Colin's 5th birthday party!

Birthday parties are a big thing in Colin's class this year.  Colin started asking if he could have a party with his friends months ago.  The big day finally arrived today!  

Per his request, the theme of the party was "orange" and "monkeys."  

 Colin and his sister were super excited to check out the new MyGym for kids in Lafayette, and they did an amazing job with his party!

The man of the hour with his very, very orange cake. 

When we booked the party we had no idea that we'd be moving two days later.  No stress there.  But it turned out to be a great opportunity for Colin to have one last day of fun with his friends.

Here he is with Ryan; they've known each other since they were about 6 months old.

Even Trey made it up from Indy!

 Best group shot I could get of Teddy, Colin and Ryan (and Sophia and Talin too).

They did a great job of having some structured games and circle time, and also free play (i.e., crazed five year olds climbing the walls.. literally)

Even Charlotte was having fun.  

Girl is a born gymnast.  Is it typical for 21 month olds to be able to do a dead hang, drop from the bar, stick the landing and laugh?  Just wondering.  

They did this cute thing where Colin got to go in the back room and then ride out for his grand entrance.  Here we are getting ready:

His friends were chanting "colin! colin!"awaiting his arrival.  Until one of them got the idea to go looking for him and they all followed.  Chaos ensued.  I have an all new respect for what his teachers deal with!

But he still got to make his grand entrance! 

Then a very special trapeze ride while everyone sang "happy birthday"...

and a zip line ride to finish off the day!

After we left, Colin said to me, "This was way more fun than I thought it would be!"  So glad he had a great time with his little friends :)

Mr. String Bean Esq. the Third

Colin had his five year appointment yesterday, and boy was that an adventure.  I almost longed for the days when he was terrified of the doctor and spent the appointment silently clinging to me.  Because silent he was not.  After interrogating the doctor on why he was wearing a different shirt than his last visit (8 months ago) and cross-examining him on the difference between his whiskers and colin's daddy's whiskers, his age as compared to colin's parents, and other various topics, we were finally able to get down to business.  

If you've noticed that Charlotte is steadily gaining on him....

it's because Colin has officially reached "bean pole status" in the words of Dr. Cates.  He continues to rapidly gain height, but not weight.  He's now 3' 6.5" tall, and weighs 33 pounds.  Here is his lovely growth curve.  He's completely fallen off the charts.   Dr. Cates is not concerned as he clearly eats and is growing well.  He's just a very skinny dude.  Could be worse I guess.  

Since he is so skinny, they had to break out the infant BP cuff for his tiny little arm.. and they couldn't give him his shots in his shoulder!  I had to hold him on my lap like a baby while they pinched his little thigh.  Accordingly, he gave a performance worthy of an infant when the shots were given.  On the way home, he was very quiet... then sadly asked me, "Mommy, do I have holes in my leg now?"  Poor kid.

Colin aced his vision screen with vision of 20/25 (compared with mom's corrected vision of 20/13 the day prior.  ouch).  Hearing test was great as well, not that we had any doubt about that.  Doctor says he is very advanced with his speech and vocabulary.. not that we had any doubt about that either.  And he said that, despite his wild monkey behavior at the appointment, he is doing very well and is a good kid.  What a relief ;) 

It's so hard to believe this little (very little, apparently) monkey is going to be five in a few days!

halloweenfest 2014

One thing we'll definitely miss about our neighborhood is the fun parties in the park.  Today was the annual halloween fest, which is always the most fun.  Here we are on our way to the park.  A storm trooper and a ladybug! 

Colin immediately disappeared into the bounce house as usual, leaving one confused ladybug out in the wilderness.

She perked right up when she spotted the slides.

and the swing...

party girl 

Storm Trooper finally emerged when he heard it was time for the parade...

ready to get down to business.

trick or treating along the route...

two storm troopers...

candy corn bowling!

happy pachacha

this look sums up every feeling the oldest child ever has about the younger ones.  haha.

happy stinker faces!

charlotte's first (official) haircut!!

 Poor Charlotte has been sporting an impressive baby mullet for awhile now.  I've been somewhat successful with just trimming her bangs, but my abilities in this area have reached their limits.  When Mike was taking Colin down for a hair cut this morning, I decided we would join the boys.

As expected, the lady was not thrilled with this news.

Clearly one of us was more excited than the other. 

Keeping a close and suspicious eye on the woman with the scissors...

Once the stylist abandoned the idea of Charlotte sitting on her own without mama, Charlotte actually did really well.  She was very serious but didn't make a peep.  Here she is celebrating afterwards at Scotty's.  

So nice to be able to see her big blue eyes again!  By the way, I promise you that in person, once you sweep her bangs over a little, she looks much cuter, and much less like this guy.  

in between days

Sorry we've disappeared.  As you all know, we have A LOT going on at the moment.   Lots of very exciting, very stressful changes for the Happy Hansons.  But never fear, once we get settled, the blog will be back in business.   

In the meantime, the kids are still happy to play together like weirdos...

relax with daddy...

go to birthday parties (and one very special soon-to-be 5 year old will be hosting one just before we move!) 

 and be generally adorable...

Maybe I should get Colin to take over as my blogger for awhile....

See you soon!