Eban's 4th birthday

Tutu came in town to help tend to me following my surgery. It was hard as I felt decent enough following the surgery but I did pay attention to doctor’s orders and took it easy the first week or so. Our first little outing was to the local Erie airport to catch Cessnas land and take off. For fourth of July, we went to the big hill behind our house to watch the fireworks. It was a huge letdown as the kids had meltdowns of various degrees and the fireworks were so far away that it wasn't worth it. Ugh. At least we saw a beautiful sunset - - that was a big bonus! We also celebrated Eban’s birthday three weeks after the actual date at a little indoor kid place called Little Monkey Bizness. All the kids ran around and played on the slides until it was time for dinner and cake. Our friends, Keegan and Lisa of dbar desserts, made Eban a Hot Wheels cake and the kids raved about it! Jack claimed the police car and Eban claimed all others. I thought it was nice that Eban shared the toys on the cake. What’s interesting about little Jack is that he’s turning into me as he’s the only little kid who didn’t have any cake as he said he doesn’t like cake. What kid doesn’t like cake?

In lieu of presents, we asked for food donations so we could go to a local food bank with the nonperishable items. Our back trunk of the minivan was loaded with items and I’m proud to say that Eban didn’t even notice the lack of presents. Tutu was kind enough to find the church and deliver the items.
I do want to say that Eban did get presents from his family and certain friends. Grandma and Grandpa sent him dress up hats which the boys took to immediately.

Grammie Kass sent him a Cold Stone Creamery credit card which he proudly exclaimed that he’d buy all of us ice cream ‘for FOREVER’ since he has a credit card now.
And Grandpa from Denver gave him walkie talkies which we used at an outing at the zoo. I love this picture of the boys with their serious 'walkie talkie' faces! Anyway, besides being stealth zoo explorers, we also fed the birds at the zoo which was a highlight although Jack kept tipping his little nectar cup over so he lost his stash within a two minute span.
At a neighborhood garage sale, I got Eban a kid’s recliner. It’s a tad broken but Eban loves to sit in it and recline like daddy. It was an expensive purchase. One whole dollar!! Keegan and Lisa got him a Hot Wheels car that changes color in hot water or cold water. So overall, it was very successful for our little four-year old! Here are some interesting shots of the boys enjoying their goodie bags from the birthday party as they excitedly ran outside the front door to eat their first candy necklaces - - talk about being silly!?

Good news on the Jack Jack front…he is almost done with the bottles. He hasn’t used one in three days and is sticking to using sippy cups. Now we need to work on the diaper and the pacifier. He has shown no interest in giving up the diaper since going to a new daycare. He does rid himself of the pacifier as he says he’s a big boy.