In addition to their ninja party with friends, we celebrated Jaden and Cody's birthday with a family party as well. Over Memorial Day weekend, our in-town extended family came over for a few games led by Daddy, a stir fry dinner (Cody and Jaden's choice), and ice cream cake.
The boys, of course, were thrilled to celebrate their birthday twice and to receive some early birthday presents as well. As always, our family was so generous with the boys. Their first weeks of summer have been full of game-playing with new birthday toys! Here are just a few of their fun new gifts....
The boys spent a lot of time playing on this new air hockey table which bargain-hunter Uncle Andrew found on a super deal for only $5. Definitely worth that price, I'd say!
Both sets of grandparents gave us money to buy a basketball hoop for Jaden and Cody. The boys talked about playing basketball all the time during recess at school this past year. Plus, they love shooting hoops with their small Little Tikes hoop upstairs. We knew that a real hoop would be a perfect gift for them this year. The boys were quite excited about the gift too...
...especially once Mommy and Daddy FINALLY got the hoop assembled! (The assembly ended up being quite the project that extended over 5 or 6 evenings-- it's tough to do tasks like this with a toddler around!) The boys have played basketball every single day, often even multiple times a day, since the hoop's been up. Thanks for the wonderful, generous gift, Grandpa & Grandma and Grammy & Papa! Your gift will be very well used!
Uncle Andy and Aunt Beth sent us money for a "new experience" for Jaden and Cody. We gave the boys a few options, and they chose to go to Build-a-Bear. Both boys absolutely LOVE what they call their "stuffies," so we figured they'd enjoy the chance to pick out their own stuffed animal. After selecting their un-stuffed animal,
the boys used the pedal to add the stuffing.
Then, they rubbed the animal's new heart against their own and placed the hearts inside their animals.
Finally, the boys printed out their animals' birth certificates.
Stripes the tiger and Swinger (ha ha!) the monkey were born! :) What a fun experience!
Mommy and Daddy's gifts to Cody and Jaden were new bikes! We had bought the bikes early (while school was still in session) but had hidden them over at Grammy and Papa's house so they boys wouldn't uncover them.
Grammy and Papa's cul-de-sac was a perfect setting for trying out the new wheels.
The boys were long overdue for new bikes, as their knees were practically hitting the handlebars on their old 14" bikes. We made a BIG jump all the way up to 20" bikes, so it has been a bit of a learning curve getting used to starting and stopping on their own. It's not easy when only your tiptoes can touch the ground! Jaden and Cody have made some good progress over the past few weeks, though, and now can (usually) start independently and stop on their own too.
After picking up the bikes from Grammy and Papa's, we all went out for ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Yum!
Being 6 has certainly been an enjoyable journey so far!
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