Michael's Birthday

Ben & Jenny & crew, Lea & Shayne & Crew, and Kirt and Julie came to our house on Sunday, October 8 to celebrate Michael and Tyler's birthday. I feel like we had dinner together too, but I honestly don't remember. We had ice cream cake though!!

The next day was Michael's birthday, and I was sick. Still, I wanted to stick with my tradition of decorating a birthday cake for Michael. This year was all about Harry Potter, and so I made his cake into a Quidditch pitch. Jenny and Lea came for a visit, and Jenny was kind enough to write "Happy Birthday Michael" on the cake in black icing that she just happened to bring with her! 

Since Ben and Jenny were in town, they wanted to go do something fun, and so we all decided to go to Corn Belly's. We asked Michael if he wanted to just party with us that night or join cousins at CornBelly's. He opted to join cousins.  We were the first to arrive, so we got straight to exploring. 

We were playing in these little birdhouse playhouses together. Everyone seemed to be done with them, and I was waiting patiently for Rachel to finish up. 

Minutes ticked by, and finally, I decided to go get her. I couldn't find her anywhere. We looked all over the area where we had been hanging out, trying not to freak out. Rachel isn't they type to just wander off, and with each passing minute, the absolute worst case scenarios kept flashing through my mind. We looked frantically for her, trying not to freak out, but wondering if we would ever see her sweet face again. "How could something so horrible happen on Michael's birthday? Please, no, Heavenly Father! Please keep her safe." After what felt like hours, Lea found her in one of the play villages. She had gotten bored and just moved on to the next thing, having no clue the fears she gave both her parents! We were both so grateful to have our little girl back, safe, unharmed, and oblivious. We had a little reminder chat about staying together when we're in groups. And then the fun began again:

Gabe loved this slide so much. He would climb back up as soon as he made it to the bottom. 

It was a little bit chilly that night, so Lea and Jenny shared this blanket as we wandered around. 

Sisters~

Brothers!

Rachel's favorite area is the Princess area. This time, she got to dance with a real prince. 

And I got to ride in a carriage with this handsome Mr. f

Cousins!!!!!

Just one more ride.

We had a great night out, and then we headed back home for a quick birthday party with just our family of 5.

 We can't believe that Michael is 8 already!! Wasn't it yesterday that he was born??! We can't imagine our lives without this amazing son of ours. He still loves reading, Legos, and soccer, as well as Minecraft. He's the best big brother his two siblings could ask for. He is incredibly tender-hearted and kind. He's still incredibly independent and continues to basically raise himself, but he still likes it when we tuck him in at night. Michael, thank you for officially joining our family 8 years ago and making us parents! We love you so much!!