Owen's 8th Birthday Party

Owen turned 8 years old and wanted to have his birthday party at the place where he takes gymnastics. There was zip-lining, foam pits, trampolines, rock walls, a bounce house, and everything else flip floping you can think of! The kids were totally sweaty when all was said and done. And the best part was that none of it was at my house, which of course means no clean up!

I asked the bakery to make cupcakes to look like a complete cake, and the cupcakes ended up with about 2 inches thick of frosting. Not that any of the kids complained about that!






Short video of the zipline!

Sea World-- On Owen's 8th Birthday

Believe or not... these 2 occasionally can be near each other without scratching each other's eyes out!

For Owen's 8th birthday, he played hookie from school and went to Sea World. Papa and Carolyn wanted to take him as his present. We all went and had a great time. Truett loved the beluga whale show, and Owen rode the "steel eel" which was a large steel roller coaster that dropped 16 stories. Truett rode the "journey to Atlantis" which was a large water ride that soaked everyone-- including those people standing by and watching. It wasn't very crowded, and it was overcast, so it was pretty much a perfect day to go there. And I suppose it was a little educational so it wasn't such a big deal that Owen missed school!

There is very large playscape with cargo nets and tubes for the kids to go thru. And I am very glad that we were there as a team because you could easily lose a kid in that maze!

The boys even got to feed some of the dolphins-- which is a new thing to me anyway. I don't remember getting to do that when I went to sea world as a kid. Of course it wasn't free (as nothing ever is at these places) but the boys liked it a lot. It really is incredible what these trainers do with these animals.

Here is a short video of the boys getting pounded by the splash of the water coaster.

Building a Ramp

Robert had some wood he was throwing out so I convinced him to build a ramp with the boys so they could have something to ride their bikes on. (Of course it was an after thought on my part that this is where true head injuries come from). Anyway, Owen had fun messing around with the air compressor. And both boys liked the finished product. And after a few times over the ramp Robert was actually the one to tell them to put their helmets on. Even though it will probably only last for the summer, it is out in front of our house and the boys have been using it daily. It's a good thing Robert is such a handy man!