Happy Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday, Hayden! We actually had his friend birthday party the Saturday before (Oct. 23). It was a racecar themed party so Hayden got to wear his racecar costume from last Halloween...luckily, it still fit. The first thing the kids did when they came was decorate their racing visors.

My mom, Brooke and Gage. They came a little early to help with the set-up.

Party food--pizza, carrots & cucumbers, pb&j sandwiches, juice, and traffic light rice krispy treats.

I took pics of each of the party guests inside Hayden's racecar. The kids played for a bit and then we played a guessing game (How Many Cars Are in the Jar?). I didn't get any pictures from that game, though. Next we played a race track version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." I blindfolded each of the kids and they had to try and get their car as close to the finish line as possible.

After the games, it was time for Hayden to open presents. I taught the kids how to do "Heavy, Heavy Hangover" so they each got to bump Hayden on the head and he had to wish them each something special.

Time for the cake and icecream

I attempted to make a race track cake using cupcakes for the track and two small cakes in the middle. I just thought it would be easier to serve this way. Plus, the kids were able to take a cupcake and a car, too.

Blowing out the candles

Later that night Hayden and I went to a huge Halloween Party. I wish that I had gotten pictures from that night...it was pretty fun. Unfortunately, we had to leave early because I was going rock climbing indoors.

My first rock climbing experience! I had to learn not only how to climb, but how to tie different kinds of knots, attach all my gear on myself and someone else, and hold the rope (this has a specific name that is not coming to mind right now) for the other person to climb as well.

The next day (Sunday) my dad, Donna, Kaley, and Bethany came over to celebrate Hayden's birthday. Hayden was so excited for them to come over and he kept checking the window all in anticipation of their arrival. Below are pics of Hayden with some of his fun gifts. The present below was from Tawni and both Danika and Kaley made him some super cute hats.

His Grandma and Grandpa gave him some cool markers which he pulled out immediately after our visit with them.

Kaley's hat

Danika's hat...I wish I would have cleaned the chocolate off of Hayden's cheek (sigh).

On Hayden's birthday (Wednesday) he got to open presents after school before we went to Boondocks. I just posted a few pictures of him doing gifts, but I failed to take any pictures at Boondocks. We went with my mom and Hayden got in free because we are part of their birthday club. Hayden did some arcade games and played in the indoor slide/climbing area, and then we had dinner there. Of course, Hayden went right back to playing as soon as we were done eating (you can imagine that dinner was a little rushed because someone was anxious to go back and play). Eventually, Hayden's dad came to take him for the night since he was in town--an unexpected visit, but we made it all work out. I actually took advantage of the opportunity to go out on a date to a Haunted House which ended up being tons of fun. If you want any more details on that, just ask me. With Aaron being in town I actually went on four first dates in one week (so not typical of me, but after my last experience I've definitely changed). I will say this much...yes, there is someone that has a lot of potential :)

The next day was my birthday, and some of you may know that the last thing I want to do is feel old. So here we are celebrating karaokee-style at Pirate Island. My sis, Brooke, insisted that we sing a Vanilla Ice song (ya, we're a little old-school) and I invited some preteen boys to come up on stage to help us out. Can you believe they had never even heard the "Ice, Ice Baby" song before? So much for not feeling old. Oh well, it was still fun and there was quite the crowd there and a bunch of people were dressed up, too.

Our group minus a few people (my fam and the Herrud fam)