Ethan turns 11

Coya, Mady and baby Blane arrived at our house super late on the 6th. They flew into Denver and Brandon picked them up while John and their other 2 boys planned to drive out on Saturday. So we got to play with just Coya, Mady and their little guy Blane for a couple of days. Ethan was super excited to have Mady here. So it made for a pretty fun Birthday for Ethan being able to spend the day having fun with his cousin as well as his brothers. We started the day off the usual way with a donut run. Sadly, Ethan feels too old now to color a crown and wear it to get donuts. When I asked him if he wanted to color a birthday crown he said, "No"! What??? My baby is too old to be excited to color and wear his own birthday crown? He is getting too old too fast!! He needs to stop growing! Anyways, so as soon as Kayden woke up we headed out to get some donuts. The pickings were very sparse. Mr. Yo's donut shop is always almost out of donuts by 8:30. It is crazy! Thankfully, they had a few and Ethan got what he wanted. Plus he was just happy to get a donut. haha  

He is looking so grown up!! 

Then they went to the park to play and Dad picked up Subway and brought it home for him. Ethan's favorite sandwich place is Subway! So he was really happy that his Dad brought it home for him. I was thinking of getting it for him for lunch but then Brandon said he was going to make it home for lunch so he picked up some for us adults and for Ethan! 

He no longer an show how old he is with just his hands. He had to include a toe! haha 

Orange sticks from Aunt Coya and Mady. He was pretty stoked! Apparently that is one of his favorite candy's. haha I had no idea until he saw some on the counter and mentioned it. 

He got a few cool presents this year. He loves to build things so he got a coding robot that you don't need an ipad for and a sweet lego car set. As well as a couple of other cool things. It sure is getting harder to get these boys gifts as they get older. Its not as easy as it was when all they wanted were super hero toys or other little toys you can just find at the store. 

Then we were off to dinner. 

Ethan decided he wanted Panda Express for dinner. At first he said he wanted to go to the place where they cook in front of you. When I mentioned that would be way too expensive he said Panda Express would be his second choice. So that is where we went. So we told Papa and Gigi where we were going and met them there. After eating our food we took off back home to have some cake. 

None of my boys seem to like cake so after years of making cool cakes on their birthdays and barely eating any of it I have told them they don't have to have cake on their birthdays. So Ethan has settled on lemon cake. 

Kayden had to help Ethan blow out his candles. In fact after Ethan blew them out we relit a couple for Kayden to blow out.

I think it turned out to be a good birthday for Ethan. I still can't believe he is 11! How has time gone by that fast! He is becoming such a good young man. He still lets his temper get the best of him but not very often and usually its only when he is really tired. He tries to help out and be nice to Emmett and he loves to help and play with Kayden. He and Wyatt are still the closest of the bunch and they love to play together. I have to remind them to include Emmett and Ethan usually will try. Or he will tell me that they did and that Emmett is not listening to them or playing the correct way. He has improved a lot with his reading and writing and has been working really hard in his tutoring. We are hoping he will be done soon so he can have the afternoons to just do some homework and be able to spend time with his brothers. Ethan's appetite has also gotten a lot bigger in the last 6 months. He can pound down the food now which is saying a lot when it comes to Ethan. haha It worries me a little bit with how much he will be able to eat in the next couple of years as he hits teenage years. He really is a sweet boy and he is maturing so much. It is fun to watch him maturing and becoming a young man. Yet,  it is a little sad. We sure do love this kid and can't wait to see what this next year brings for him! Happy Birthday Ethan!! We love you!!!

Fourth of July

Tryel and Vandy arrived to spend Fourth of July weekend with us. So we spent the weekend playing games, watching the kids play and having fun. Right before they arrived Wyatt had come down with a cold and the morning after they arrived Emmett had a rash on his face. I was not sure what the rash was from. I ended up coming to the conclusion that he had an allergic reaction to the new can of sun screen because it was not just on his face. It was everywhere his skin had been sprayed with the sun screen. I ended up taking him in and the nurse said it was probably a viral rash. I highly doubt that though since he didn't have it on his torso or legs above where his swim suit stopped. So I think I wasted money taking him in. Thankfully it didn't get any worse. Anyways, besides Emmett's skin issues we had a fun weekend.

