Carter's 5th birthday

Carter turned 5 on November 17th (so hard to believe!) and we had several celebrations! Of course, he celebrated at school, and he chose donuts for the class treat. His birthday was also the day of the "Big Reveal" for his big present... All through the day, I gave him hints without telling him what I was doing. His food for breakfast and lunch were in the shape of Mickey Mouse. I just told him to pay attention to what his lunch looked like at school and let me know when he got home. After I asked him what shape everything was, he said, "Um, I don't know... Three-leaf clovers?" Ha!

Charlie gave him a movie he had asked for - Astro Boy. They really do love each other most of the time!

For dinner that night, we went to a Japanese steakhouse (Carter's choice), and for some reason I can't find those photos. We sat at a table with 2 other birthday people. I guess that's the place to go for your birthday?!? I do love the song they do along with the disco ball and the big sparkler in the dessert.


At home, I did a quick decorating job (all in Mickey items) and we had an ice cream cake and gifts - ALL Mickey related. Carter asked why everything had Mickey Mouse on it (because he's not really a huge fan anymore). After he had opened his last gift, we told him that his BIG gift was that we were going to Disney World for his birthday. His eyes got as big as saucers and I thought he was going to react in a HUGE way, but then he turned around and started playing with one of the toys he had just opened. Ha! I don't think he knew what DW was all about, so he didn't quite get it until we explained everything to him. For the next 10 days, we answered lots of questions about all the rides/games/things to do at DW. The following Saturday we had both of Carter's birthday parties. This year, we split and had a friends party and a family party. Carter chose a bowling party with his friends, so that was in the morning.



This was the first "location party" we have done, and I might be hooked! It was nice to have all of the decorations taken care of for us, and I just had to ask for food/drinks, and it was delivered! Popcorn for everyone? Sure! More pitchers of drinks? Coming right up! Yummy (surprising!) pizza? Plenty for everyone!

Sweet Claire.Anna was done after a couple of turns. She said that she loved bowling, but she never, EVER wanted to do it again. Ha!Evan and Carter (no, Carter did not give him that black eye!).Our "Party Hero" who fetched everything for us and taught the children how to bowl. I need one of those at my house... Carter and Andrew.Anna cracks me up constantly! Coleigh and Parker.(Another) sweet Claire!Present time!I ordered fondant cupcake toppers from Etsy and made my own cupcakes. Another first for me! I always feel like I must have some sort of masterpiece cake from a fancy bakery, but I thought these turned out so cute! Andrew loved the topper.That night, we had Carter's family birthday party. He chose a motorcycle (dirt bike, specifically) theme. We served a soup bar - taco soup, white chicken chili, and potato soup, with all the fixings and a few appetizers, chips, beer bread, etc. I liked the smaller group of just family - I felt more able to visit with the family, and yet we were able to see all our wonderful friends and have fun with them also at the other party. Two parties might be the way to go from now on...?

Charlie's favorite activity was playing with all the tissue paper with Grandpa.

Carter requested a donut cake (there was another dirt bike dude, but he kept falling off). For all his celebrations, we had: donuts, ice cream cake, cupcakes, and a donut cake; the only thing we didn't have was an actual real cake. Ha!

I love that face! I can't believe Carter is growing up so fast... Sometimes when I see Charlie, I almost think it's Carter. I think Carter should still be 2!