Phew! The birthdays are over!! Awww...now I'm sad :(

Wow! June is super busy in this house!! Father's Day this year was a double celebration...not only did we celebrate the special super daddy, we also celebrated Sydney's 6th birthday! On Saturday, she and her friends had a fun birthday party at Apps' Mill Nature Centre, using handheld GPS devices to find all their 'treasures' (i.e. all the stuff for their loot bags). As expected, most of the kids didn't really get the GPS part of it...but were happy that they had a grown up with them who did and were just as happy to 'spot the treasure'. Love summer birthdays..so many outdoor options!! On Sunday, we actually celebrated Father's Day at the Toyota family picnic at Shade's Mill Conservation Area. We went with the intent of skipping all the activities and just taking a nice trail walk. But we ended up staying for a long time, doing lots of activities, and in the process, sunburning the girls (yep, me too). We are awesome parents. haha!

This past Sunday we celebrated Jake, Seth & Ryan's birthdays with our annual backyard celebration! We couldn't have asked for better weather! I'd like to say the kids had a blast, but with 3 days of visitors before the party, they were pooped! Ryan & Seth hid inside for almost the entire party! But they weren't miserable and I think everyone else had a good time :) I know I had fun! In total, over 70 kids passed through the backyard at some point in the day. Wow! Really, it was just an awesome day.

So now here I am. I have a 6 yr old and three 4 yr olds. Not 'little kids' anymore...they are 'big kids'!!! It didn't really 'hit me' until bedtime last night. Since we neglected to sing to the kids and let them blow out candles on their birthday, I sang them each happy birthday as their bedtime song. Doesn't sound like an emotional song, but when you're overtired and sitting in a really quiet, pitch black room singing it to your, previously very little, but now super big kids, it gets to you :) Sigh....so cliche, but they do grow up too fast, don't they?

So...a few other thoughts for today:

• Getting big kids to nap may feel like a grand achievement and the peace and quiet felt during said nap is truly wonderful, however, it is certainly not worth the agony felt by all when they wake up miserable, and then won't shut up and go to sleep at bedtime. Not.Worth.It.
• Putting locking door knobs on the kids rooms was brilliant when I was locking them in. When they lock me in, it's not as smart of an idea.
• Babies that want to do everything themselves, but can't do anything themselves, but don't want help, but really need help are really, really frustrating.
• I can't help but wonder, at what age do you start to feel gross about sitting in the sand when you're soaking wet and in a bathing suit? How is that not the most uncomfortable thing in the world?

Okay...here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks!!

Sydney opening gifts at her birthday party

Daddy & the kids on our Father's Day hike at Shade's Mill

Happy Birthday big boys!!!

Just a little glimpse at the backyard crowd :)

I have lots more pics of the backyard party...but really not many of my own kids! They were hiding!!