Summer Birthdays

We have several important birthdays in the summer!

Holden loves art projects. We went to Hobby Lobby to find something special for him to make for Daddy and Grammy's bdays. He chose some sun-catchers and worked very hard on painting them. Hunter surveyed his work and kept busy with one of his favorite items, a toothbrush. :)

Grammy's bday is July 15th. We celebrated with her and Papa at Chili's. Holden picked out a big dump truck balloon and helped Hunter choose an Elmo balloon for her. (Hunter just yelled, "Ball! Ball!" all the way through the store.) Holden helped her open all of her presents. He is a very good helper at age 4. :)

Our whole group

Some table shots with my silly boys. They sure make for a lively meal!
After Chili's, we went back to Papa and Grammy's for our usual routine of cake and ice cream. The boys enjoyed the leis and balloons. You just never know what might happen at Grammy and Papa's house! Jay got into the pirate spirit, and Hunter and Grammy busted out some maracas, and Papa and Holden got in touch with their feminine side in my old dollhouse.

Mom and I had a girl's day out with Granny. We ate lunch and shopped at Washington Square, and then we enjoyed dessert at Granny's place. I love this tradition for each of our bdays!

Aunt Allie turned 16 on July 29th! It is crazy to me that the little girl that I met when she was 3 is now driving and in her sophomore year of high school!! Allie had a sleepover party and was kind enough to let the boys crash it for a bit. We enjoyed her Hello Kitty ice cream cake. The boys enjoyed the attention from all of the girls. :)

Holden and Aunt Allie are buds. He just adores her.

Testing out Aunt Allie's new car!! She zebra-fied it as part of her bday presents. The boys think it is hysterical to sit in the back (while it is parked!) and listen to her blaring music. Allie prefers rap at the moment, and Hunter will start bobbing around the minute it comes on. When she switches to country, he stops. Too funny!

Jay's bday is July 18th. He had the day off and we were happy to hang out with him-literally-in his new green hammock from Memaw. It is so big and comfy! It was a scorching hot day, so they boys had some fun in the water (with their clothes on!) out back. Nobody does water fights like Daddy! Holden decided to jump on everyone in the hammock while soaking wet. :)

These are out of order-taken in the morning while Holden was still in his pj's. Birthdays are a big deal to him and he loves to be the present/card helper. The top middle picture is him dancing to the musical card he picked out for Jay. See how his arm is going and Jay is laughing? Holden loves his Daddy!

Hunter doesn't really understand birthdays, yet, although he does enjoy the cake and ice cream part. I managed to get him in Jay's lap but had to let him chew on some toy drumsticks in order for him to stay put. Chelsey and Allie came down to give Jay some birthday razzing and to play with the boys. My parents also stopped by with his card and gift.

Cake time! I love how Hunter is just blankly staring in all of these pictures, like,

"What are you people doing?"

My parents watched the boys so that Jay and I could go out on his birthday evening. We used the Red Lobster gift card that they got him (I love when I benefit from his birthday, too! Ha!) and then went to see "Horrible Bosses." We were the ONLY people in the theater until right before the movie began. Jay thought it would be cool to go down in front of the screen and dance. I am thinking the guy in the booth was getting a big kick out of him. Love how the ad for Angie Harmon is in the background and she appears to be giving him a "look."

My grandma Bourke turned 89 on July 15th! (She and Mom share a birthday!) We went up to the Chicago area to celebrate around her birthday at my Uncle Joe's. It was great to see her and the Bourke relatives.

Joe is a confirmed bachelor and lives in a nice little apartment. I was worried about how the boys (especially Hunter) would do in such a small, unchild-proofed area of space. Well, they LOVED it!! Joe is a train buff and has two big model train cities set up. He handed Holden a conductor's cap when he walked in the door and put him in charge of the trains. He was in heaven!! Hunter was a little trickier since he doesn't understand concepts such as, "Walking on top of the train set in the living room is NOT a good idea," "Pulling the trains off the table in the kitchen is not appropriate," and "No, you can't pull on any of the electrical cords." :) Fortunately, he was a big fan of Joe's bed. Uncle Eric helped him turn it into his own little trampoline.

It was a nice day so my dad, Jay, and I also took turns taking the boys to a little park across the street when the apartment seemed too small with them in it. :) There is an airport very nearby so we could see planes flying really low. The boys were fascinated!

Love their expressions as they are swinging and watching the jets fly over.

(Holden kept that conductor's hat on most of the day.)

My favorite little boys!

My grandma loves to read, so my aunt ordered a cake that looked like a book about her 89 years of life. When it came time to blow all of the candles out, she cheated and waved her hands over them instead. She is ornery. And of course, Holden helped her open all of her presents.

Party pictures

My brother also turned 28 on July 3rd, but for some reason he didn't want us celebrating with him at the Milwaukee fest. concerts. :) Happy birthday to all of the special summer birthday people in our lives! We loved celebrating with you!