Birthday, Halloween, Vegas, etc.

So the last couple of weeks have been so fun and busy for us. First was Brody's birthday on the 29th. It was so great because Cari, Kaden, and Lucas flew all the way out here from Georgia just for his birthday. Okay, there may have been more then just Brody's birthday that they came to Utah for but it was so fun to have them here! I didn't really plan anything, we just went to Kangaroo Zoo and played then came back to my house and ate pizza. But, it was just what I like for birthday's. Nothing too over the top. I hate the "forced fun" type of parties where the mom spends tons of money and plans way too many activities for their toddlers' birthday then has to freak out when their 3 year old isn't having fun. Anyway, we all had so, so much fun at Kangaroo Zoo jumping on all the toys. I actually got a little worn out from running and jumping so much, turns out Kangaroo Zoo is just as much fun for adults as it is for little kids. It was great because Kaden brought his cousin, Gavin so he had someone his age to play with, and Brody and Lucas played with each other. Brody loved everything except for the one where the slide comes out of the dragon's mouth. He didn't like the teeth at the bottom, so he wouldn't come down that one. After we got all our playing out, we came back to my house and ate pizza and cake then Brody opened presents. I'd just like to give a general thanks to anyone who bought Brody a present, he loved them all. So Brody had a great birthday and I only had to cry a couple of times about him not being my little boy anymore. Does every mom do that? Do birthday's ever get easier or do they always have to be emotionally traumatic because your kid is growing up? It just makes me so sad to think he only has a few cute years left before he turns into a smelly boy and I have to send him to go live at Grandma's. You know I can't tolerate having a 13-yr-old boy in my house. Ew.

Next, Halloween. The day started out so fun because we got to host Preschool and Kade and Luke got to come! So we had Brody's little Preschool friends and his cousins wear their costumes and we tried to play some fun Halloween games. I thought I had picked such age appropriate games but apparently not. It was so funny to watch them all play, though. We did 'Pin the Face on the Pumpkin', and 'Monster Musical Chairs' which was so funny because a one little girl refused to get off her monster face and dance around when the music came on so she, of course, won! My favorite was 'Monster May I?'. One girl just wanted to flit around like a fairy the whole time because she was a butterfly princess. She would dance around until she decided her turn was done then she would go back to start and just stand again, never moving any closer to the end. Another little girl would ONLY move if you told her to take princess steps and she would glare at me so much when I suggested anything else. She wouldn't say anything, just give you the evil eye. At the end we made mud cups with gummie worms which everyone loved because they got to eat chocolate pudding and ruin their cute Halloween costumes. Then that night we went up to Cari's moms' house and went trick-or-treating with them. It was fun. Brody got a little bored of trick-or-treating at the end and refused to go to the houses. He would just stand on the sidewalk and wait for Kade and Luke. Brody wore the cutest elephant costume that Melodie fixed for him. Three cheers for Melodie! Brody wanted to be an elephant so much but we couldn't find a costume big enough for him so Melodie just bought a small one and fixed it to fit him. She is amazing. Anyway, Halloween was so fun but I am glad the candy extravaganza is over. Lots of sugar for little boys.

Not a great picture, but it was the only one with everybody in it. Also Brody and Luke had decided they were sick of their costumes at this point. I guess they figured if nobody was giving them candy then why wear them?

Okay, so this post is getting rick-diculosly long but I haven't written about Vegas yet, which was awesome! Mom and Dad were so amazing and paid for a hotel and rented a Suburban and mini-van so we could all be together down there. Jess even got to fly out for the weekend- it was so great. The only one who couldn't come was Andrea but I guess she gets a pass due to the mission and all. We were all there for Grandpa's 90th birthday party. Hooray for him for making it this long! It was fun to see all the cousins on that side. But it was even more fun to be with my family for the whole weekend. We got to see lots of the Vegas sights. I kept trying to get Aubrey to go to Thunder Down Under since it was her birthday but we couldn't ever find the time. Too bad for her. (Don't worry mom, that part was a joke so you don't need to get mad and never read my blog again). But really there are a lot of fun things to do down in Vegas besides gamble and go to "gentleman's clubs." There are such pretty hotels and fun things to see. If you want to know more about what we did go check Cari's blog. Or maybe I will write more later. I won't make any commitments because I am elusive like that. But just bear in mine, there may be more Vegas information later including some very interesting observations about a woman we saw From The Future...... Or not.