Sep 23, 2009

Birthdays

We have several birthdays in our little family around September. My birthday is August 28th, Ava's is September 12th and Pierson's is the 17th! This year we combined their parties again since their birthdays are so close together. I figure that we might be able to get away with one combined party for a few more years until Ava starts asking for a party with no boys! For now we really try to make having a shared party special. This year we had a Safari Party at the Abilene Zoo! It turned out to be a perfect day. The weather was cool and breezy (which is remarkable for September in Abilene), the animals were out and the lions were even putting on a show. I have never heard lions roar that loud for such a long time. It was pretty amazing. . . and a little scary for Pierson! Here are some pictures of the party:

The Safari Cake and cupcakes

Grandma Ruby came in from Decatur.

Posing with friends in front of the lions

The Safari Guides

Pierson blows out his candles.

Pierson shows off his new Ranger baseball cap and car puzzle.

Hungry kids

Ava poses with some friends on the caterpillar statue.

All the kids

Eydie at her first birthday party with K-Papa


I never did write the post about my birthday surprise so I thought I would recap that as well. This year I turned, ahem. . . 32! I don't feel a day over 22 except I have a bad back, an injured knee and I get tired around 9 pm every night. Okay so maybe I feel exactly 32. Anyway on to the surprise-- On my birthday Chad took the day off of work to watch the kids, scheduled a massage for me without my knowing, and planned a birthday lunch with a few friends at The Olive Garden. Then when I thought the day couldn't get much better, Chad's mom showed up at our house to watch the kids and Chad and I headed for Dallas. We ate at P.F. Changs (my favorite) and stayed the night at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Los Colinas. The next day we slept in, read by the pool and shopped around in Southlake Townscenter before heading home. I have no idea why Chad chose this birthday to pull out all the stops. Birthdays are fun in our house, but we usually just go to dinner and have some cake. I was so surprised and enjoyed having a day of pampering. I love this guy!

Ava took this picture and got a real smile out of him : )

7 comments:

Kate said...

Lots of fun birthdays! You always do a great job making your kids feel special on their birthdays. I need to plan my next one in June so I can do combined parties too. (Or maybe in September so they can just jump in on the Walters party!) I love the picture of Chad Ava took. Such a sweet smile for his daughter!

Leah said...

Happy Birthday to ALL! Lots of cute details. I love going all out for parties, too. It is really the only time we go ALL out except for Christmas.

Melanie said...

What a cute birthday party! Love the pictures and your kids. They really are so cute and growing up so fast. Can't wait to see you guys again soon. We'll be in Abilene for ACU homecoming. :)

JENNY said...

Sorry...didn't realize I was signed in as my sister.

Kara said...

i still can't believe that you got all those kids in one picture!
we were sorry to miss the party but glad that will & levi could still join in on the fun!

heather.m.herron@gmail.com said...

Glad everyone had such a HAPPY Birthday!!:) What a nice birthday surprise for you too! Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks at Homecoming....can it really be 10 years ago that we graduated?? We can't be that old!!

Naomi said...

What a fun birthday party! We have always combined Avery and Abby's parties and they seem to love it! I look forward to seeing you and your sweet family at Homecoming.