Five!

The Caboose turned FIVE!

LOVES: Superheros (especially Spiderman) doing anything his brothers are doing, playing with his brothers and their friends, all kinds of sweet treats, mac & cheese, Dinosaur Trains, Cat in the Hat, silly/potty talk (I can't STAND it!) playing games, adventures and sneaking treats

HATES: Going to stores, being sick, boring things, doing chores, losing at games, staying in his room at bedtime and being frustrated.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES:
"I want to be a superhero when I grow up."
"I'm your play date with destiny!"
"I'm a really good sneaker"
"I have a girlfriend. Kelsey (his cousin) AND Adrienne (his other cousin.) I have TWO girlfriends!"

The birthday boy wanted to have a Monster Truck party so the big boys spent quite a bit of time putting together this super cool Monster Truck Track in the living room. We gave each guest a Monster Truck of their own that they could play with on the the track and use for some other games.

We had my niece join in the fun. Here she is trying to get a ball into the tire.

Blowing out the candles

The birthday boy!

In addition to the Monster Truck cake, I made these 'Lucky Leprechaun' cupcakes for the Caboose's preschool birthday treat. I just divided up the batter, colored each portion a different color and then layered each color in the cupcake tins. It was a pain to spread each individual color, but I think they turned out really cute.

Now that he's five years old, the Caboose has promised to give up both his thumb and his blankie. (They tend to go together.) When he went to bed the night before his birthday he swore that would be the last of Blankie. But when he woke up on his birthday he thought he shouldn't have to give it up until after his party.

While he certainly was milking his last moments of 'babyhood', I must admit that I was enjoying it too. It did my heart good to see that a part of him is STILL my baby.

Totally Mint!

While my friends all made me promise not to publish pictures of them in their 1980s glory, I couldn't resist showing how so totally awesome Diamond and I look when we go retro!

Oh, and Cory, we still have your turtleneck. It was a real crowd pleaser!

Magic Kingdom

Diamond knew for some time that he would have a business trip to Orlando this February. Of course I insisted that I should go along. Orlando? In February? Youbetcha!

As an Eastern girl, most of my friends had made the trek down to Disney World but my family opted instead for the Carolina beaches. And while I LOVED the beach and have been to Disneyland a few times, I have never been to the happiest place in Florida. Somehow it had me feeling a bit left out.

To be honest, I think I prefer Disneyland, but I did enjoy my time at Magic Kingdom. I had never seen the parade before, plus it seems like every time we made it to Disneyland, I was eleven months pregnant and thus had to forgo Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. (What's with all the mountains anyway???)

But my real objective was to get caught up on my sleep and have some serious time by the pool. I have been feeling so exhausted and burned out with everything going on and I was desperate for some R&R. Although a four day weekend can't undo three years worth of wear, it was a much needed breath of fresh air. Literally.

Ahh, palm trees, fountains and sunshine!