Connor's 4th Birthday

Monday May 18th

My kids woke up SO excited for the day! Grandma West was making cookies and there were two grandkids thrilled by the suggestion that they might get to help! Cookies with Grandma is just special or something. Connor was obsessed with eating the cookies-- probably much more quickly than he should have been eating them! 

After cookie baking was finished, the kids spent time in the backyard while Grandma did yard work. They absolutely loved the toys and space to play in, and they seemed to especially like that Mommy didn't watch their every move and remind them to stay away from the parking lot or other people's porches, or the many other things I'm having to tell them at home when we play outside. 

Aunt Jessie helped me make the birthday cake for Connor's party. 

I'm not much of a baker...or a party planner. Aunt Minda did the party planning, and I just got to relax a bit. We decided to do a simple racecar theme, since Connor and the boys all love cars. I thought everything turned out super cute! 

When our other party participants arrived (it consisted of Melinda's little family, us, my mom, and my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws) we started off playing red-light green light while racing cars. The kids enjoyed it, but Connor was a bit unfamiliar to losing races, and it didn't sit well with him. 

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 Connor got pretty worked up by all the racing in the game and needed to take a little break inside. Grandma then showed him the pinata that Daddy had set up! We had tried to find a pinata that would go with the theme, but alas, there were limited options. We ended up with a monkey, but the kids were all thrilled by it, regardless of it it was a car or not!

 We let Caleb take a couple swings at it, but it held fast.

Uncle Joseph got in a swing, and knocked the pinata right off the rope, still intact.

We decided that was good enough, and just ripped open the top and let the kids have at it.

After the Pinata  we colored race-car pictures.

 Next came present time! We got Connor some little race car things to give him at his party, but saved a big race track to give him after we returned home from the trip. We figured it was best not to transport all presents back and forth. He was so excited about the presents that everyone gave him! This was the first party just for him he's ever really had, since we live so far away from everyone. 

By the end of the evening, Connor was pretty overwhelmed. It happens sometimes. He didn't want anyone to sing happy birthday to him. I guess our singing is traumatizing or something! ;-)

I think everyone was a fan of the birthday cake eating thing! Evelynn sure looked cute sitting with her cousin Kayden in a birthday hat! And Connor and Eli sat and played a game on the phone together. 

 Caleb monitored the kids outside playing as the party came to a close. Connor was so happy to play outside and show his toys to Daddy! 

We had a wonderful party celebrating our big 4 year old! He has grown and learned so much in the last year, and we are SO prou dof him!