Their Real Birthday

We had Alex and Aubrey's gymnastics birthday party on April 27th, but their real birthday is April 28th.   Alex and Aubrey got all confused as to when their birthday was, so we decided to just to celebrate it for the record on April 27th (the day of their gymnastics party).  We decided to treat April 28th as just a regular day.  But I couldn't resist and I pulled out the remaining pieces of their cake and stuck in 2 candles and we sang Happy Birthday again on the 28th of April (their real birthday).

 

 

They love singing and blowing out candles, so it was well worth it to celebrate for one more day.

Gymnastic Birthday Party

This year, we decided to have a fun birthday party for Alex and Aubrey at a local Gymnastics class.   We invited a bunch of Alex and Aubrey's friends from the neighborhood and preschool.  Everyone had a blast.  The best part of the day for the kids was the soft block pit.


As the birthday boy and girl, Alex and Aubrey got to swing from a high bar and fall into the block pit.   They got to do it twice and it was one of the highlights of the day.

 
Next came time for cake.  

 

After the gymnastics fun and enjoying the cake, we went home and opened presents.   Also, I had them put on their birthday hats.  Aubrey was excited to do it, but Alex just wanted to open the gifts.

 

 

A fun 5th birthday was had by all

They are 5!

Wow, where has the time gone.  As I type this the tears run down my cheeks.  They are growing up way too fast.   They are growing into such wonderful people.  I can see their personalities expanding every day.   There are hard days as Dave and I navigate life trying to raise two completely different children to be responsible, kind, and caring adults.   But there are so many wonderful moments  when they bring such joy and excitement to our lives.

Ghatool, our day care provider, had us over for dinner before there birthday to celebrate with a delicious meal and a nice birthday cake.  Thank you Ghatool and your family!
 

 

Another two-wheeled cyclists

Aubrey is so excited that she has joined the rest of us and is now a two-wheeled cyclist.  We are so proud of her.  She worked so hard to get there.  She was determined...very determined....to figure out how to do it and she did!

 

Now Alex and Aubrey ride around the the street and give their parents heart attacks by how fast they are spinning around.  

They are always taking "bike trips" around the circle.  The other day, Aubrey said she was pretending to ride her bike to Marissa and Jessica's home.   We had a great visit with them.

Early Birthday Presents from Marissa and Jessica

During our visit, Marissa and Jessica gave Alex and Aubrey some early 5th birthday presents.
Aubrey loved the long lasting bubbles.

Everyone loved playing with the Marble Works set.  I think Marissa and Jessica liked it as much as (if not even more than) Alex and Aubrey.  : )

 

Then once we got back home to our place, Alex got to dig for dinosaur bones and Aubrey got to dig for gems.  Alex and Aubrey spent a good hour if not a lot longer finding all their treasures in their last birthday gift. 

Aubrey was a little dirty by the time she was done.
 

South Mountain

While in Arizona, we took two trips up South Mountain.  The first time we drove up there and the next time, we hiked up a part of it.  We had a great time both times.

Here is a cute picture of Dave's daughters when we drove up to the top.


These pictures are from when we hiked up there.

Hmmm.....so which way are we supposed to go?

 

At the top of where we hiked with the city of Phoenix in the background.

There were some steep rocky uphills and downhills, but everyone did great!

 

Alex and Aubrey (well particularly Alex), liked to stop along the path and pretend they were cactus's.

Every once in a while, I see brotherly/sisterly love as they hold hands.

 

 

Early Morning Trip to a Phoenix Playground

While in Arizona, we took another early morning trip to a playground before Marissa and Jessica joined us for the day.   We had a great time at this playground.

Aubrey was really excited to be up high on the play rock.  Alex was ready to get down as soon as he got up there.

 

 

 

During most of the trip, Alex insisted on wearing his had backwards.