It's hard to believe but Sawyer is turning five-years-old tomorrow. Amazing that he's been in our family for five years!! He and his sweet little brother have been the absolute best additions we've had in our family.
To help celebrate his birthday, I flew to Las Vegas on Friday night and spent the weekend with Allen and his family, as well as Mom, who decided to take a break from radiation to join the family for a quiet weekend. I arrived miserably late on Friday night (as in 3am my time!) and was awoken at 5:30 a.m. Saturday by this space ranger! Loving it! He made this costume at school during Space Day.
Notice the wrist adornment, which is his "communication system." I was told that he just needs to press the buttons and he can speak to mission control.
And on his back was a high-tech duo: an air canister and jet pack. I think my favorite part are the little bum cheeks sticking out in Underoos! It's so five-years old!
As his first birthday weekend treat, he and Allen went to the donut shop and picked up treats for everyone. Walker is now allergic to nuts, eggs and dairy (check out his little medical bracelet), so their family is very careful about "Walker friendly" food. Fortunately, the donut shop has vegan doughnuts, and while they don't sound great to me, Walker seems to love them. Here's the progression of Walker's breakfast:
How about those brown eyes? Ridiculously big and dark brown!
Sawyer's big birthday gift from Mom and Dad was a new blue and black bike. He was quiet proud of it, and he did a great job riding it with Allen.
We all took a quick walk/ride to the local park, where Sawyer and Allen rode around so Sawyer could get used to his training wheels.
After a quick stay at the park, it was pool time! Allen and Joc have a pool in their backyard, which is a really nice feature, especially when it's 100+ degrees!
The little monkies LOVE the pool and are learning to be great swimmers, even Walker who sat in his inflatable ring and flutter kicked everytime we told him to "kick, kick, kick."
Walker LOVED sticking his face in the water! We couldn't believe it! Allen pulled him from the inflatable ring and he immediately started diving into the water! I just love a waterbaby!
How about that impressive belly? Lots of vegan donuts made that gut!
Amazingly enough, Sawyer is learning to read and write and he's doing so well at both. Check out his neat penmanship! I loved this artwork on their kitchen wall - "My Earth Day Promise: Not to Plut the Ar" or "not to pollute the air." Allen told me he spelled the whole thing by himself, which I think is pretty good!
After quiet time on Saturday, Mom and I played with Sawyer in his bedroom (after we cleaned up the 25 books and bucket-full of Legos that were spread across the floor!). At one point, I said to him, "Hey Sawyer, Aunt Susie tells me you're taking karate classes. Is that true?"
He answered yes and, at my request, started showing me some karate moves he's been learning in class. The first one was a half-roll somersault that ended with him on one knee and his arms at 90-degree angles with his hands in a straight line.
"Wow!," I said. "What is that move called?"
I'd write down his reply, but it was a Japanese word that had Mom laying on the floor shaking with laughter.
"Ok, show me another move!"
I got another semi-somesault that ended with straight arms and hands above his head.
"What is that one called?," I asked. "In and out plunge."
"Can you show me one more?"
I got a massive somersault that ended with Sawyer on his back, one knee bent in the air, one straight arm and hand coming underneath the bent leg, and the other straight arm and hand on the other side of the bent leg.
"What's that one called?," I asked.
"Buffalo fighter."
I then started asking him about his teacher and was told that he's called "Master Teacher." I asked about his uniform: "it's a white jacket and white pants and a rainbow belt because I'm in the rainbow class."
We kept talking about it a bit, but then got sidetracked on something else. Ten minutes later, I went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table with Allen and Jocelyn and told them I had just been given a tutorial on Sawyer's karate classes. Jocelyn replied, "Yeah, I need to sign him up for those classes; I keep forgetting."
Excuse me?
I looked at them both and asked, "Do you mean he's not taking classes right now? He just spent ten minutes telling me what he's learned!"
I recounted the whole experience in the bedroom and they were crying they were laughing so hard. It turns out that Sawyer hasn't taken so much as one karate class!! He made the whole thing up!
Allen turned to me at one point and, mimicking the moves of Sawyer, said, "Really? You think we'd be paying for a karate class in which he learns something called 'the Buffalo Fighter'???" He and Joc could just not pull it together!
And where was the little liar?? Right at the table with a cat-eats-the-canary smile. He's such a little stinker!
On Sunday, we officially celebrated Sawyer's birthday by making it a "Choose Your Adventure Day." He got to choose breakfast (pancakes), activity (Shark House at Mandalay Bay), lunch (Cafe Rio) and afternoon activity (pool time).
Here we are at the Shark House.
Sawyer enjoyed the treat for 45 minutes, which made the $80 entrance for everyone WELL WORTH IT! Oy....the whims of a five-year-old who doesn't yet understand money! He did, however, love petting the hermit crabs and stingrays.
Once we got home from lunch, we all took some quiet time, which Nana and Aunt Wacky really needed, and then it was time for some "Walker friendly" birthday cake. Again, a vegan cake is not really my cup of tea, but I have to admit that it was really good. Jocelyn whipped it up and used "egg substitute" to do so, but it tasted pretty darn good. These little guys loved it, which is all that's important!
After two pieces of cake, Walker was still reaching for his big brother's piece! I think we figured out where that belly is coming from!
The birthday king gets a birthday hug from little brother.
Susan, Mom and I loaded the kid down with presents: remote-controlled car, transformer, kick board, pool basketball tool, Star Wars lunch box, Star Wars key chain, and an "adventure set" with binoculars, compass and whistle. With a brand-new bike, this little guy got just about everything that a five-year-old could possibly want! It was a GREAT weekend, and I'm already looking forward to my return trip in September.
