Happy 3rd Birthday Josh

 Happy, happy birthday to our little Joshie!  Hard to believe this little man is 3, but he has really grown up a lot in the last year.  He was very excited about his bday celebration.  We went to 2Toots, the ever popular train restaurant, for a birthday lunch on Sunday and then had a few of Josh's buddies over for cake last night.  He had a great day and enjoyed all of the attention!   At 3 - Josh is opinionated and tough - he loves Alec and Charlie (particularly Alec) and does anything and everything they do - he actually acts much more like a 6 year old than a 3 year old most oft he time.  He is also really funny, he has great fine motor skills and loves to set, organize and sort toys, his football guys are a current favorite, he is a snuggler and is either chasing Alec and Charlie down or wanting to be carried around by mom, he loves sports just like his brothers and is amazing already with a soccer ball, he is finicky, feisty, totally lovable and adorable.  Thanks for completing our family Josh Aaron.       

 A few morning presents

 Hockey guys

 After dinner presents

 Partying with his best buddies

 He even got to meet baby Mason, the Gravlins new puppy who just came home yesterday.

 A few shots from 2Toots

Warp Wall

Matt made the boys proud and made it up the 14ft warp wall:)

Ninja Warrior

Alec's Ninja Warrior birthday party was a huge success, the gym was a true ninja gym with all the obstacles from the show and the owner and man who led the party has actually been on the show 4 times, even making it to Mt. Midoriomo twice.  The boys could not have loved it more - was worth every penny!  

4's Preschool

Finally....Charlie started preschool this week.  We switched him to a new school that is closer to our house, and they don't start until the week after Labor Day, which was really late this year!  Charlie already knows almost every kid in his class and is thrilled to be going to school.  We had a short orientation last week and Charlie had everyone in the room laughing, he does not have a shy bone in his body and was the most eager, interactive and chatty kid in the class by a landslide - watch out First Pres, here comes Charlie:)

 Lunch date before his first day, with Grammy and Alec who was home sick from school.

Number 8

Really hard to believe, but Alec turned 8 last weekend!  We had big plans for his special bday weekend and were all very excited for his Saturday birthday this year, but as life goes, he came down with a fever Thursday night and ended up being horribly sick all weekend long.  He is our healthiest kid by far, so it was a major bummer to see him down and out for so many days.  I took him in on Monday and the diagnosis was a sinus infection.  He's on meds now and seems to be improving, but it was a rough day for our crazy 8 year old.  We did manage to squeeze in some celebrating; Grammy flew in to help celebrate, and luckily we had to reschedule his ninja warrior birthday party for next weekend b/c he had soccer and football games all weekend long, so we're gonna do a little birthday redo this upcoming weekend.  Happy, happy birthday Alec - you are the coolest kid and we are all impressed and inspired by you every day.  Thanks for being so easy to be proud of.

 

In true Alec form, he managed to power through both a football game and a soccer game on Saturday, although the soccer nearly killed him - we skipped his Sunday games

 Poor kiddo was spent

 

 He saved his big present for last - a new skate ramp from Grammy and Papa Ross