Happy Cinco de Mayo from Grant!

Grant plays Piano

Grant has been working hard on learning to play the piano this year. He and mommy spend time daily working on new songs assigned by his piano teacher, Ms. Ewell, building up to group recitals where kids get to show off all of their hard work. Check out Grant playing the theme song from Star Wars. We all had fun with this song.

Grant's First Triathlon Age 8

Grant completed his first triathlon today. He has been training for two months and it showed this morning. He overtook several riders on the bike, aced each transition, and sprinted out of the water (reverse) to FINISH STRONG!

I am such a proud parent to see him train and then race so well on his first attempt! Maybe we can race together in the future.

Congrats Grant!

Eight is a great time for FOAM! Grant's 8th Birthday Party

Grant decided this year he wanted a foam party for his birthday celebration. This worked out well with what the Children's Museum of Phoenix has to offer for fun birthday experiences. Since he is getting older, we have only a few more years of fun at the museum before Grant decides "it's for babies".

We had his best buds (boys only, he decided) attend and enjoy cupcakes before going wild in the foam fun outside. Grant spent some time in the cleanest mess around before moving to spraying everyone with the hose and eventually building a foam fort from the suds with three rooms for guests.

Dad went all in on this one to get pictures which meant being covered in foam with the crew while working water proof camera gear. Whew!

Happy 8th Buddy!

First Grade!

Grant's first day of First Grade was today, August 7th, 2018. Boy, how time flies. He let us know how different school life would be now that he is a First-Grader...larger playground, different area of the cafeteria, and the chance to take part in the morning news show over the campus speakers. He also gets his own desk for the entire school year complete with storage. Switching desks every week is for kindergartners!

We celebrated this big step in his life with a special breakfast, photo shoot, and ended the day with frozen yogurt. 

Grant's Seventh Birthday

The Big 7. Since Grant was 4-years-old, he has used age 7 as the age he would do the things he thought were difficult. Scale that rock wall? "I can do that when I'm 7." he would say. Ride 10 miles on the bike? "Maybe when I'm 7." (His longest ride is already 16 miles) Run a mile? "That's when I'm 7 for sure." ...Well, I'm holding him to all of those this year.

For this birthday, we decided to do something at home with a smaller group of his close friends. We had a face painter who also does balloon art which was a hit. As you can see from the pictures, the first balloon sword created a trend and soon a balloon sword war in the playroom. Perhaps by instinct alone, Grant chose to take high ground on the couch with his balloon bow and balloon arrows stuffed in the back of his shirt. Each kid walked away unscathed and with various balloon shapes like a shark, jet, and even a pirate ship.

Mom had a great idea to have DumDum candies on each cupcake to continue the "Balloon" theme for the party and had an activity for each child to design their own PB&J sandwich. Note the disposable table cloth which came in handy.

All-in-all, a really fun day for the new 7-year-old in the house who feels like a big kid now and has changed to saying he will do challenging tasks when he is "double-digits...like ten".

Holiday Gingerbread House

Just a quick pic of two dudes working on a gingerbread house at the Children's Museum of Phoenix.

Summer Camp Talent Show

It's been a while since posting some fun pictures of Grant being Grant. Here we see Grant at the summer camp talent show. Several kids danced, some sang off-key. Grant's talent was push-ups while starring down the crowd with Flo Rida's "My House" in the background. He did an impressive 13 push-ups before ending with a yoga move. 

For his next act, Grant danced the Whip and Nae Nae with precision since the family practiced it together several times the night before. 

Grant's 6th Birthday!

Today, Grant celebrated the birthday he had been talking about for more than a year. For some reason, the age 6 is more than just another year. It is more important than 7, 8 and 9 to Grant. He talks about the things he will finally be able to do when he is 6. Well, Bud, you made it so let's see all those cool things.

Rebecca put in some extra effort on this one, finding all of the Pokemon (a current Grant favorite) themed activities and decorations. The Pokeball gift was a sure hit and I think everyone walked away with a better understanding of what a Charmander is. A huge thank you to Rebecca for all of the planning for a 36 person event at the Children's Museum of Phoenix (another Grant favorite).

The kids started with Pokemon Bingo, followed by decorating a take-home Pokeball Rice Crispy treat shaped like a Pokeball. Then the cake. A balloon stomp was next with each balloon hiding a Pokemon temporary tattoo. With all of those kids popping balloons and screaming, the room must have sounded like a Poke-Robbery. It was great fun though and ended with each kid walking away with these really cool Pokeballs holding all of the traditional gift bag items. That was a nice touch and good find!

Happy Birthday Buddy!