Straight to the Top

Nothing is going to slow down 7-year old Jaxon! As always, he makes the most of every single day and does it with a huge smile on his face. Charisma like that needs to be shared, and that's why we wanted to make sure Jaxon's 7th birthday was celebrated with the friends and family that love him. Assembling the gang for an afternoon of rock climbing seemed like a fun birthday party activity, and the fact that Jaxon and Baylor could show off their advanced climbing skills was merely an added bonus! Jaxon kicked off the festivities with a little demo for his buddies.

Jax made scaling the wall look easy! I watched as Baylor scurried up right behind him and thought to myself, "Oh, it must not be too challenging if a 3-year old can do it." Aunt Kelly assured me that my assumption couldn't have been more wrong. Combine the physical challenge with the endurance that the kids demonstrated by climbing for 2 straight hours, and you can easily see that they earned their birthday feast that followed!
Seeing Jaxon reach the summit in under 30 seconds left the entire group speechless, but only momentarily. Applause and cheers immediately followed!
After a little warm-up, Jaxon and several of the other boys moved on to the more advanced climbing walls. They showed no fear as they climbed to the top and rappelled back down. The testosterone was pumping!Thankfully, there was also a little girl power on display. Aunt Kelly and "Auntie" G-Mac weren't going to be showed up by some little boys. They gave it their all, but in the end, acknowledged and their much younger competition might have had a leg up on them. Oh well, practice makes perfect, and everyone unanimously agreed that the climbing gym was worthy of repeat visit.
With time running out, the boys raced to reach the summit one last time before we moved on to the less physically demanding activity of cutting the birthday cake and opening presents.

It was at that moment that Anh finally put down the camcorder and got in on the action. I knew he wouldn't be able to resist! It looks like I'll be the only rookie when we return to the gym. Hopefully, they won't make me look too amateur!

Anh carefully plotted his path and then made his way with ease to the top. I guess we know where the boys get it! Certainly not from their mom. Although, after watching everyone else tackle the challenge, I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing the climb myself in the future.
After all that activity, the group probably needed a massage, but seemed thrilled to simply refuel and rehydrate. Jaxon's Jaguars birthday cake was the perfect sugary finale to his fabulous party.
And, the boys seemed delighted to discover they were each leaving with party favor pails filled with rock climbing themed goodies.

By the end of the party, both the boys and their parents were thanking us for a fabulous time and "the best birthday party ever," but the only thing that mattered to me was the smile on my 7-year old's face. The beaming 3-year old was highly prized in my eyes as well.

Happy birthday, Son! Enjoy every moment of being a goofy & giggly 7-year old boy! It's a once in a lifetime experience!

Homecoming

Grant and I were discharged from the hospital on Saturday, and we simply could not wait to get home and start our new day-to-day life as a family of five. Selfishly, we spent the entire afternoon and evening alone bonding...well...and with Aunt Kelly, but she's family. So, she fit right in. On Sunday, however, we made an effort to be more social and hosted a meet & greet for Grant. We didn't go too grand with our party plans though. We kept things simple and invited over two of our favorite couples for sparkling wine and hors d'oeuvres. Oh, and dessert of course!Truth be told, we had a bit of an ulterior motive. We wanted to ask our good friends Scott & Geraldine to be Grant's Godparents. It was a long overdue request that we kept postponing because we were waiting for the perfect opportunity. Well, it was now or never. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. We introduced our doting friends to the newest member of our family, and then promptly made our request. Geraldine's tears were our "yes." She was too moved to actually speak. So, Scott communicated that it would be their honor to accept such an important role in Grant's life. Wow! I couldn't have planned a more touching moment if I had tried!
Grant is one lucky boy! Jaxon & Baylor are already spoiled by their loving "Auntie" & "Uncle." I can only imagine the special treatment in store for Grant!

