Happy 4th Birthday Jack

Time just won't slow down. Jack turned four in November. We celebrated with a superhero party. Most everyone came dressed up in costumes. I was wonder woman. Justin wore a captain america shirt. Mimi even wore a batman jumpsuit!! But I cannot find the evidence!

Grant took the cake though. A blonde Clark Kent :) Shannon made Jack's cake, it was perfect, as always. She seemed to throw it together effortlessly minutes before guests arrived. I think I worked on those cookies for days. Haha. Oh to have real culinary talent! :)

Luke helped with decorations, putting up place streamer in a spider web pattern through the living room. There was an icecream cake on the back porch and we got to break in the brand-new patio in style.

And what Archie party is complete without a balloon arch?!? We had a few games for the kids to play including finding green kryptonite balls in the yard and a silly string fight. Pops and Grant got the brunt of the string but were great sports. It may have been Jack's favorite thing at the party!

Jack did his happy dance when he saw this giant spiderman balloon. And we had a "brick" wall made out of cardboard boxes decorated by Justin that the kids would stack up and knock down with big hulk hands.

 In addition to our family, all of Jack's friends from the neighborhood came: Emma, Reagan, Owen, Lodi...and BB came too!

We had a great time. Four is very different from three. Just like three from two. It's amazing to me how much a year can change the look and feel of our family. Jack used to say Elllllllla, pronouncing several Ls. Now he says Eya. 

This one was a busy party for me. It was the first time that I didn't feel like a fixture that the party happened around. Jack just did his thing, playing with friends, changing costumes, eating a TON of ice-cream and drinking Hulk juice. It was nice to be an observer who just had to keep the chips full. But it seemed to happen quicker than in years past. 

He's totally over the trains now. We've even packed them up and put them in storage. That was a bittersweet day for me. The kids can go upstairs together now to play or get dressed. They always do it together though. One is scared to go alone, and Jack more than Ella, but together they are unstoppable. Jack even makes Ella go with him to the bathroom in the front of the house. They are the best of friends. It inconceivable that he is four. Four. FOUR! I remember being four. I often think to myself that these are the first memories he'll have. And we're trying to make them great!