On May 5th, Blake turned 9. I am so glad he is not in the double digits yet ... my momma heart wouldn't have been able to handle it! So now I have an entire year to prepare for the big 10th birthday ;) Blake had a very busy birthday. We weren't sure when we would host his birthday party, between baseball, hockey, swimming lessons, dance practice and a dance recital, lacrosse and a lacrosse tournament and soccer ... we didn't have a lot of free time!! Fortunately, we have early dismissal Thursday's!! Reese doesn't have school on Thursday's and Blake and Emerson are out at 11:51 am AND Blake's birthday was on a Thursday, so it all worked out although we were sad that a few of our family and friends couldn't make it. We had the party the afternoon of the 5th and it went well! I was so worried we'd be rained out but thankfully we weren't. We had the party at the park and I think it might have been one of the best parties to date! The kids played on the playground, ate lunch and cake and finished the afternoon off with a baseball game! All Blake wanted to do for his birthday party was play baseball, so I'm glad we were able to grant that wish :) Below are a few pics from our morning before school and from the party:
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| Opening gifts from Mom and Dad and Em and Reese |
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| Nuggies for his sisters ;) (Reese didn't have school that morning, hence the pj's!) |
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| Ready for school :) |
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| Party in the park - the handsome birthday boy! |
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| Just a bunch of monkeys, hangin' out! |
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| Cake time!! |
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| Most of the party crew :) |
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| Batter up! |
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| Eating lunch on the fire truck ;) |
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| 3 cuties, Ava, Reese and Nathan |
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| Blake requested either a Jays cake or a Cubs cake ... DQ didn't have a Jays cake so Cubs it was :) |
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| Opening presents |
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| Waiting for their turn to bat! |
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| Grandpa playing bat catcher, while Dad pitches it in!! |
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| Em also loves a good game of ball! |
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After the party at the park, we headed home for a quick dinner and Grandma's famous carrot cake before Blake headed to lacrosse and Reese and I headed to school for a Mother's Day tea. Lindsay and the boys, Mom and Dad and Blake's buddy Dante joined us!
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| Some downtime before lacrosse!) |
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| Blake's request ... hot dogs!!! |
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| Cutie patooties!! |
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| The final cake of the day :) |
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Happy 9th birthday to our boy! Blake, you make your Dad and I so proud every single day. We love the young man you are growing into - kind, thoughtful, caring, driven, smart, funny and athletic! You stand up for your friends and aren't afraid to do so. You have a strong sense of right and wrong and always try to do the right thing. You are a strong student, a wonderful big brother and a great friend! Love you to the moon and back, our (not so) little man!
