Oliver’s birthday was yesterday. Which means I cried like a baby on Friday. Man, I can’t believe my baby boy is FIVE! Sheesh, he really is a kid now, isn’t he?
And when you’re a five-year-old kid, you ask for anything and everything Lego “Star Wers” (yes, that’s how he pronounces it and I’ll be jiggered if I’m going to correct that nugget of cuteness!) for gifts. Even if you’ve never seen a single clip of Star Wers and you’re pretty sure it’s really just all about “life savers”. Oh, the cuteness abounds.
We did things kind of low-key today since his party isn’t actually until next weekend. We had lunch at a little restaurant in town with Bea and Grandma, opened presents and battled to get him to eat his lunch. (Even on your birthday you have to eat a balanced meal.)
Hazel sat pretty and chatted with Grandma…
… while Little Miss Freckleface asked me to photograph her with the mini DVD that came with Oliver’s light saber. How is an Auntie to say no?
After lunch the plan was to take Oliver and Bea to Glow Galaxy to jump on all the inflatables under the black light (not my idea of a fun birthday activity, ftr). Unfortunately, we were informed upon arrival that they only allow scheduled parties on the weekend and that we weren’t allowed to come in. Oh guys, he was so sad. I knew I had to think fast.
We thought maybe we’d call around to the other kids party places in town to see if they accept “walk-ins” on the weekends (seriously, folks?), but then it occurred to me that our favorite rock climbing place is right next door to Glow Galaxy.
Oliver collected himself when I suggested we peek into the place next door to see what was inside. When we stepped in his eyes got huge, so I asked him if he’d like to go rock climbing with Beatrice for his birthday instead and he was all about it.
Y’all, this was so fun! We’ve talked about taking him a couple of times over the past year or so, but never got around to it. I think taking his first climb on his fifth birthday was just right. He loved it!
The next few photos are terrible from a technical standpoint because the lighting was so low in the cave, but they’re perfect to me so I’m sharing them anyway.
I rounded out the afternoon with a quick 3.5 mile run while the kids napped (don’t they look tired in that last photo?) and then headed to a fundraiser for our friends the Elliotts who are moving along nicely in their adoption process. (Remember back in April when I auctioned the Rosie Doll on here? Those Elliotts.) :) And once we got back home Oliver and I plopped down at the kitchen table for over an hour to assemble his new Lego Star Wers kit. (Not sure who enjoyed it more – I’m a Lego junkie!)
So in love with this kid of mine. Can’t believe he’s a whole hand old! Looking forward to many more years with this guy! (And a birthday party next weekend!)
God is so good!
Love those boots! Wore mine yesterday for the first time. They are so comfy. And that Oliver looks so big…he grew over night! :)
I can’t believe he’s never seen Star Wars!! Send that kid over here. We will educate him. Also so glad to see Bea and her two fingers. ALSO in the photo of you holding up Bea, you look like an Amazon. Or a crimefighter. Very cool.
Glad you were able to salvage the birthday fun! He’s such a big guy. Love to him.
ps: We watched our copies of ‘Lightsaber Battles’ until they fell apart. The boys’ last birthday was all about Star Wars, too.
Love it when a quickly-contrived Plan B totally eclipses a thought-out Plan A!
Can I just ask a question about boys? I am in the midst of a 3 year old little guy and life seems to be real hard on both of us. Lots of power struggles with will and independence. Oliver seems like such an easy going guy, and really “most” of the time Asher is too, but I wondered if there was a period of struggle in there somewhere?
Oh Emily, there is PLEN-TY of struggle! Plenty. Every meal time is a power struggle and right around the end of age four he really has started to have moments of defiance. Oliver is overall a very sweet and easy-going kid. Anyone who knows him would think he’s that way all the time but at home with Mom and Dad he can have very un-pretty moments. (We’ve been working on talking to him about being the same sweet kid when people are watching and when he’s at home – funny how that kind of habit can be picked up so early, isn’t it?)
I guess I mostly talk about Oliver’s sweet moments on my blog so I can see where you might think he’s the most easy going kid there is. Not true – you are NOT alone in struggling with your boys. So glad you asked! :)
You know I think we all HAVE to know deep down we are not alone… and our children are perfectly normal, even when they really make their parents want to pull out their hair! It’s sometimes a hard pill to swallow when your normally sweet nature baby turns into a mean little thing! Thanks for the encouragement and reality check!
Thing one: I love that you said “jiggered.” For real. I am finding a way to incorporate that into my daily vocabulary asap, and I’m not even kidding. Thing two: I bought the dress that Hazel is wearing at a consignment shop recently, and while I was originally excited about it’s cuteness and the price, now I’m 1,000 times more excited because Hazel the most adorably dressed girl ever, which means Piper just got cooler. Thing three: Adorable pictures, hooray for the birthday boy!!
I love the pictures of Oliver with his “light saver” (sad will be the day when he pronounces it and “Wers’ correctly – I love when my kids come up with their own sweet pronunciations of words). It was a Star Wers lego assembly weekend for us too – my middle boy turns five this Thursday and he found his birthday gift about one hour after my husband and oldest son came home. You would think burying it in a laundry basket would be a great hiding place…me thinks he got a “hint” of where it was.
Congrats too on purchasing Nourish Organics!
Frequent lurker. Your children are adorable and so are you! Looks like Oliver knows how to wield that light saber like a pro. Just so you can keep one step ahead of the game, after Star Wars obsession comes Harry Potter. Love how his light saber matches his eyes so well- that’s important for a Jedi! Happy Bithday Oliver!