Will is 6!

We got Will his first big-boy "real" Legos last year for his birthday and he's been playing with them constantly since then.  So his birthday this year was Lego-themed.

Patti spent weeks finding all sorts of fun Lego things online and it was the usual all hands on deck leading up to the party, but Will and his friends had a great time.  There was a "guess how many Legos in the bin" game for adults, Lego-themed decorations,pin-the-head-on-the-Lego man, free building on the playroom floor, yummy Lego-colored fruit and veggie snacks, and more.

Thank goodness for the playroom.  We had every one of Will's other birthday parties outside in our yards but it was in the 40's and raining so we planned ahead and had lots of fun inside.  There was a fun mix of Will's friends from Carson Street, old friends from his nursery school and new friends from his kindergarten.

And what a difference a year makes.  Five- and six-year-olds can listen and play organized games! We played a musical chairs inspired game of pass the many-times-wrapped Lego gift (to the tune of "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego movie)...

 Pin the head on the Lego minifigure (so much fun, and note the his and hers faces)...

And the kids got to use some of their party favors to build race cars to race down Patrick's homemade racetrack.  Unbelievably, they shared this pretty well and no one got hurt.  There wasn't any real racing (no winners/losers) so everyone just let them go over and over and over...and over again.  And the kids got to take their cars with them.

Will threw Patti for a last-minute loop the night before the party by telling her that he didn't want a chocolate cake.  He said he wanted a jello cake so Patti took the Lego molds she had bought to make jello Lego blocks instead of candied ones and she made a yummy 4-layer jello cake with the primary Lego colors.  Very yummy and a surprise hit.

So another party in the books, and a few months to recover until Maggie and Stella's birthday.

Halloween 2014

Now that we have kids, Halloween has become our new favorite holiday.  Watching the kids' enthusiasm and interest in things has piqued our interest in joining their themes.  But whereas last year Stella and Maggie were willing to do whatever we all wanted, this year they knew exactly what they wanted to be.  So that's how we ended up with a Frozen AND Star Wars mash-up.

These were the week before Halloween but too cute not to add.

Our neighborhood association held the annual Halloween parade the weekend before Halloween so it's a fun dry-run of what is in store in a few days.  Patti outdid herself by making Anna and Elsa's mother's dress from scratch.  She also made Maggie and Stella's cloaks and shoulder shrugs using old prom dresses and bridesmaid dresses.

Halloween night was a blur of getting everyone in costume again and rushing everyone safely through a couple of sidestreets near our home.  Will and Dad made a forceful pair (pun intended) and Patti and the girls outshone the other Frozen-inspired kiddies in the neighborhood.