Birthday Bonanza

We've been in birthday celebration over here since early June and I think I need a break from all the cake! Alex turned 3 on Will's last day of kindergarten, so that was double cause for celebration. We bought Alex a two-wheeler with training wheels. The first day, he took off down the driveway like a gang buster and after going over the curb and the man-hole cover he realized he didn't know how to stop. Later that evening, Grandpa worked with him for a long time helping remind him to pedal backwards to stop. He hasn't been on the bike since. Whenever I suggest taking it out for a spin he cries "but I can't pedal backwards!" I'm a little bummed that he's not riding it more, but Will was the exact same way when he got his bike. One day he'll jump back on and take off down the driveway again.

With the boys having birthdays only 11 days apart, they agreed to a joint neighborhood cul-de-sac party. We borrowed the neighbors giant inflatable waterslide, Scott smoked a pork shoulder and we had a decorate-your-own-cupcake-station instead of a cake. It was crazy hot that day, so I know the kids were loving being in the water.

Will turned six on the first official day of summer (June 21). We biked in the morning (well, I biked and the boys rode in the bike trailer....official triathlon training!) and spent the afternoon at the pool.

Later that week, Will and I flew up to Chicago to celebrate his good friend Peyton's 6th birthday. We used to live next door to the Hines' and Will and Peyton were inseparable for the first 3 1/2 years of their lives. We also got to meet Peyton's new baby brother Logan. What a cutie! It was great watching Will & Peyton play together (with the occasional fight) just like old times. I got a chance to catch up with Jennifer and Robert too. Back in the day, we would get together with them once the kids were in bed and play board games (our baby monitors reached between houses)! We've got some great memories. We took the kids to see Toy Story 3 and even got to check out a restaurant from the show Triple D (Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network).

Last weekend was my birthday. I'm holding steady in my thirties at least for a few more years!! I asked to celebrate at the beach, and Scott hooked us up with a spot at our favorite place in Hilton Head....the South Beach Inn (www.sbinn.com/inn) We gorged ourselves on seafood, played at the beach, flew the kite, hit the pool and went to my favorite bakery for breakfast...Signe's bakery (http://www.signesbakery.com/) for their blackberry french toast...YUM! Once the kids were in bed Saturday night, Scott and I sat out on the patio and I gobbled down crab legs and chocolate chip pie for dessert. All washed down with a couple glasses of wine. Life is good.

The only snag in our weekend was Scott's mysterious encounter with what we think must have been a decent sized crab. I'd been walking along the beach trying to catch some of the baby crabs that were scurrying around in the seaweed when I saw a much larger crab headed for the water. It's body was the size of my palm and its legs were at least as long again. I half tried to scoop him with my net but was a little freaked out. Needless to say, less than 30 minutes later Scott and Will run full-tilt into the waves and I hear Scott yell. He must have stepped on the same crab (or maybe a relative) because his foot had several long, deep scrapes along the bottom. It was pretty sore for the first part of the week and has put a damper on his triathlon training. He's a tough cookie though and pushed through and is ready to race tomorrow morning at 7am in the scorching heat.

Here's some birthday highlights from the last month:

http://scottnicwillalex.shutterfly.com/pictures/8