Sam Rocks the Big "7"

On Sunday, April 26, Samuel turned 7, and we finally got to celebrate our first birthday with the boys. It was a great celebration with a lot of anticipation and the repeated question: "How many days until my birthday?" We ended up partying three days in a row, so I think by the time it was all said and done, Samuel felt like everyday might just be his birthday from here on out.

We began on Friday by taking cupcakes and juice to his classmates for snack time. Nana and Pop Pop Peregory were on hand to surprise Samuel, and he was so excited. He got to wear a visor that said "Happy Birthday" on it and then everyone sang to him. Luis and Daniel got to eat cupcakes and drink juice, so their view of what kindergarten is actually like becomes more and more warped with every visit we make to the school. His birthday party was on Saturday afternoon and we had plenty of family and friends on hand to help celebrate, and we are thankful for the family that travelled to be here and the friends who took time on the weekend to be with us. It meant a lot to have Sam's "first seventh" birthday be such a special event! On Sunday, the day belonged to Sam - we let Sam pick where he wanted to eat lunch and what he wanted us to make him for dinner while he played with all of his new toys.

The pictures and videos always do a better job at telling the story, so here we go!

Happy Birthday to Samuel! We think he looks older! He definitely keeps reminding us that he is now a big boy. Maria made this amazing cake to go along with our "Rock 'n Roll" theme. It absolutely tasted as good as it looked. Thank you Maria!!!!

An overhead view of the cake. Amazing. She shaped the entire thing by hand.

We held the party at a park near our house so that the kids would be able to run and play and have fun on the playground. Of course the twins did not leave the shelter. Instead they played in the dirt. I am not surprised. Samuel, on the other hand, did not want to leave the sand box under any circumstance except for the piñata and to open presents.

Before we let the kids take a whack at the piñata, we handed out loot bags so they would have a place to put their candy. It was a bit more chaotic than I anticipated. I am used to speaking in front of groups of colleagues, not trying to organize hot, anxious kids. It was pretty comical.

The piñata! I didn't get a good shot of our boys, but they were wearing their guitar t-shirts and Maria commented that she liked how I made them into decorations too!

The birthday boy got to go first. Here his Nana is spinning him around and getting ready to turn him loose.

Their friend Ashton plays little league and is pretty adept with the bat. In fact, he hit the piñata so hard that he bent it in half on his second go 'round! It didn't hinder the other kids' fun one bit.

The spoils of war! Each kid took two turns - one with the blindfold and one without. When the piñata STILL wasn't busted open, we let Samuel take it and throw the guitar on the ground like a real rock star. Below are some video clips of our boys taking their shots at the papier maché menace.

I was really amazed at how the other kids just let Samuel open his presents. They gathered around him to watch, but didn't try to help or take over. They just let him do it. He got a lot of great stuff that he is really excited about and thankful for.

On Sunday, he picked Wild Wing Café for lunch so he could get pizza with a baked potato. Note his new big boy watch, courtesy of his primos.

We got a brownie Sunday to continue the celebration...

...and we didn't leave any of it behind!

For his birthday dinner, Samuel chose the very perplexing combination of German-style sausages, bacon, popcorn and juice. It was surprisingly good, but very greasy.

We got Samuel his first bike for his birthday. He initially asked for a real guitar with strings (he has a plastic one that he plays with), but we thought with the summer upon us, he should have a bike. Every kid needs a bike! He LOVES it and asks to go ride it every day. Below is a video of his first bike ride on his birthday.

While he rode, the twins got to ride in their jogger so we could all stay together.

The other thing that Samuel really wanted was a tie, so his Nana and Pop Pop Peregory gave him a shirt and tie. He proudly wore it to school on Tuesday. Very fancy!

It really was an excellent weekend! I have much more to post on what we have been doing over the past month, but I will save that for next time.