Creepy Critters

It's every child's favorite time of the year...Halloween! Rivaled only by Christmas, I'm sure. Jaxon and Baylor have been anxiously awaiting permission to suit up as Darth Vader from Star Wars and Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe, and FINALLY the highly anticipated moment had arrived!With the official holiday falling on a Monday this year, we decided it might be fun to engage in a little warm-up trick-or-treating with friends at our local Alligator Farm. Needless to say, the boys were thrilled with the idea. While cleverly disguised as a construction worker, Ethan didn't seem too threatening. However, this big green guy resembling a ferocious alligator wasn't about to fool us into letting our guard down. No sir! That gator is not to be trusted! Without a doubt, he'd be looking to swipe our candy or even worse take a bite out of one of the gang!
I'm sure little defenseless Grace looked like a tasty morsel!
This fellow was much smaller in size, but just as creepy as that shady alligator. He kept a careful eye on the boys as they visited his trick-or-treat station. Jaxon and Baylor didn't seem on bit intimidated by his evil gaze as they eagerly reached out to pet him. While less than thrilled by the experience, the lizard was tolerant of all the attention he was receiving on that particularly spooky evening.
The reptile fun continued as we made our way down the trick-or-treat trail. There were more lizards, turtles & tortoises, bugs galore, and my personal "favorite"...SNAKES! Ugh!
Lots & lots of snakes. Oh joy!
By comparison, the meal worms and maggots seemed like no big deal!
All kidding aside, it was a night of family fun made even better by the company of our friends. The brotherly love was flowing as you can see by this picture of Baylor shoving Jaxon's head into the gator's mouth. The bond those two share is amazing, I tell ya!
Sure the critters were creepy and the moss-covered oaks created spooky shadows, but the evening was filled with the magical laughter of carefree children enjoying one of their favorite times of the year. What else could a parent ask for?

Countdown to 2011

I guess Jaxon needed a break after Christmas because he took off with Aunt Nguyen for a New Year's celebration in Hotlanta. While they visited with BaBa, Ong Noi, and Uncle Kyle and toured the fantastic Georgia Aquarium, we hung out on Bob & Whitney's rooftop deck. Not a bad trade off, if I do say so myself. It certainly had to be less crowded to say the least. All kidding aside, it was a little strange to not have Jax with us at Midnight. Baylor had to "suffer" through extra attention and kisses. He didn't mind that so much. In fact, I dare say that Baylor quite enjoyed life as an only child for a few days. Shhhhh! Don't tell Jax!Bob whipped up some restaurant-quality paella and kept the champagne flowing. So, the evening actually flew by. Somehow that seems appropriate since 2010 seemed to do the same. It's too early to tell about 2011, but something tells me it will be a whirlwind as well. As long as there are more peaks than valleys on life's roller coaster, I don't mind how fast we go. Of course, there are always those moments when you wish you could just press pause.Dessert, our contribution to the party, felt like one of those very pause-worthy moments. We assembled all the ingredients necessary for a scrumptious chocolate fondue. As an added treat, we ordered 3 bottles from one of our favorite Napa Valley wineries and planned a vertical wine tasting. Man oh man! What a fabulous end to 2010!Baylor wasn't sure what to make of the new utensils, but as one would expect, loved the idea of eating with a super sharp "sword." Here he is actually listening to our advice to blow on the hot chocolate coating his marshmallow.Open wide! Hilarious!YUM! YUM! YUM!
An evening surrounded by great food, good wine, and excellent company that concluded a year of extreme ups and downs...what else can you say except, "Thanks for memories! Here's to 2011! Cheers!"

Recovery

Goodness gracious!!! Today is officially a day of RECOVERY at our house because we all woke up looking like this after living 9 of the last 11 days in party-mode. Too much of a good thing eventually catches up with you, and I assure you it ain't pretty.We went out with a bang by hosting a trick-or-treat gathering for some of our friends. Eleven adults and nine children gathered with the common goal of "fueling up" and then terrorizing our neighborhood streets. The spread included, a variety of sugary sweets, of course!

Plus, some scary savory snacks like Mummy Dogs for the kids...and Bug-Eyed Bruschetta, Creepy Crawly Crab Cakes, and Bat Wings for the adults. Oh, and a few bottles of Witches' Brew!

As soon as the sun set, we headed out in search of more sugar and good times. With 9 children in tow, every riding toy/vehicle in the garage was put to use. I'm not exaggerating when I say we took over the streets and sidewalks. Our gang was certainly eclectic too with 2 Pumpkins, 2 Pirates, 2 Star Wars characters, a Firefighter, Wolverine, and Iron Man. We were destined to gather some great loot!

Without a doubt, Baylor grasped the concept of trick-or-treating this year. Both Jax and Baylor were sprinting from our to house at lightening speed. I'm not sure whether they suspected there was a time limit or what, but we finished the established route in what seemed like record time.

That said, when offered, the kids definitely took their time when making selections from the candy bowls.

Wolverine did his best to save every lollipop in the neighborhood from harm. The safest place for them would be his belly.

With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, we did our best to call it an early evening, but no one was really ready to throw in the towel on such a fun day.Actually, I take that back. Maybe Kevin was grateful to return home since he somehow got stuck/volunteered to pull Jaxon and Baylor around all evening. I know his arms were aching in the morning after that hour or so of hauling around 75+ lbs of dead weight! Hopefully, Kevin won't be scared to join in the fun next year...

I'm already looking forward to the 2011 antics!