Holiday Party

We hosted our annual Holiday Party again.  Mom decided to do a gingerbread house decorating craft during the party.  For all the little kids...and me too.

Even though it was December, it was a really nice day out.  So we set the houses and candy up outside...for easier cleaning up.

Here's B working on his house.  My house is there, on the left with all the dum dums on top.  Looks good, right?  I worked on mine the morning of the party, so you know, the other kids would have something to aspire towards.  B copied a lot of my ideas.

We had a good time and good food.  Oh and good company too.

We took a grownups picture....but not a kids picture.  Oops. 

2015 Holiday Party

See Brendan's blog for the post

Holiday Party!

Memorial Day with friends and my birthday

It was Memorial Day, so we had a little party.  Well, it wasn't so little.  There were a lot of kids over at our house, but we had a lot of fun.  Tristan and I rode our bikes around the block...all by ourselves!  Some other kids did it too, but on scooters or the kettcar or whatever.  We just had a blast. We also played soccer and lacrosse and basketball and football in the front yard.  And then there were water guns...and the hose.  Let's see, Ella, Cady, Connor, Lucas, Joie, Larkin, Ryken, Callan, Tristan, Logan, Addison, Bella and Julian...and those are just the kids!

Then, we celebrated my birthday ( a few days early) with a cake.  Dad put on quite a few candles...so I had some trouble blowing them all out!

Xmas Party

Our annual holiday party went off without a hitch.  As usual, we got our picture taken BEFORE we got to open presents.  Well worth the wait.  I got a really nice chess set and Brendan got the Skylanders Swapforce game.  Yeah!

Tristan's Dance Recital

We went to Tristan and Addison's dance recital in the city.  It was pretty entertaining.  And we got to play with our buddies afterwards.  Congrats to my pal Tristan for making it into San Francisco Ballet!  

Xmas party with the usual gang

This year, we hosted the Christmas party.  All of us are so big now...that it's super crowded now.  But crazy good fun.  I played with Tristan and the other little kids and we played swords and all kinds of wild stuff.  Hey, we're a bunch of boys.  Just wait until next year.

Mom had a craft for us to do....and it was a fun one b/c everyone could make it and eat it 

(we have kids with food allergies)

It was a marshmallow snowman!!!

All the kids...next year, there will be one more!!!!  In the beginning,

there were a bunch of boys....and now all the little ones are girls.

We did a gift exchange.  From youngest to oldest, so I had to wait til the very end.

I was patient. 

Trip to Sacramento

We took a train trip up to Sacramento to ride the Polar Express and visit the California State Railroad Museum.  Old Town Sacramento is a pretty cool town.  It was fun, but this trip was mostly for Brendan cuz he loves trains, as you know.

On the train playing cards with buddies.  Tristan, Logan and Connor...

Old buddy Tristan

Arriving in Sacramento at the Amtrak Station

I'm usually running from pictures, so it's pretty amazing I'm in this...barely.

Mom got me a new robe and I really like it.  I wear it every morning.

This is the Polar Express...it's huge!

With Jenna and Paw Paw!

And with Dad.

Oh my, even Mom is in her PJs!

Memorial Day BBQ and mini guitar recital

With our usual gang, we held a Memorial Day Barbecue...plus a little bday celebration....It was fun.  The most exciting part was playing guitar with Uncle Ken.  Do you remember we went camping last year and Uncle Ken brought his guitar?  Well, after that trip, I started taking guitar lessons.  So when Uncle K came with his guitar, I was ready to play with him!  We held 2 practice sessions in the privacy of my room before we went out to have a mini recital.  We put on a good show, even though there were a couple distractions. We also played a lot of football out front.  My brother and I love throwing the football, but we usually end up fighting over who gets the ball....

I had an angry birds cake.  Pretty cool.

Our family picture....

Presidio Camping

Finally, we went on a camping trip.  But it was in San Francisco, in the Presidio.  Don't worry, there were plenty of trees and bugs there.  It definitely didn't feel like were were in the city.

Of course, our car was packed FULL...and I was the good sherpa.

I hauled all the camping gear from the parking lot up to the campsite.

It was a LOT of stuff.

After setting up, I offered my friends a ride on my chariot.

After a little convincing, I got Lucas to ride in it and he had a blast!

Connor and Bella rode many many times.

This was a typical scene.  I had a great time giving rides to my pals.

Here's Dad cooking dinner.  Burgers, big and small,

plus hot dogs and more.  Others brought pasta salad, 

veggies, fruits and such.  It was a full spread.

Look at all the food!

Dad, trying to get the fire going.  We are all so ready to burn things....

T and I found this huge piece of wood...and more. 

We used my trailer to carry all the firewood.  

We also played with our Hely-fliers at night and everyone had a good time chasing those down.  And we made smores and I burned lots of marshmallows.  But I still ate them.  I want to do this again soon.

And thanks to Uncle Ken for taking most of these pictures.  :)

Christmas Party with friends.

Had our Christmas party with our friends after Brendan's birthday party. Was so fun decorating cookies (and eating them) and opening presents.

Thanks Bella for the bakeset!

Helping B open his airplane flyer!

Is this too much icing?

Trying to be a good big brother to baby Joie.

The best we could do....

Xmas Party

Went to Bella's for a Xmas Party....and it was crazy fun. I was super sweaty from playing with all the kids. And I got a Lego set from Tristan and Logan and Addison. It's super awesome and has like a million pieces (okay, 595, but it's a lot). I've already completed several parts of it...did you know it's for 9 year olds? Ha. I can totally do it by myself.

Here I am reading the instructions.


See? I built this thing all by myself...but there are hundreds more pieces to do...


Here we are at Bella's. I got to hold onto Lucas...

Happy Birthday Auntie Betty!!! SURPRISE!!!

Surprise Auntie Betty! Uncle Joel planned this awesome surprise for Auntie Betty...and the best part? It totally worked! We had a super fun day in the park celebrating. B and I were completely zonked afterwards. Phew! You can see pictures of us in action in our 36th (b) and 66th months.


Here we are sneaking up on unsuspecting Auntie Betty taking a picture with Uncle Ken (decoy). Shhhh...we have to be really quiet!


And here we are shouting "SURPRISE!!!!!!"


See how surprised Auntie B was? Crazy good, right?

If you are looking for Brendan and Mommy....B had to go to the potty right before this...so they were walking in from behind, but they are not in these pictures....that's some bad timing little bro. But I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go!