Hard Hats or Party Hats?

On Saturday we put on our Hard Hats and celebrated

Patrick and Finnegan's 4th Birthday.

The Party was at Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville and the kids had a blast!

There was something for everyone -

Water Table for Sully and his friends...

train tables for chugging...

water table and gears for the big kids...

a power boat for sailors...

repair shops, firetrucks, rollercoasters and much much more!

Patrick and Finnegan were surrounded by friends and family who love them, and any activity a child could dream of, what more can you ask for?

Cake, of course!!

(Success - 2 candles blown out and no need for urgent care!)

It was such a great afternoon - lots of fun, laughter and friends.

Happy Birthday, Finn and Patrick - we love you soo much!

Making a Splash!

Yesterday was the last day of Patrick and Finnegan's swim lessons.

For the past 2 weeks, they have been taking classes at the YMCA. It has been challenging for them - their first time with instructional swim lessons, but well worth it. Both of them have gained such confidence - it was such a positive experience.

There last day of lessons was full of surprises.

First, Nannie and Pop Pop drove well into the night to surprise the boys and cheer them on.

Patrick and Finn were so proud to show their daddy, grandparents, Mommy & Sully how they swam with all but a noodle.

(Though Sully was none too impressed,

as he had been forced to watch the previous 9 days of lessons!)

They floated without any assistance,

and then the time had come to conquer the red slide.

Patrick and Finnegan took their lessons in front of the slide every day and

were waiting for the chance to go for a ride.

Our next surprise came when we thought the lesson was over.

Hand in hand, the teachers walked with the little boys over to the big kid slide.

Never, ever, did I think that my little boys would want to conquer such a challenge, but they were fired up. They climbed the flight of stairs with their teachers and waited patiently for their turn. No going back, no crying, no asking for mommy - such brave boys.

Finnegan went first (as always, he "makes sure it's safe for Patrick").

His smile was from ear to ear, loving every minute.

Then it was Patrick's turn and to our amazement, he was just as happy...

and surprised us all by swimming to the ladder with no assistance,

but lots of cheering from the crowd.

We are so proud of our little swimmers -

Great Job, Finnegan and Patrick!

Flashback, and back, and back Friday

This week, we celebrated Finnegan & Patrick's 4th Birthday.

Here is a look back at all their family birthday photos:

4th Birthday

3rd Birthday

2nd Birthday

1st Birthday

4 on the 4th!

Today we celebrated Patrick & Finnegan's 4th Birthday and Independence Day.

We started off the morning with a family breakfast -

Lightning McQueen Themed, of course!

In the afternoon, we had a neighborhood BBQ. It was supposed to be in the neighborhood, but with so many kids and almost 100 degree temperatures, we decided to have it here instead.

We may have been celebrating our twins birthdays, but we were all thrilled to be celebrating with another set of twins - Sebastian and Athena! They were the sweetest (and quietest) of the bunch and we loved celebrating Independence Day with them.

Neighborhood celebration!

It was a great day for our family

and we are looking forward to the big 4th Birthday Party next weekend!

Dear Disney

Dear Disney and Pixar,

I'm sure you have panels upon panels of focus groups that tell you all about what kinds of movies children will like and how they will respond to them. But, I feel you may have been led astray, so I would like to take a moment to remind you.

There are little boys out there, especially 4 year olds, who have lived and breathed Cars for two years. These boys adore their beloved Lightning and his friends. They carry their Cars everywhere, they wear Cars shirts, pajamas and underwear. These same boys have Lightning McQueen decor in their room and usually go to bed cuddling up with the characters.

These young preschoolers waited patiently for the Cars 2 gear to come out and even chose their new favorite character before seeing the movie.

There are even little boys who waited for Cars 2 to see their first movie in a theater. I know that these boys saved the day for a special occasion, like their birthday. These almost 4 year olds, would be surrounded by people who love them and were excited for their big day - grandparents giving them new shirts to wear, neighbors giving them popcorn boxes and candy to bring, and parents as excited as their sons were to have the special experience.

Disney and Pixar, maybe you don't realize but little boys would have waited for weeks, and or months, for their big night out. Their parents would have booked a babysitter weeks in advance, psyched the boys up for the big day and even taken them for a special "Big Boy" pizza dinner before the movie.

Little boys, while anxious to see their favorite Cars, would have also taken in the whole experience of the movie - the ticket box, the concession stand and even hunting for the theater.

After finding their seats, little boys would have been waiting patiently through the overly inappropriate previews, gripped their parents hands as the lights went down and held their breath as the CARS 2 symbol went on the screen.

Now, imagine if these same little boys were sensitive. Imagine if the only movie they have EVER loved was Cars. Imagine if they had never allowed their mother to turn on a movie with a villain, an angry character or even negative undertones.

I can assure you that these boys would not understand why cars were trying to hurt each other. They would not understand why a car was blown up, why one was thrown over a boat and shown broken into pieces or why another car was destroyed. I am also quite confident that these boys would have never heard the word "kill" up until the movie.

I know that little boys would have cried and been heartbroken by 10 minutes into the movie and no matter how much they were comforted by their parents, they needed to leave. Innocent little boys would cry the whole ride home. They would feel betrayed by the cars, by their parents and by the whole event.

I am sure that most parents of young children would be shocked to find out that this movie was rated "G". I am sure that many families would feel betrayed by Disney, Pixar and Lassiter for turning a sweet, innocent movie into just like everything else - violent and inappropriate for young children.

One more guarantee - Walt Disney rolling over in his grave. Shame on you.

Impromptu Playdate

This weekend, Patrick and Finnegan received a great gift from the Jacobus and Browning families - a giant beach ball that is also a sprinkler. This afternoon, I set up the ball in the yard and brought the boys outside to play and cool off.

Sully, Patrick and Finnegan were having a blast, playing, running and loving the new toy.

Our playtime got only more exciting when doors across the street started opening and we were joined by our friends - Johanna, Lil, Melissa, Sebastian and Athena. Talk about fun!

It was our first "playdate" with the Pluchos Twins.

We were so happy to have the 3 families together sure it's one of many playdates to come.