Visiting the Barries

One of the kids' (and our) favorite places to visit is Dr. and Mrs. Barrie's garden.  We have been there several times and I am always disappointed to have not taken any photos because it is simply gorgeous.  I was glad that Michael snapped at least a few on his phone this past time we visited.

 

We never take any toys with us, there is always tons for the kids to do.  Not to mention, there is a fully stocked outdoor toy cabinet as well as an amazing toy attic (if we allow Luke in there, we won't see him again).

 

We love walking through the garden and sampling fruit and veggies.  Luke loves the raspberry bushes, and Mia will try just about anything from the garden that Dr. Barrie offers her.

 

Another favorite stop:  the chickens

 

The Barries are such wonderful hosts and we always go home with our arms full of fresh eggs, fruit, and vegetables.

Summer nights

We are really trying to soak up these last lazy days and nights of summer.  I realize that very soon, with the start of Kindergarten for Luke, our lives will require us to be more regimented and structured.  Staying up late on a weeknight, just because, probably won't happen very often.

So, tonight we ventured out for dinner at Aqui's followed by ice cream and coffee in downtown Willow Glen.

Summer Swimming

We spent a lot of time at the club swimming again this summer.  The kids love going to swim, but also are particularly fond of the lunch menu and treats (Mia thinks that the free popcorn is about the best thing ever).

During their last week of summer vacation, our friends Aidan and Bailey came up to swim with us.  We loved having them visit and hang out with us.  It is hard to believe that school starts for them next week, and for us in just a couple of weeks.  Where did the summer go?

Taking a swim break to enjoy some ice cream treats

Yum!



 Sharing

 Now Bailey somehow has Aidan's popsicle, and is also sharing that with Mia.

 And Aidan's eating Bailey's...but Luke, who smartly picked the Ben & Jerry's bar, is staying out of the sharing and keeping his ice cream to himself!

Grandpa & Grandma visit

Grandma came to visit and spent 3 weeks with us this summer.  She was able to be here for Luke's birthday party, to drop us off and pick us up at summer school, to visit Mia's ballet class, and to just generally give Mommy some extra time to do "stuff."

 

She also tag teamed with Day and Paw to watch us for a long weekend while Mommy and Daddy spent some alone time down in Dana Point.

 

On the third week of her visit, Grandpa joined her.  We made sure to save lots of fun stuff to do for when he was here.

Of course, we took them to Happy Hollow,

 

 

 

...the park,





...and the duck ponds.

 

Naturally, we also put them to work!  Grandma helped Mommy clean our closets, and Grandpa helped Daddy construct Luke's new bed.  I think we may have sent them home pretty tired!  Thanks for coming to be with us, Grandma and Grandpa.  We loved having you!

Luke's bed

The loft bed has arrived.  Thankfully, Grandpa is here to help put it together!

A very happy and excited boy!

Note that Mia has moved in under the desk.  She's setting up her "bed" down there.  In fact, her first reaction to the bed was to burst into tears and say, "I want it!"

So much more play space in his room now.

Luke's "Robot Reboot"

Luke's 5th Birthday party had a "Robot Reboot" theme.

 

I am not sure that any of us know where the obsession with robots stems from.  Nonetheless, Luke just loves them.  It seemed to start when he asked Santa repeatedly last Christmas to bring him a robot.  Santa was a bit stumped as to what Luke's expectations were for a robot, but he delivered on his promise to bring gifts to all the good little boys and girls.  Luke received a robot that walks, talks, and dances.  He seemed happy...

 

It was around this same time that I was planning Mia's birthday party and Luke informed me that he would have a robot party for his 5th birthday.  I assumed that his mind would change, given that he would have 7 months to come up with a bunch of other ideas.  He didn't ...

 

We even "sort of" tried to talk him out of the whole robot thing.  You see, you can't just go to Party City and purchase a robot party kit and be done.  No, because party stores don't just carry a robot line.  So I knew it would be a lot of work.  A lot of do-it-yourself.  A lot of crafting.  It was....

 

We told him how much fun it would be to have a "Pancakes and Pajamas" party since he is such a breakfast lover.  He also happens to request to stay in his pajamas just about every day.  When you ask him on the weekend (or even on a special day, like his birthday for instance) what he would like to do, he will tell you that he would like to stay in his pjs all day long.  Luke loved the breakfast party with guests in pajamas idea.  He loved it so much that he informed me that he would like to do it ... along with robots.  Hmmm?

 

So, after quite a lot of brainstorming, and a good deal of internet research (nope, no one else that I can find has ever done a pajama/breakfast/robot party), I came up with the theme "Robot Reboot."  Sort of silly, but it works.

 

The sign welcoming Luke's guests to his party



I did mention that there was quite a lot of crafting projects, didn't I?  Here is one of Daddy's contributions - a tabletop robot, complete with green glasses :)

The treat table and Luke's magnificent cake (NOT made by me!)

I wish I had got a few more pictures of outside - these aren't great, but they give an idea.  I ended up running a few minutes behind, which cut into my photography

As usual, I took no pictures of the food.  Guess it goes to show you what my least favorite part of party planning is!  We served egg casserole, french toast casserole, donuts, fruit kabobs, yogurt and granola, cereal, chocolate milks, and juice boxes.  The adults had much more exciting beverages than the kids:  mimosas and bloody marys ... oh, and coffee.

 

 Outside was set up with a few different craft and activity stations.  One table had glitter play-doh, another robot puzzles, and the final (and most popular) one was a design-your-own robot station.

 I adored Luke's cake.  It was made by Roxy, the aunt of one of Luke's friends.  She's amazingly talented.  I could tell that Luke loved his cake.  I almost hated to cut it because it was so cute.

 

 

 

Kids enjoying the robot cake (it was delicious; marble cake with s'mores filling!)

 Luke received so many perfect gifts.  It was officially the year of legos and robots.  He is building legos daily now ... and is also now outfitted for school with a robot backpack, lunchbag, pencil case, and even a robot ice pack for his lunchbox!

Finally, party guests went home with their own original robot t-shirt (yes, add that to the list of craft projects!) and their own little robot made out of slinkies, candy, and crayons (thank you, Pinterest!).

 

 

 

 

When all was said and done, Luke still managed to have a LOT of energy, so he put on a dance and song performance for us utilizing his radio robot (constructed, again, by Daddy).  This one stayed outside and had Luke's radio/CD player set up behind it to play through its "speaker."  I think it might have been the highlight of the party for Luke.

 

Weary-looking, pajama-wearing parents after a full day of partying robot-style

 

 Happy 5th Birthday to our big boy!  It was a great party ... and I have to admit, as I often do when it comes to Luke and his ideas, he was right.  It was an awesome theme :)!