BIRTHDAY BOY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JADEYN!!!!

Jadeyn is FOUR YEARS OLD!!!!!
To celebrate his big day we took our traditional birthday trip to the Denver Zoo where Shawn, Steph, Austin and Chloe joined us for the festivities.

Here is the required (and much enjoyed) "hippo" picture! It's kinda like the Lion drinking fountain at Hogle Zoo for those of you who may remember that one. No matter how many times you have been to the zoo, you have to have your picture taken on the Denver Hippo or the Hogle Lion! :)

The kids ran around like crazy ones all over the zoo. They would run ahead and "take cover" behind bushes or walls to surprise us! So, on a day that was supposed to have threatened snow and rain, the morning was spectacular!! The sun was shining, we got to take our jackets off. The animals were active enjoying the sun. It was perfect. Once noon hit, so did the clouds and the wind. Were glad to have had an early start to enjoy a beautiful April birthday.

The cake!!!! Since Kevin and I absolutely love to cook and baking is even better, we enjoy the annual tradition of making Jadeyn's cake. I wasn't sure we could top last year's shark cake, but we tried! It took, well, about three hours due to only having one cake pan to cook two layers and experimenting with the fondant, etc. Star Wars was the theme of course and Jadeyn was right in the middle of it helping with the preparations. He was such a sweetie telling us several times that he loved us and thank you for making such a nice cake!! As a finishing touch, I made Ewok cupcakes!!!

I made a birthday banner for Jadeyn to use for all birthdays to come!

Jadeyn truly understood presents this year as well as surprises. He accidentally came across a few of his presents early and then promptly told us that he doesn't know what he is getting for his birthday, he forgot what he is getting because its a surprise. For example, he followed Kevin down to the basement and saw his new bike: "Thanks Dad, Thanks for getting me a bike for my birthday!" When we told him it was supposed to be a surprise, he said "I don't know what I'll get for my birthday, I hope I get a bike, but I don't know!"

He loved all the Star Wars, Cars and Transformer gifts!!!!! And his bike, well he was so excited! He and his cousins headed out to their back yard and raced around the patio. He got the hang of it pretty quickly. It was just so strange to see him on a bike, its like he grew a couple years in just a few minutes.




We spent the night at Shawn and Stephanie's and succeeded in making their house look like a tornado hit it with how much fun the kids had! Jennifer and her family were hoping to come, but snow on I-70 prevented them from coming. I could just imagine what the house would have looked like with five more boys!!! :)





















Such a fun time! Then we topped it off with an outing to Bass Pro Shop and lunch at the Olive Garden. All three kids nearly fell asleep at their plates!!! THAT'S a way to celebrate!