Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Captain Drake is 4!!!

Well, poor guy his birthday was over 2 weeks ago, but since then, Hunter has had a virus and then pneumonia, and we have barely been home!  Between soccer games, birthday parties, funerals, weddings, fundraisers and more we are slightly crazed over here!  But we are so proud of our sweet, smart, funny, athletic, and laid back (except when he whines) little guy.  He is such a joy and we are all so lucky to have him in out life.  He is my baby that loves to:
 "Nuggle" with his daddy (and mommy when daddy is not there);
Asks for a "tennis shoes" when his nose is running and needs a tissue;
Will watch a full football game, ice hockey game, baseball game or whatever sport is on (aside from golf) and not only that but when the boys get to watch TV, Hunter of course wants to watch cartoon and Drake asks to watch any game that is recorded on the DVR.  
Is actually an incredible athlete himself
Loves to read books and loves to "read" them to you too
Loves to dress up, play in the kitchen and play house
Loves to wear sports jerseys
Loves to do art
Is getting pretty good at writing (thanks to school and watching his brother who can write full sentences now.) 
Will wear just about anything I get out for him in the morning (unlike his brother)
Loves animals
Says "Happy Birshday," "Urrplane," (so sometimes I call him Nelly) "Cubers" (for covers), 
"Coach Savan" (Coach Saban), "Can you Pawes the TV?"  and much much more that we love too much to correct him on. 
ANYWAYS....

The morning of his birthday, which was September 21st.



Donut birthday tower (per his request)!


I actually just love this picture of Hunter's bed head and pretending to blow out the candles



Blowing out the candles!


Just some typical silliness


Getting to open a present early (yes he is standing on the table...no I did not put him up there)

When we got to school that day, they have steps 1-3: 
1. hang up your bag, 2. wash your hands, 3. read the morning message...
and this was the message that morning!  His teachers made a book out of his classmates birthday wishes for him, which he pulled out of his bag and we currently read daily... still.



This is a picture with some of his friends from class.  And I am sure a ding-bat.  I read to his class too and then forgot to take a picture of them!!!!!  grrrrr!!!! 


THEN on Thursday, when Grammie and Pop came to town!!!  The boys were so excited and Pop had made this AWESOME treasure chest which held the boys birthday presents inside.  What a cool treat!!!!  Drake's birthday party was Pirate Themed so Pop knew it would be a HUGE hit!


presents inside...


And lots of gold coins!!!


It was so nice to have Grammie and Pop in town.  I ended up having to take Hunter back to the doctor that morning so it was a treat to have them there to help me get ready for the party.
And here is Pirate Pop
(this might be my favorite picture ever!)





When the kiddos arrived the got some pirate mustaches, only if they wanted of course.  It was so cute!



The treasure chest as the center piece of course!  And thanks to my mom who happened to have a TON of plastic beads and coins, PLUS Grammie had a bunch of gold coins in the chest too so it was truly a family effort!


The pirate cake (which of course I did not get a picture of without the lid off the top of the cake)







And the handsome pirate himself (you just may be seeing this again come Halloween!)


As the kiddos arrived we started with some pin the parrot on the pirate's shoulder, which occupied them well enough until everyone arrived.






Running to the first treasure hunt of gold coins, chocolate coins, plastic beads and diamond rings!




Coming back with some loot!


Then making an attempt to get a group picture (which was not very successful) while we waited for Captain Hook to arrive.  We told them to say "aarrrgggh" and it was hilarious!  They screamed for about 2 or 3 minutes straight.













And then...KYLE (I mean Captain Hook) MAKES THE BIRTHDAY ONCE AGAIN!!!  He was so good and hilarious.  Here is walked up to the kiddos with a "prisoner."


Drake is running away here because "Captain Hook" kept asking "Captain Drake" if he had stolen his booty.  I honestly have no idea if Drake was scared or just being silly.  But I do know that  Drake still asks me if daddy, I mean Captain Hook, was joking when he asked him that.   And I mean literally asks me as in today!


Giving the kiddos their first clue on the treasure hunt



There were 6 stops where they received prizes and then ended with at the cake table.  It was fun, but possible a little long for 4 year olds....



The favors






Aaaand of course no family photo, and this was the best we got of the 3 of us.  Pretty pathetic.  And Drakey and I didn't even get one with Captain Hook!  Oh well....I guess we are just glad we survived the party!




Thursday, September 15, 2011

Chattaboogie and Go Braves!!!

We had a last minute, whirlwind trip to Chattanooga (or Chattaboogie as we call it) to the Aquarium and to Atlanta for a Braves Game.  We had so much fun just getting away and out of town just us and the boys.   Other than visiting family, (which we obviously LOVE to do!!!) we had not been on a trip this year with the guys so a little get-a-way with them was long overdue.

From Otters to snakes, the boys had a blast!



Oh Daaady, look over here!!

Hunter reading us the sign, which when I say that I am kind of not kidding.  He is sounding out words like a champ!!  

Petting the Sturgeons 
(and no we did not tell Hunty to roll up his sleeve...but apparently he was worried the water would reach his short sleeve)





And then some cute baby crocs


And not so cute snakes (which obviously this one was fake, but the rest in that room were not!)



And then we saw a scuba diver cleaning in the tank.  Folks we could have called it a day here!  The boys could have snagged a seat on a bench and sat there for hours.


But fortunately we found the world's largest turtle shell.  I wanted to get a picture of the 3 guys in front of it but the only way Hunter was going to take that picture was if everyone got on the ground and pretended like they were a turtle...it didn't take my boys much convincing.  What can I say, you need Batman?  We got it!  You need a turtle?  We got it!!  Just stay posted for next weekend, and you may see a pirate at Captain Drake's birthday party!


Weird fish, but cool picture


Drake's favorite spot in the world...


And getting a little scared after being in the dark for a while


But we finally left the "River Building" and entered the "Ocean Building"...and Hunter picked out a shark he has named "Sharpie" with some birthday money.  He LOVES sharks!



And then on to the Sting-Rays! 



Hunter was obsessed with petting them!




This one actually had a personality...I am NOT kidding!  It got excited and would swim up the side near you and flap its edges/fins/not sure what sting-rays have...but we loved him!
Hunter told me that he pet the sting-rays 16 times!  Oh yes he kept count!


And the SHARKS...what Hunter had been waiting for all day long!
But these do not look as nice as Sharpie...



Hunter kept trying to show the sharks in the aquarium Sharpie in hopes they would see him and come  over I suppose.  Needless to say it was sweet...and a little sad because it didn't work.  Those RUDE sharks!



Me and Drakey looking at some fish...and relaxing



Then after the aquarium we got to get some ice cream!!!


And then to the playground


The next day we loaded up and went to a Braves game and had the perfect weather, with the perfect amount of time the game took, to the perfect size of a crowd.  It felt loud but not too full.


Hunter checking out the girls behind us







Drake sprinted up the stairs to give Homer a High-5!




Something about Drake reminds me so much of my brother right here...


We watched some life size tools (literally people dressed up as tools) race and apparently I thought it was funnier than the boys did!



Drakey picked out a baseball bat with some of his birthday money



We were trying to get a picture of the 2 boys and Hunter didn't want to smile, and Drake just wanted to dance! (no he is not Karate chopping, he is dancing)