4th! We had sweet friends over to swim and play while we ate ribs with all the fixings.

After dark, we lit up the pool and shot fireworks. Not sure why we don't have any pictures of fireworks. Ben was busy shooting them and I was happily sitting and watching :-)

Two weeks left until vacation and then summer will be over :-(