Birthday Party + Ice Skating = One Fun Day!

I already told you about our visit from an old friend of mine and her daughter and how well the kids really hit it off with one another this past Tuesday.  Well as it turned out her daughter was going to be celebrating her 6th birthday this past weekend and we were invited to join in on the festivities.  The birthday party itself was going to be held at a McDonald's location in Plano and was to be followed by ice skating at the Dr. Pepper Stars Center. 

Of course at the first mention of a party the kids were excited. But then when you add in the words McDonald's and the idea of ice skating to the mix the emotions and excitement that emanated from my kids was indescribable.  What kid doesn't like the idea of going to a party and better yet what kid doesn't like the idea of a Happy Meal?  Just those two things together is the ideal day for most children. 

So, on Saturday morning we got up and the kids were a little more than eager to get their chores done for the day.  Around 11am we headed out to the McDonald's in Plano to celebrate with the birthday girl and her friends. The kids of course enjoyed playing in the play place and having Happy Meals; the birthday girl received some really cool gifts and of course they all enjoyed eating the birthday girl's beautiful Barbie cake.

(The birthday girl with a few of her guests)

(Alyssa with the Birthday Girl)

(Enjoying their Happy Meals)

(Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday)

(Make a Wish)

(Alyssa enjoying some cake)

(Cayden enjoying his icing)

(The birthday girl is opening her gift from us!)

(Some of the kids at the party)

Following the party all of the guests were invited to accompany the birthday girl and her mother to the Dr. Pepper Stars Center for some ice skating.  Now based on the pictures above it is very clear that my children were not dressed to do any ice skating.  They were dressed in summer clothes with flip flops because honestly I didn't have any intentions on going.  My kids have a hard enough time just walking some times and I couldn't imagine trying to put them into ice skates and turning them loose on the ice.  My vision of that was a total mess where they just ended up crying and wanting to leave.

Well lucky for them the birthday girl was pretty persuasive and after her mother made a phone call to confirm that we could buy socks at the arena and that she had extra coats in her car we were off to do some ice skating.  Well at least they were.  With my two bad knees there was no way anyone was going to get me on ice skates on the ice.  Hell it's trying to stand and walk on ice that has my knees bad in the first place.  The last thing I needed was to end up on my butt or worse yet one of my knees on it.

So just a few minutes later we were at the arena and I was lacing up ice skates on both Alyssa and Cayden.  To my surprise both of them were quick to get their skates on and walk around in them.  Now I have to admit that I was amazed.  Truly I had expected them to stumble around, get nervous and ultimately back out of the whole ice skating thing. However, they both in turn stepped out onto the ice with assistance and showed no fear in taking off and trying.  Of course for each of them it was difficult being that they've never even roller skated before, but they took to the ice (with assistance) as if it was nothing out of the norm and they loved it.  So for the next hour I watched in both amazement and excitement for them as they took turns going out onto the ice and running around on the regular ground surface on their ice skates.  By the end of the hour Alyssa was going around the wall of the ice rink by herself and Cayden was walking around like he was wearing tennis shoes.  What an amazing experience it was for both of them and I have to admit that I do think this will have to happen again more often.

(Alyssa's 1st Attempt on the ice)

(Now it's Cayden's turn!)

(The birthday girl is helping Alyssa)

(She's starting to get the hang of it)

(He's taking a break)

(Look at him walk in those skates!)

(Alyssa's going really fast now!)

(They're coming in for a quick break)

(The birthday girl really is like a pro on her skates)

(She's a ham for the camera too!)

(Quick photo of them for their 1st time)

(Alyssa's heading back out onto the ice)

(The birthday girl doing an arabesque and gliding on the ice)

(Alyssa's coming in on her own)

(Now she's starting her journey around the rink by herself)

(The Group that went skating)

Spring Break!? More Like Spring Busy

Spring Break was a very busy week for us this year.  We began the vacation week with a garage sale where we literally sold everything for $1.  We put out children's toys, VCR, VHS movies, clothes, electronics and much much more.  In the end though I have to say that our best sale of the day was when Michael sold our cat along with his food bowls, food, liter box, kitty liter, cat hut and a travel kennel for $1 to some woman.  We liked the idea of having Kitty but in all honesty we have discovered that we are definitely not cat people.

(It was nice knowing you Kitty)

Following the garage sale, Spring Break was the perfect time for an old high school friend and I to finally get together and do some catching up as well as introduce our wonderful daughters to each other.  The day we spent together was awesome and I recapped it in an early post...Old Friends Creating New Friends.  I still can't believe how well the kids really hit it off and look forward to much more time spent together.

Our next adventure of the week was dentist appointments for both Alyssa and Cayden.  For most people with small children I know that going to the dentist can be quite stressful for both the parents and the children.  For us, well it's like a day at the park.  The kids really enjoy going to the dentist. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that their Aunt works for a dental office back home or perhaps it's just because they have such great oral hygiene that they know there's nothing to fear.  Either way the appointments went great.  Both kids sat and allowed the dental assistant to take x-rays of their teeth, they were patient and waited their turns, and both opened up big and wide so the dentist could see all of their teeth.  In the end the reports came back that Alyssa has 6 loose teeth in the front of her mouth (2 on top and 4 on the bottom) and her 6 year old molars have finally started to crown.  The dentist said that she has excellent oral hygiene (something she says she doesn't get to say often) and in the last six months has grown several inches and gained a few pounds.  This putter her now at 44" tall and 45lbs.  As for Cayden, he too was a big boy.  The dentist said that everything with him too is great.  As for his growth he is now 37" tall and 30lbs.

(Here's Cayden waiting for his turn in the dental chair)

Now of course the week just wouldn't be complete if it weren't filled with lots of baseball.  Since Alyssa was placed on a team earlier this month it seems like we are living and breathing baseball.  So why should this week be any different.  Since it was Spring Break week the coaches decided that it would be in our teams best interests to get in a few extra practices plus a scrimmage game (Hammerheads vs Mavericks).  Each night practice ran for about 2 hours and the kids have really been showing some improvement.  Here are some pics from last weeks practices:

Now of course with it being Spring Break and the kids being out of school all week I also had to find things for them to do in order to keep them busy.  Our first stop was the public library to pick up some books for the week and our second stop of the week was Michael's.  Here I was able to pick up a few craft items from their $1 bins and the kids had some fun projects to work on to stay busy.

Also during spring break we bought our motorcycle (New Motorcycle); the kids and I attended a birthday party (blog to come) where they went ice skating for the first time; we cleaned out the garage and hung some new lighting; we looked at the Super Moon and took photographs (Super Moon Pics); and I was able to outfit Alyssa's practice shirt with her initials and number on the back. 

With such a busy week behind us we are now transforming back into our daily routines and gearing up for many more busy weeks ahead.   Coming up this week Michael and I will be celebrating our 5th year wedding anniversary, Alyssa is scheduled to play two exhibition games for baseball and Dalton is scheduled for an out of town O-Meet.  As for Cayden, well he's pretty much just along for the ride with everyone else this week but we may have a little surprise for him this weekend.  Thomas the Train is coming to town and we may take him out to see it!