Jay's 5th Birthday! (Summer ep 5)

Early in the summer we were at the beach talking about Jay's birthday and the theme of boats and fish kept coming up. 

We seem to have a theme of picking parties that are not existing themes at your local party store so I put Patience to work on the invitation and she didn't disappoint! 

We had a "Big Boat, Big Fish" theme. We had big fun and a big cake (with a fish jumping out!!). 

 He was still 4 on party day!

We did not do the greatest job with pictures, did nearly have a hair fire with the birthday boy, and had our whole house looking mighty nautical. (Somehow, my picture-taking talent went kaput during the mid-way point of our crazy-fun summer. I also think I was having storage issues.) 

Jay FINALLY turning 5 was amazing. Everyone we know said they felt like he'd been 4 forever and I have to agree. Everything about 4 was fun, it seemed to be magical and it also seemed like 5 would never come. I know it will only get faster from here so I'm keeping Jay at this age locked up in my heart forever. So fun!

On his actual birthday we celebrated and sang again with chocolate muffins, then went to Airwalk with Weston and Davis, then Jen took us all out to lunch THEN we went to the Galleria to spend a Lego card Jay had gotten for his birthday (and everyone else got Legos too. Can Jay have a birthday everyday?)

We ended the night with dinner at Moe's Bar B Cue with Dede and Papa. Turning 5 totally wore us out! 

Picking up where we left off...(Summer ep 4)

Our jam-packed, nonstop summer kept us going--so much so that I got behind in blogging the memories, then summer was over and now here we are mid-way through October--and its time to catch up and keep it moving. 

The end of June brought us back to the beach house until July 6! 

 

We boated, took in some amazing sunsets, swam and spent time with cousins. 

We did our first rounds of Putt-Putt, played at the beach more then came home for a few days hours, then Karla and the kids came to Birmingham and we all drove back to the beach for a few days.

Jay and Lizzy hid from Kelsey and CJ like this forever. I have no idea why these pictures are sideways.

Karla and CJ had to get back to Nashville for CJ's big camping trip, so Kelsey stayed on with us for more beaching and then home to Birmingham for Jay's birthday week!

We drove in from the beach and went straight in to see Minions 3D. Then next day we did the McWane center forever then went to the Oswalt's for an impromptu Pizza Pool Party. Friday we party prepped and ate Mexican and Saturday we partied...stay tuned!

Wests Around Summer-ep 3

What a whirlwind 10 days! Last time I told you about all of our back and forth beaching before VBC.

We then hopped back on 65 this time headed North to Nashville for a week. We plan this trip every year so the kids can go to swimming lessons. This year we swam every morning then packed every second of the days with summer fun!

We left on Saturday--but first needed to get a new bed for Gus. If you're shopping for dog beds with 3 and 4 year old helpers you should know that this happens.

They literally climbed on half of the beds in the store. We made it out with what we needed then hopped in the car for Mimi's.

Saturday night we just grabbed dinner and got settled in.

Sunday morning we went to church at Pennington, then loaded in the car with Karla, Kelsey and CJ, Mimi, Jennifer and some goodies and made our way to Woodbury.

I really wanted my children to get to meet Aunt Virginia and visit her home. She's 93 years young and is one of my grandmother's two surviving sisters.

We arrived to a TON of cousins and there was enough food to make your head spin. It was delightful.

I ate many meals on this very porch as a child when Grandmommy and Grandaddy would take us to Whyte and Virginia's I am so happy Jay and Lizzy got to enjoy a day there too.

We didn't take roll but there were lots of family folks there and young'uns galore. They played and ran and caught crawdads and the "grownups" visited.

Monday we grabbed lunch after swim, visited Nanny and Cece in the afternoon then got to watch Kelsey play two softball games.

I then took the opportunity to give the kids their first Goo-Goo Clusters. Jay wasn't a fan and Lizzy has a new fave!

Tuesday after we swam we headed to the Splash Pad and humongous playground at Charlie Daniels Park in Mt. Juliet. The kids had a blast and it was perfect. The splash pad helped beat the heat and the playground is like nothing I've ever seen before it is huge. I forgot to get a pic of the whole thing, but its a sight to behold.

After coming back to Mimi's for baths and some chill time we headed to Opry Mills to get dad's Fathers' Day gift and meet KarKar, Kelsey, CJ and Gran at Aquarium for dinner. It was awesome!! If you are in Nashville and have skipped it because its so "touristy" get over it and go. Zillions of awesome fish, pretty good food and a fun outing.

After dinner we rode the carousel at Opry Mills then KarKar treated the kids to Build-A-Bear. It was Lizzy's (and Mommy's) first time and we all had the best time.

Wednesday after swim we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for yet more cousin fun with Lesley, Grant and Drew. After heading back to Mimi's to change it was time to go to the Donelson Train Station to catch the Nashville Star downtown.

So much fun! the perfect way to go out downtown--especially since it was the first night of the Rolling Stones show and downtown was packed! NO traffic for us! (and some amazing people watching.) It was a great way to introduce Jay and Lizzy to Music City!

We loved dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory--it was as great as I remembered!

Thursday we headed to Murfreesboro to visit Patience, Brian, Cadence, Chase and Constance and failed to take one single picture. Everyone had a great visit and it was a great way to spend our last night in town.

After swim on Friday we made a quick stop for prizes since Jay and Lizzy did so well then came back to Birmingham.

We had a low-key weekend of rest and hanging out with Dad. Somehow Lizzy managed to work in this purchase...

Ran some errands on Monday, then spent 5 hours at the McWane Center on Tuesday and never left the Itty Bitty Magic City exhibit. The kids had the best time.

We worked in the garden then grabbed dinner out last night and are beach bound again today! We're having the most amazing summer and loving every minute!