Happy Birthday G!

We celebrated the birthday boy with a weekend of parties, cupcakes, grandparents and cousins. The weekend started on Friday night with a special dinner at a favorite restaurant with his grandparents. On Saturday, we went to Tulip Time for the annual festival and family gathering, which involved lots of trampoline-bouncing and chasing his cousins. Sunday began with breakfast at Gateway Market, and included a backyard party with a few friends and a family dinner.

Our favorite waitress at Gateway gave him a special birthday cupcake to start the day.

Throughout the day on Saturday, he told us that he wanted a particular Thomas the Tank Engine train. This was news to us, so Kent made a quick trip to Target the night before his birthday to avoid a tantrum.

Playing with friends in the backyard

Building sand castles with his cousin

Blowing out candles and enjoying more cupcakes

Another year went by far too fast. And what a year it was: he became a big brother, started preschool, learned to use the potty and truly started to talk. His personality and interests came out in big ways this year, and it's been fun to watch him grow and change. If we could just slow down time a bit, all would be well.