I think Kayden is a fan of syrup!! haha 

My parents came over for dinner on Sunday before we headed to go watch the fireworks. Ty and Vandy's kids loved talking to my Dad. haha It was so funny how they just hovered over my Dad. After some burgers and hot dogs the kids played outside and then we got out dessert.

Then we played some corn hole before heading out to our lot to watch the fireworks. 

Kayden absolutely loves cars. Any chance he gets to sit in the drivers seat he will. Kemry was nice enough to play with him in their car while he pushed buttons. haha 

All ready to head out to watch some fireworks!

We drove out to our lot and put down some tarps and blankets and chairs. Then the kids started climbing all over the mounds of dirt that were near us from our neighbors basement that had just been dug out. 

I was not super excited about them climbing all over the dirt hills. I was worried that one of the kids would run down the other side and fall into the dug out basement. Which would lead to major injuries. So we finally got them to stop as the sun was going down lower. 

The Ortiz family came out too and Kayden was just loving Jason at first. He kept wanting to sit with Jason instead of me. I was hoping that he was going to cuddle with me like he did last year during the fireworks. That didn't happen this year. He went between Jason, Brandon and Papa and Gigi. The fireworks finally started at about 9:30. The kids seemed to enjoy it. 

Sadly, they ended before the finaly could happen. I think their was a fire from the show and they had to stop it early. It was kind of cool watching it from our lot knowing that in the future that will be our backyard. Plus we could see the fireworks going off all over the place from Windsor and Loveland and other places that were lighting them off. So that was pretty cool too. Once they were done we had to pack up everything and head home to get the kids to bed. It was a late night like it always is on the Fourth of July but the kids had fun! 

The next morning Ty and Vandy got all packed up and we went to the park for just a little bit to get their wiggles out before they drove home. Then they were off and my boys were sad to see their cousins leave. 

Emmett's poor face!!

He ended up falling asleep on the couch. He just laid down for a little bit and then he was asleep. I am not sure if he was not feeling well or if it was because of the lack of sleep from cousins being in town. This is a rare occurrence these days though. 

Lastly, cute little Kayden! He wants to be a big boy so badly and sleep with his brothers. He will often lay down with Ethan or Wyatt and get in their blankets and say good night! He just loves his brothers so much and wants to be with them and be like them! Anyways, it was a fun and a little chaotic weekend!! We were excited to have a little bit of time to ourselves before John and Coya arrived in a few days!

A fun start to July

July started out really fun. We did some cleaning and went bowling and on a bike ride with Papa and Gigi. It was a great start to the month. 

Kayden wanted to help me vacuum. He looks so little using that big vacuum. 

This is a picture that Ryan drew for Wyatt. So cute that Ryan wanted to draw pictures for each of the boys. This is the only picture I took but the other boys pictures looked pretty close to this one. 

Then it was bowling time. We thought it would be fun to take the kids bowling since we signed up for the kids bowl free. So as soon as Brandon got off work we headed out to go bowling. 

We had a lot of fun and I bowled the best game in my life! I got a 165 my first game. I couldn't believe it!! Kayden kept just trying to escape to the arcade area. So anytime it was not one of our turns we would chase him down and try to keep him by us. As soon as he gets to the arcade there is no turning back for him. Thankfully he was excited to bowl a little bit. He was super cute and would chant "yes" when the ball was going down the lane. Ethan, Wyatt and Emmett did great too. Although Emmett kept complaining that he was so hungry and wanted me to buy the fried zuchini like I did the last time. We kept telling him that we were going to go grab dinner as soon as we were done but that didn't change his mind. So he spent an hour complaining that he was hungry. As soon as we were done with the 2 games we took off to grab some dinner. We went to Noodles and Company which the boys all ended up complaining about the food that they got. So that was a bust. I knew we should have just gone to Chick Fil A since I know they like that food and will eat it all. Oh well, it was still a fun evening and I beat Brandon in bowling! So that is all that matters! 😜

The next day we rode down the power trail with Papa and Gigi. We stopped at Edora park at the end of the trail and then stopped at Dairy Queen to get some ice cream and cool off after getting back to the start of the trail. It was a hot day and there is no shade on the power trail! 

The kids were sure happy to eat some ice cream in the air conditioned store. haha Once we were all done eating it was time to head home. Tyrel and Vandy and their kids were coming in town and arrived before we even made it home.