Reid is 6!

Reid turned 6 years old last month! (I'm a little behind on posts.) We started his birthday with a breakfast waffle.

Then for dinner, he requested pizza and ice cream, so we went to his favorite pizza place where they have a huge pizza buffet and a gigantic activity area, which includes arcade games as well as Reid's favorite--an indoor race track! Here he is with his birthday cinnamon roll (instead of ice cream-so many choices, so few stomachs!).





It's just crazy that we have a 6 year old. Six is definitely no longer a toddler or even a preschooler--it's like, a real "kid". A gross, smelly, bug-collecting, frog-catching kid. :) He has a bigger attitude and is that much closer to "mom and dad don't know anything". But on the other--and much heavier--hand, he has a bigger intellect and better understanding of concepts, a stonger sense of humor and understanding of jokes, a bigger imagination, and a bigger and more caring heart. He loves to play with his sisters (at times), especially rough-housing with Sloane. He is kind enough to humor Blair's many reqeusts in dressing her up as a princess although I know he would rather be playing Transformers, wrestling, or tooting on someone (I told you he was gross and smelly!). He likes riding his bike and scooter and playing t-ball. He loves dirt and all things that dig, lift, or push dirt. The only thing he doesn't like is sitting still. Someone told me, and I decided to take it as a compliment, "Reid's got a personality like no other." That he does.

Holding a dead frog, no kidding! And a handful of cicada skins (that was his Show and Share at school that week).













Posing with Blair after a dress-up session










Wrestling with Sloane--you can't tell which arms and legs belong to who!








A trip down memory lane...
Just born

1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

4th birthday

5th birthday

6th birthday

Games, cake, and swine flu: All the makings of a great party!

The Saturday after Reid's birthday was the day he had been waiting for--his "Wipeout" party (based on the hit show on ABC). If you're not familiar with it, it's a competition where 24 contestants race through an obstacle course in a battle for $50,000. As you can tell by the name, many people find themselves wiping out in the water or mud pits as they dash though the challenges. If you haven't seen it, you should really check it out (Wednesday nights during the summer season--I think it's over now though). It's a great family show and we all get a lot of laughs. Reid had this theme picked out for at least 3 months before his birthday!

We had the party at our church gym so all the kids could run free and run wild. We set up an obstacle course with lots of fun challenges. First they had to zigzag bounce through the cones (soda bottles).

Then crawl under a table and come out the other side, and then straight into and through the tunnel and cube.

Next was hopping or monster-feet walking in each of the hula hoops.

Then belly dive over the Big Ball (no Wipeout course is complete without Big Balls).

Jump up and ring a bell, and then put on a hat (a pirate hat, a Jamaican hat with dreads-pictured below, or a sombrero), shoot a basket, and run back down to the start line.

I think the kids really had a good time with the obstacle course, and the Big Ball gave us the wipeouts we were looking for!

After playing hard, everyone was awarded a gold medal for spectacular achievement in the obstacle course and then it was time for cake and ice cream. The cake was designed to look like a course from the show: Slip down the slide, tip toe over the stepping stones, hop over the mud pit, guard your face from the sucker punches, bounce across the Big Balls, and finally balance the spinning logs before making it to the winner's circle!

The party ended with gift opening and he received a lot of fun toys. The hot item this year was Bakugan, little balls that pop open into animal shapes. Jer and I don't really know much about them, just that it's THE toy to have right now, according to all the kids. Shortly after gifts, while some friends were still there partying, we noticed Reid wasn't feeling very well. I wonder what gave us that impression?


