Gus' Birthday - Part 1

Gus turned 5 this month and he knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate. First order of business was cake making. He wanted "Granny Crane's Cake" which is angel food cake with layers of vanilla ice cream and rainbow sherbet, covered in whipped cream. According to my mom, it's been in the family as long as she can remember and it was always a favorite of my grandma's. It's delicious and I'm so happy Gus wanted to make it. He requested that he make it with Ama, so my mom graciously gave up her Thursday morning to come to our house and work on the cake with him.

 

Gus decided this year he didn't want a "kid party", he just wanted his family and our friends Paul & Charity over for pizza, cake and a "Gus Quiz". He was so proud of that quiz! It included a list of 22 of his favorite things and some question about his baby years. It was so much fun.

Gus got a lot of really great gifts this year. I love how well his family knows him.

A poster for his "new" room (which is the same room he's had for the last 3 years, but he's no longer sharing it with Max)

A Mickey Mouse garbage can, also for his new room:

And a CD player too (since Max took theirs to his room). These were all from Mom-Mom and Grandad.

A jar ful of "just dog" Squinkies. What are Squinkies? you may be wondering. They are the newest fad in kid toys, tiny little rubber characters much like you would find in a vending machine, only a little higher quality. I never would have thought Gus would want these, but everytime he's visited my sister in the last 6 weeks, he's cornered her at some point to tell her he reeeeeally hopes she'll get him Squinkies for his birthday, but just dogs. Naturally, they don't make a pack of dogs-only Squinkies, so my sweet sister bought 6 separate packs and collected all the dogs out of them to give to Gus. He was thrilled!

A really fun new card game, Duck Duck Bruce, and some solar print paper from the Hickerson Family (who couldn't be a the festivities, but were there in spirit!) This card game has become the new favorite in our house already. It is so fun! I'm looking forward to using the solar paper this summer. I can't wait to see what Gus makes.

From us Gus got a cute doggie card:

Some music for his new CD player:

And a big alien Lego set:

Finally, Ama & Papa gave Gus a really cool set of cooking stuff that includes measuring cup and spoons, various utensils and mixing bowls and some delicious sounding recipes. He's so excited to put it to use!

What a blessed boy! Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3: a trip to the dog park with Paul & Charity and lunch at the Spaghetti Factory with his friend, Eva.

Play Ball!

Baseball season is once again upon us and this year we have 2 boys to cheer on. Max moved up to Coach Pitch and is on the Pilots, while Gus is making his T-Ball debut on the Marlins (Max's team for the last 2 years). Today was the RUG Jamboree and both boys played practice games. Thankfully it was absolutely gorgeous weather!

Max was up first and kicked off the season as Catcher. He's playing on a genuine ball field now, so you'll have to pardon the chain link fence in all the shots.

He looks like a natural, don't you think?


Jack was in the stands cheering him on:

Gus and Daddy watching the game:

Max walking back to the dugout after the first inning:

Another "fan" shot:

Sorry for the lack of shots of Max playing. I took some video instead and haven't uploaded it to the computer yet.

After the game we got hot dogs and had lunch at the field.

This boy loves baseball. He's so happy to be playing again!

Zack, Amanda, Kaiden (Max's teammate this year and last) and baby Liam had lunch with us too:

A few hours later we were back at the park and ready to cheer Gus on in his first game. He was so nervous! He wanted to participate so badly, but he couldn't quite get up the nerve. Mark went out on the field with him to help him feel more comfortable. You can see him doing his "ready position" just to Mark's right.

He wouldn't bat the 1st or 2nd inning, but he finally did it in the 3rd.
Here he is telling Mark to stay right next to him:

A quick look at mom, trying to decide if he's really going to do this:

He made contact on his first swing!

Run Gus!

 

A high-five for Dad who was waiting for him at 1st base:

He walked the bases the rest of the way. Here he is taking his own sweet time to get to home plate.

He tagged the bag and gave me a big grin. He did it!! We were so proud of him.

Here's the happy boy after the game:

We're looking forward to a fantastic season cheering on both boys!
Play Ball!!