Ian's Critterman Birthday Party!

Finally! I have pics from Ian's 5th birthday party! We had such a BLAST! As you all know, Ian is totally into bugs and animals of all kinds. He has really been wanting to have the Critterman come and do a party for him. So for his 5th birthday we invited the Critterman himself to our home to entertain us and all his friends. We invited his entire class from school and almost everyone came. We had 18 kiddies and parents in our living room floor to watch the show. The Critterman arrived and introduced us all to his friends. He was so Great with all the kids. Very informative and kid friendly. I think the adults even enjoyed learning about the animals.
Without further ado, I present to you Ian's 5th birthday party featuring the CRITTERMAN!!

The Critterman's show took place right in our living room! We had the kiddies sit on the floor with the adults standing up behind watching his every move.


Everyone was in Ahh of the Critterman Dave! He allowed each child that wanted an opportunity to touch every animal...except for the tarantula of course!
Here Cash is cautiously touching the first animal of the show, a legless lizard! That's right, there is a difference between a legless lizard and a snake...who knew?



"Please do not let that tarantula jump off your hand!"

This creature as GROSS as it may seem was really quite beautiful and intriguing!

Actually, this is what Ian thought about the tarantula! EEK!!


A Blue Tongued Skink! "What's that?"

London gettin' some lovin' from Ms. Mailea! (we miss you girl!)


The hedgehog was by far the cutest animal he brought!!

I still can't BELIEVE I let a stranger in my living room with a 10 foot Burmese Python!!! OMG!!! Ian loved every minute of it!!!


We ended the party with cake, ice cream and gift opening! Dave has been doing educational animal shows for many years. He has several "safaris" to choose from. He really focuses on educating you about the various animals and stresses conservation and the special role each animal plays on this earth. You are sure to be thoroughly entertained and educated anytime Dave the Critterman is around. If you are ever looking for a cool and unique idea for a birthday party, check out Dave the Critterman at www.animaled.com.

Julia's Birthday Party

We celebrated Ian's BFF's birthday party last weekend in Keller. Julia turned 5 one week prior to Ian. They have been friends since before they turned one year old. We met the Stewarts at Caylor Road Learning Center and Julia's mother, Mailea taught Ian and London in her home until we moved to Aledo. They are very dear friends of ours and we miss them terribly. The Stewarts have become quite the "horse" family and their oldest daughter Megan has her own horse Champ. Julia's party was all about horses and hanging out with Champ. Each kiddo was allowed a ride in the backyard with Megan and Champ. Ian and London totally loved every minute of it. Neither of them were scared nor cried. Megan was so good with all the kids. She is only 10 years old, but rides Champ like an adult. She competes with her horse almost every weekend and has won numerous awards. Needless to say, her parents are very proud of her as are the Jones'.

Most of the kids in the photos attended Mailea's school when Ian and London were there. They have gotten so big...where does the time go!
Enjoy

Ian is FIVE!

I know I've said this before, but seriously, where has this past year gone? Or for that matter, the past FOUR years???? September 15,2009 at 4:00 p.m. marked the first day of Ian's 5th year of life!
It started like a normal day. Ian woke up and said "good morning mommy, ONE more day till my birthday!" No honey, TODAY is your birthday! He let out a little shriek and said I'm FIVE today?!?!? We loaded up the car, cupcakes for his friends that grandma made and headed to school. Justin was out of town in Seattle, so Li-Li was filling in that evening for a special celebration.
I picked Ian up from school, and we headed to the pediatrician's office for his 5yr checkup. After the appointment and a finger stick and flu mist vaccine we headed for ice cream and then picked up fried chicken (his request for dinner). We stopped on the way home to collect London. Li-Li surprised Ian and London with birthday presents and a huge balloon! He was very excited to see her, but more excited for the gifts. You see, Justin really wanted to see Ian open his presents from us, so Ian knew he had to wait until the next day when daddy arrived home.
We spent quality time with my sister, cooked dinner and Ian opened his gifts. He got a Texas Tech t-shirt (never mind that) and then his favorite...Mario Kart for Wii video game. After that, all he wanted to do was play. I totally justify the video game playing by the fact that the game is interactive (he uses a steering wheel to navigate the courses) so he must be getting some physical activity that way, right?
The next day Justin came home and Ian was surprised to see he received a learning game for his computer, a Tag reader book and then a trampoline from us. I know, recipe for disaster! However, I grew up with one and fortunately never was injured. My sis did suffer a broken arm, but this one is SAFE! It has a net around it so you won't fall off!!! Ha! I guess I must let go and just let him grow up right? So, we will hope for the best and take care of what injuries (hopefully minor) occur. Needless to say Ian is a very fortunate yet thankful little boy!







More about Ian:
* He is 50 lb (90th %) and 47 in (75th %)
* He is wearing size 5-6 and 13 shoe
* He attends a 5 day a week private pre-k
* He love his sister, but also loves pickin at her and making her scream!
* He can carry on a full blown adult conversation with anyone over the phone
* He writes his name and is close to reading by sounding out words
* His favorite interests are bugs, dinosaurs and just about any animal
* He currently prefers to watch Animal Planet on TV
* His favorite shows are "King of Queens" (ahem) and "America's Funniest Videos"
* His favorite movie right now is Transformers
* He enjoys playing with his legos and will build you anything, from a museum to a jet.
* He recently travelled to Virginia for his first solo visit with Grandad and Grandma (they flew with him of course)
* He toured Washington D.C. and visited the Smithsonian of Natural History
* He attends Sunday School and is currently very inquisitive about Jesus and God
* He says the blessing at dinner and has recently been asking to say his prayers at night
* He loves to please, but is a very strong-willed little boy
* He brings more joy to his mommy and daddy than you will ever know!

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY IAN CRAIG JONES!

Splash Park!

We found this new-to-us park a couple of weeks ago and really have enjoyed playing there. It is such a great place!! The park itself has tons of new, innovative climbing and swinging apparatuses. It is set on a lake with a great fishing dock. The other day we went and there were 2 men racing mini-remote-controlled boats on the pond. Ian thought that was super cool. There is a lovely covered pavilion and really nice bathrooms, perfect for a birthday party or get together.

The best part for my kids was the splash area. It is a large concrete area with water spouts situated in the ground. The water squirts up at different times and heights. You will see by all the photos I took. I'm warning...this post is photo overload. None the less, the kids had such a great time. This is definitely a park we will frequent more often.

Enjoy!







Ian did not want to wear his swim trunks because he said he did not want to get in the water...but after seeing London have so much fun, he wanted to take part as well!






Ian and London played really well with each other, chasing each other, playing with other kids and trying to anticipate when the water would shoot up in there face! :)

Remember these...

LIGHT BRIGHTS!?!?!!

I totally remember these growing up. They were soooo cool. However, the times have changed just a bit. Mine was a huge black box with paper punch outs that you could only use once. Now they are a little sleek design with designs you can use over and over. They provided me hours of entertainment as a kid!

Uncle Ryan gave one to Ian a couple years ago and he is just now old enough to work it. We pulled it down from his closet a few nights back and he loves it! It is now his new night light! Funny how now-a-days kids have such new innovative toys, but the classics seem to last forever!!!

Here is Ian learning how to insert the pegs into his design:




The finished project!!!



Thanks Uncle Ryan for hours of fun!!!