Beck is 5!

Hard to believe - he's 5.  Seems like just yesterday.....

Here are some pics from his birthday at home with the family and then the party the next day with friends.  I also threw in a couple of the questions from his birthday interview.  Every year I video tape the kids - I ask them the same questions - some years are super and it's hilarious - others....not so much.  This year - Beck was NOT in the mood to answer questions so the video tape is less than interesting - but some of the answers we cute enough to post here.

Enjoy!

A very excited reaction to the first present - the 2nd and 3rd books in the Olive the Wooley Bugger Series!  He and Thomas love the books....and frankly - so do Carl and I!

Ant Farm - you can collect your own ants or order them online!  Then they eat this weird blue gel..... we'll see how it turns out. 

Treo Blocks from Nana - a huge hit!

Boochie Ball from Gramma and Papa - he insisted on sleeping with part of the game that night!  Needless to say - another hit.

Delicious Ida's Cupcakes - Bubble Gum, Chocolate, Oreo Cookie, Key Lime and Red Velvet!

Mmmmmm - bubble gum cupcake and bubble gum icing.

Thomas chose chocolate - no surprise!

He's not shy at all.....  and here he has his SECOND cupcake and tells us WHY it's called a cupcake...

The friend party was held at Pappy's Pizza - a local pizza place with a huge play gym inside.  Perfect for mommies who want very little clean up and lots of happy tired out kids!

Friends who came to the party - Dylan, Gabriella, Sarai, Riley, Miles, Ella, Carly, Luke, Lauren, Andres, Oliver & Thomas!  Phew.....  and all their parents!

Beck and his best buddy Dylan.

Birthday Interview:

Me: Who is your best friend?

Beck: Um, uh, um, uh, at school?

Me: Just in general - who is your best friend?

Beck: oooohhhhhhh.....  Dylan.  It was a hard choice because there's so many friends!

Thomas had a great time helping little brother celebrate!

The parents all had pizza and beer while the kids played.

Beck opened presents - all kinds of fun toys from friends - a bionicle, a huge frisbee, a pirate playmobile set, a very cool parachute guy, and even a build your own exploding volcano!

Birthday Interview:

Me: Is there anything I should have asked you about that I didn't?

Beck: Yes, brush your teeth everyday. And put sunscreen everyday you're gonna go outside.

Good practical advice from the new 5 year old!

Crater Lake & The North Umpqua

We took the kids on a camping trip this past weekend....  Thomas had been asking to go to Crater Lake and we made a great 4 day trip out of it.  We left Friday morning and came back late Monday.  Such a fun time and we squeezed in all kinds of things!

Beck relaxing at the campground

Our tent trailer makes it almost like not camping at all...  There's a king size bed on one end and a queen on the other!  We sleep well!

Our first night we found a great campsite called Eagle Rock.  We had beautiful views of the Umpqua River!

As usual - Carl fixed us amazing dinner!  Salmon on the campfire!

The boys caught a huge salmon fly!  (And they had their scooters - hence the bike helmet)

We also took an after dinner hike up to the Hot Springs and to Watson Falls.

On Saturday we headed into Crater Lake National Park.

Thomas and Beck both took the time to do the Junior Ranger program and earn their badges and patches!  They had to complete 8 activities in the book and draw a postcard of what they would remember most about Crater Lake.

There was snow but it was really warm.  Gorgeous weather really.  If there weren't about a billion mosquitoes it would have been perfect!

As you can see - Beck's broken arm isn't slowing him down.

Toketee Falls

Dinner at our awesome campsite!

Thomas read a lot of Harry Potter while we were camping....

Checking out the fish jump at Steamboat Creek.  The steelhead jumping up the falls was an awesome sight to see!

Saving the little steelhead fry - a bunch were trapped in a pool so we let them out!

Giant leaves at Steamboat Inn - where we stopped for lunch.

Another gorgeous pool right behind Steamboat Inn.

Thomas found this awesome rock to jump off - had a great time!

Beck also had a great time in the river - not sure what in the heck he's singing about....but it's funny anyhow.  He was excited to take off his splint for a little while, but certainly takes care not to use the arm when he's out of it!

Our final stop on Monday was Diamond Lake.  We rented a boat and checked out the amazing damsel flies - we tried a little fishing too.  The boys loved it - Beck had a HUGE grin the entire time!

The final day of our trip was Monday, July 25th - Beck's 5th birthday.  He had a super day!