We got home, and Reid slept most of the evening. He ran a high fever for 2 days, threw up 3 times, complained about a headache and stomach ache for most of that time, and even remarked, very distressed, "Great, I got the swine flu." I assured him he didn't, and he eventually bounced back and returned to normal behavior. He went back to school for 2 days, but came back home from school on the second day with another fever. We took him to the doctor the next day, and he was diagnosed with Influenza A. The health dept is no longer testing each individual flu patient for swine flu, and since it's not "flu season" yet, we are told that anyone with influenza A is assumed to have swine flu. So, turns out, oops, he did have swine flu. And we just exposed 24 kids to it! Lovely! Luckily, I don't think any of those kids ended up with it. After a week of feeling crummy, Reid was back to normal, tearing through the house and pestering everyone around him. It was good to have the old Reid back.

You know your fried chicken is real when...

Yes, folks, those are feathers. Some things in life you just never thought you'd see.

Girls will be boys

We were playing outside in the water a couple of weeks ago and Blair wanted to make a mud bath. So she got a bucket, filled it with water, poured in some dirt, and had a seat. It was quite fun it seems.
(notice the muddy water pouring out)

I love my child but...

...I would run the other direction if I saw this walking toward me in a dark alley!
(That's what happens when little hands get in your makeup.)

To erase that image from your mind, focus on this a bit...awww. That's her princess pose, in case you were wondering. She practices it often.

6th Annual Red Sox vs. Rangers Weekend

Every year, we make the drive to Arlington when the Red Sox are in town playing the Rangers. Our first year to go was when Reid was just 6 months old. We've gone each year since then, and our family picture has grown to add 2 more kids in that time! Reid and Blair have come to realize that Red Sox weekend means we get to stay at a hotel and swim in a pool, and they eagerly anticipate getting to ride the red trolley that shuttles us to and from the game. This year, Reid even remembered getting to play in the kid zone on the backside of the field, and for weeks ahead of time, kept telling me to remind him to get money out of his piggy bank before we left so he could have money to play the games. I look forward to when Sloane is old enough to learn these things too and share in their excitement of these simple events.

(Unfortunately, no pictures from the trolley this year. There were too many people to even think about moving. On the way back to the hotel after the game, we squeezed 5 people in one regular two-person bench seat!)

The Fly going for a dip. Even Sloane liked the water. She normally shuns away from anything wet.
Every year we get a picture of Jeremy with the kids while waiting for the trolley to pick us up.

Sloane in her own little jersey! (which Reid wore to his first game)This year's traditional picture: Me, Jer, Sloane, Reid, and Cousin It.

A blast from the past--our 1st game, 2004!

This is what we deal with on a daily basis, people.

This is better.

Daddy and Sloane enjoying the game. Blair playing t-ball in the kid zone. She actually hit it pretty good.
I thought Reid was going to pound a hole in the mat!

Plinko!

A night of baseball

We went to a game for our AAA team the other night. We love going to baseball games--it's a lot of fun sitting out in the fresh air, taking in the all the aromas from the concessions and all the sounds of the crowd and the game. And the kids love eating peanuts. It will keep them still in their seats for a good 30-45 minutes! However, when the thrill of the peanuts wears off, or when the bag runs out*, then we're back to up, down, turning around, feet kicking seats, fighting over who sits where...but those 30 minutes...ah, pure summer baseball bliss!
*Cotton candy achieves the same quiet results, but the 2 games we went to managed to sell out of cotton candy before we could buy any. What kind of baseball stadium sells out of cotton candy???

Lucky for us, the nights we were there were "A Taste of Fenway" night. (Fenway Park in Boston is where the Red Sox play.) So for 3 nights, our stadium channeled the feeling of Fenway. You could order a Fenway Frank, stand next to a life size replica section of the Green Monster (that's Jeremy and Reid)

and look across the field at a HUGE mural of where the Monster would be if you were at Fenway. Bill Buckner, retired Red Sox player, was even there signing autographs.

Notice Reid always wears a baseball jersey, Sloane happily wears whatever we put her in (usually a Red Sox t-shirt), but Blair INSISTS on wearing a flowery dress (we can't even get her in shorts and a t-shirt).

The world-famous San Diego Chicken was a special guest. Mascots are usually fairly entertaining, but he was actually really funny. He had the whole crowd in stitches!